Non target but unique degree.
Hi, this is my first post on WSO and I'm just wanting to ask about the chances of landing a BB analyst position with a particular course from a non target university.
In September I'm starting uni at Sheffield Hallam (non target) and the course I'm studying is "Financial Trading and Investment Managment (BSc)". The course is unique because it'd the only undergrad trading course in the world and it has many perks including; 6 weeks of live trading from a prop trading firm (OSTC) in central London, CFA's IMC, CISI's Investment Managment cert, Level 5 advanced diploma in financial trading and the bloomberg proficiency. These qualifications are additional to a year long work placement aswell.
This course is unique when compared to broader finance or econ degrees. So any idea if that will help me land a role in a BB either as an IB analyst or a prop trader?
Cheers.
it may help you. You will still have to network your way into the interview, but then you have some relevant experience with a firm that you can talk about it. It doesn't guarantee you a spot at a BB, but will help during interviews
Yeah, thanks. Thought I'd have to network like crazy anyway.
Sheffield Hallam is quite shit though, Would you even have the A-levels to pass the online application screen?
I'm looking at ABB so not the best but it could be enough. Yeah, I get it's Sheffield Hallam but the course is more practical and seems more interesting than others
if you are abb go to nottingham, newcastle, bath, or bristol - shoot for maybe lse ucl if you get adjusted entry requirements
prestige matters a lot more and sheffield hallam is utter dog shit mate
I'm at a top uni with grades above A*AA and regret choosing a "good course" over straight up target. Fuck Sheffield, like the other user said, you can get into Bristol / Durham / Bath / Warwick with ABB if you pick the right courses.
No one is going to be impressed by your course, they're going to be impressed by your uni. Someone studying Geography at Oxford with a borderline 2:1 is going to be doing better than someone with a 1st in your course at Sheffield Hallam.
Have never ever seen anyone get into a semi reputable firm from Sheffield Hallam, I'd try to switch for sure mate. Your grades are decent enough!
I would go for a better university with those grades. The course won't give you much of an advantage tbh, it's more important to understand finance and economics than it is to learn trading from a textbook.
Most who do the course end up being "Independent Expert Retail Forex Traders". OSTC is a scam and barely qualify as a prop trader and pressure employees to write good reviews on glassdoor - read some of the 1 start reviews. They also operate from Brighton, Kent and Swansea - atleast their website says so, nothing about central London (not that it matters much).
You are much better off spending your summer interning (assuming the placement is during the summer internship season) at another firm - most of the trading graduate schemes in the UK require you to have converted a summer, you won't be able to do that if you are with OSTC.
IMC is not too bad but you can do it yourself for PS250 so don't let that impact your decision at all.
Also - welcome to WSO.
Thanks for the reply. So even though the OSTC part of the course is only a 6 week intensive trading module would I not be able to get onto a summer internship because of it?
Is it during the summer of your second year? If so then you can't because that's when summer internships run for BB. Otherwise you are fine.
Jeezus the UK system seems so regimented. At least in the US, your school doesn't literally prevent you from entering entire career sectors haha.
AU is like that too, perhaps this is because a lot of the 'target' universities are concentrated to only a few?
The course does sound interesting, but unfortunately your best bet is to target the best possible university you can get into (along with a degree that interests you);
LSE, UCL, Imperial, Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, St Andrews, Warwick, Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Loughborough, Nottingham, (maybe Cass) etc...
You seem to be on the ball with this, so as long as you can get onto a spring week, any top 20 university will be enough to set you up for summer and full time.
Welcome to WSO!
Just to add on what people have said if you can change university, please do so even if that means taking a gap year to get into a better one ( a proper decent semi-target), Nobody will care what you study and since your experience is not before you start the course it wont even help for springs.
It is not the US here, networking wont win you interview unless you already have a very good/exceptional relation with the person. It only helps if you need to write cover letter and it is usefull for AC too and in general it is good to know people everywhere.
Also if you are not from a minority background, I would say dont even try you would be putting a death sentence on your career at least if you want high finance.
just though I would chip in cause I am an international student with AAA* at a similar school like the one you want ( due to money reason) and I know what I am talking about.
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