The moment of truth.
The short version: I want to get into investment banking, period.
The long version: I recently graduated from a decent state school with a decent GPA with a BS in Economics. I had two internships, both were very analytical, but neither were financial in any way. I had a job lined up in Dallas upon graduation, but for some reason, the job fell through and I was left looking. Because I thought I had a job, I had an apartment all lined up and everything. I'm now living in Dallas. I interviewed with a boutique investment bank and an insurance company in Dallas. The bank didn't give me an offer, but the insurance firm did as a financial advisor. As I desperately needed income, I went with the insurance company. I am regretting it... in a big way. It is all sales. All sales. I feel intellectually dormant. I started to go through investopedia.com to brush up on some of my financial knowledge just to find a cerebral outlet of some sort about 8 weeks ago. I'm hooked. For the last two months I've been absorbing as much as I can about the financial world. I want in.
My plan: I am looking to sign up for the Analyst Exchange. I've read nothing but good things and I really like the idea of 1on1 attention. I felt it would suit me much better than some 3 week classroom experience. I've already started networking with Alumni and I've rubbed elbows with two people who work at places like Highland Capital and Merrill Lynch through a local business exchange meetup. I also have a contact at a PE firm through my father.
This is the moment of truth for me. This is what I want. I am looking to you guys to offer any suggestions. Is there other training I should commit to? When should I approach my contacts for interview opportunities? If I want to do investment banking and later go to a HF or PE, how should I position myself?
I've searched the forums and have found a handful of threads about this, but none are really about career changing. Hindsight is 20/20 and boy do I wish that I majored in finance or accounting. Give me your good, your bad, and your ugly!
-the Green Machine
You are slighly fucked for the following reasons:
You want to do banking and you are stuck in Dallas...obviously there is a heavy emphasis on energy in the area and not much else
You come from a decent state school with a decent GPA...you are competing against top applicants in what is arguably the toughest job market in sometime (I would say that it is worse than 00'-01' and will continue to deteriorate as banks continue to see write downs and cut head-count)
Assuming you have the money to do so I would absolutely invest in yourself and take some type of training program as a way to differentiate youself but it is still an uphill battle...
Your best bet is to use every contact you have...As others will attest to its fckin ugly out there and will probably get worse before it gets better...
And this is all coming from someone who is generally always optimistic/bullish...Good luck
Don't give up hope, plenty of ways to keep trying, depending on your need for a job/free time etc.
You're in Dallas. Maybe you're not bound for the (overrated) prestige of Wall Street, but you are in a town/state that is energy heavy and currently weathering the "recession" quite well. Look at the regional boutiques topic and start cold-emailing them. Lots of energy companies means a need for at least a few energy boutique banks.
Have you considered business school? A good way to weather the storm and pick up some skills that will allow you to go into banking afterwords.
If he went to b-school right now he would almost guarantee himself a 2nd rate track post graduation because with his current background he would have a difficult time getting into a top program with no W/E and would have an even more difficult time gaining employment afterward with no experience.
OP,
Talk to friends, family, contacts etc. and be persistent.
Not trying to be overly negative (although I am pissed that I am still at the office) but it is important to be realistic and plan accordingly. Don't settle however...
Hope you find what you're looking for..
Thank you for your candid responses. I really appreciate them. I've always had thick skin so to speak so the more brutally honest, the better.
@ Junkbondswap: Your comment about top candidates is interesting to me. I've done some research after reading your reply, many, if not most, of the analysts that I've found listed on some of the local boutique shops websites around here are from places like Texas A&M or TCU, both of which are significantly inferior educations according to the Financial Times than mine. Am I missing something? Are they just hired as stop-gaps for work flow and only the target-school boys have a shot at seriously staying with the company? Please advise. If there is a recruiting metric that I'm not privy to, I want to know going in. I am trying to be as realistic as I can be. It's a terrible thing to find out what you want to do in life and realize that due to previous decisions you have to start fighting at the bottom of the hill. Well, nothing worth doing in life is easy. BTW, if you have time, please explain 2nd rate? I inferred that mean non-BB. Tell me if I'm wrong
@Alphaholic: Indeed, I'm not interested in working on Wall Street. Funny enough, Dallas is one of the top cities to accumulate wealth, and we're all here for the money, aren't we? NYC is definitely not for me. I will take the no state income tax (saving grace of TX). I have considered business school. I got a 720 on my GMAT, which seems decent enough. I have a few ideas. Thank you for pointing me to the regional boutique topic. As per Junkbondswap's post, you seem to agree that the market is very cut-throat right now. As I don't necessarily have the experience to go to b-school just yet as Junkbondswap pointed out, any suggestions? That is if, of course, you have time.
Many thanks to you both.
C'mon you wankers, give me some more barriers to entry that I have to overcome so that in a year from now I can post here and say that I got past them!
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