No Internships / Low GPA / Non - Target school / Only Day Trading experience / No future prospects?
Hi Everyone, I'll try and keep this short
So i'm graduating from a Non-target Australian university this year without any relevant job/internship experience. I am an international student and I had to put myself through school + send money for my mother and sisters so they can go to school, unsurprisingly money was my only focus so my grades are not the best.
Past year and a half i got into bitcoin and then into trading BTC perpetual contracts + commodities + forex, i'd consider myself a pretty decent trader with a relatively high success rate. Made 100K -ish last year and I should be on route to making that this year as well.
But the issue is during this time I didn't bother to make any in real life networks or apply for internships, get real world experience within a job etc.
I feel as if have no future prospects at the moment and I don't really believe I can keep day trading forever and will have to eventually have a legitimate career. I'm 22 at the moment so I think I still have time.
Pros: Hardworking, Potential, Great Trader Cons: Non target school, low GPA, no job/internship experience
Can anyone recommend some ways I can turn around all these odds stacked against me and break into IB. Or even a route or actions I can take now that can help me.
Thank you all,
Off cycle internship at a smaller boutique if you can. Would help a lot.
Thanks, do you have any tips as to how i can strengthen my chances of getting those internships? Would it matter that I got the internships out of UNI?
Just get into a bank at some level BO/MO. This will give you the opportunity to be more "official" to the people there that you network with and people will take you more seriously.
Hardworking but low GPA at a non-target? I guess hardworking except in academia?
Unfortunately academia took a step back while my focus and "hard work" went entirely into making money.
Unfortunately, your hard work in academia becomes your business card later when you decide to chase grad positions. It shows your attention to details, good organisation and a certain sens of accountability because no one will give you good grades for a mediocre assignment.
Let's hope that your trading gains are real, and you kept a clean trading journal where you wrote down all your trades, because it will give you some credibility.
That seems short-sighted...
Anyway, it's water under the bridge, but be prepared to get questioned extensively on this. Generally speaking, there's rarely any excuse that people find acceptable for low grades.
You have no experience in finance so you likely don't know much about the industry, you have a low GPA so even if you were Finance/Business major you probably didn't learn much in class... why are you even interested in IB? Because it sounds cool and it pays well? Haha
I'm not trying to shit on you I just think it's silly and a waste of time for everyone when you ask for advice on something that you don't know jack shit about. Like it's not like we're in the 1960's, there's this thing called Google.
And for some career advice: look into sales and trading. If you have a track record you can point to, that can make up for your resume lacking in relevant experience. Just definitely don't talk about bitcoin or forex because no one takes that shit seriously. (Yes I know they are legit though.) And like someone else said, you're better off starting out with bitch work at a name brand company and then just move your way up.
I'm double majoring, my bad grades almost exclusively came from the software development portion of my major. I have a pretty good grasp on finance.
Would you also recommend maybe attempting to go straight into a Masters of Finance program at a target school, building up good grades there and then attempting to go into IB?
Only if this master degree is well respected.
How bad was your GPA, just cus that alone can be a killer. Was it under 3.0?
I think it might be around 3 actually. Not below it.
It's subjective as the australian GPA is different from the American based grading system.
Also, most of the website who propose a grade conversion are not precise enough with this task.
My advice to you because I'm a junior (technically sophomore because I've switched majors) from a non-target with no previous relevant internship experience but did manage to get a referal is the same advice I got:
1) Network. 1 mentor is worth 50 people who simply recognize your name. My mentor not only showed me what the culture is like but how to be a cultural fit. I also got to see all the things that go on behind the scenes which SA and FT analysts don't get to see including how to get fast-tracked and how to be the one your bosses will pull some strings for to get into a good business school. If nothing else just get a mentor.
2) If going back for a Masters in something isn't an option (which will also help you build a proven academic success record) and doing internships that way I'd recommend investing some time into studying how Hirevue works and applying to literally every single place that sends out automatic Hirevues because at least someone will see your response.
Sorry running a little late if you have any other questions feel free to ask, as I said I was in a similar position as you but lucked out while hustling and networking my ass off and met the right person.
Best of luck!
Thank you so much!
If you're great at trading, why not going for S&T route?
I'm considering s&t and prop, but again will my low grades and no internship experience hinder my chances. All i have is a detailed trading journal with lots of pages.
Am Aussie
Will be blunt, good luck getting a job as a non-target + low grades + no experience. AND you're international, why would you focus on money when you can focus on grades which is more important, international students pay more $$ and your family expects to get money? Go to a local school then if finance is an issue..
Your best chance is to be humble and go for big 4 positions, you're not interested in IB only money. Audit/Advisory is a good bet. OR just continue with trading, you're earning 100k, why work for others !??!
Odds aren't really stacked against you. Just humble the fuck up and hustle for any positions available.
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