Transitioning Veteran Advice Please
Hello All,
I'm a 31-year-old transitioning Army Officer and am seeking a role in asset management at a firm ideally in New York. I'm currently an aviation officer with about six years of experience also working in the army's version of accountability and asset management (which is what most of my resume focuses on although flying was indeed enjoyable). I have my undergrad in Aviation Business Administration from Embry-Riddle and started earlier this year with the University of Michigan's (Dearborn) online MBA/MSF dual degree program. I will be separating at the end of this year.
To utilize a format I read on this website, what I have done:
1. Invest Like the Street online coursework for detailed financial modeling and analysis
2. Breaking Into Wall Street's same coursework including resume rewrite, pitch practice, introductory email etc.
3. Began networking although it's difficult to get responses back
4. Attended as many veteran webinars for major bulge bracket firms
5. Sitting for the CFA Level 1 Exam in December
I am tracking multiple veteran transitional programs like the MVIP for JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs VIP, and others. Please note that I'm in South Korea which makes it only slightly difficult to fly to career fairs and recruiting events.
My open conversational question is, outside of the steps I've already taken, what other suggestions are available to increase my chances of success? Do you think I'm competitive? Finally, what has one eye but can't see?
(If you only answer the last question, I'll hate you but you'll make me laugh)
a.nic.taylor, sorry about the lack of response. Maybe one of these topics will help:
Maybe one of our professional members will share their wisdom: Rooshana didizhu92 Umang.kajaria
Hope that helps.
Really cool to hear you're making the move from aviation to AM. My father was actually an Embry-Riddle grad too. A good resource for career transitioning I've come across is The Lobby. They'll connect you directly with finance professionals for personalized advice, which I think would be particularly useful beyond what you may find on forums, given your background. Recently had a friend in late 20's use it to get an IB job. Let me know if this helps at all. Feel free to reply here so I get the notification if there's anything else I can help with/answer
This is an amazing resource and I'm very grateful that you responded! I will definitely check out this opportunity.
Sure thing! I hope it can help you out
This is one of those situations where you're just going to have to grind on networking to find somebody that is willing to "take a chance" (I don't personally see your background as worrisome, but it is a bit atypical, so funds/banks may be uncertain of how you'll perform on the job). As the 100 SDRs I see on LinkedIn often say -- Just Keep Dialing.
PM me. I've done something very similar to what you're looking to do. There are some really great options out there for you and I'd be happy to help you out.
Message has been sent! Thank you very much
I think you have a great chance of breaking in. In my experience, bankers love veterans because they've been in high pressure, demanding environments and were forced to become well versed in collaboration and teamwork.
If you can sell those qualities, plus the fact that you've built up a lot of knowledge of financial modeling, statement analysis, etc. (Which you seem to with the bootcamps above), you should get a ton of interest.
However, you can have all this and get 0 interest (or negative interest) if you don't have some basic pieces in place like: the right resume format, a good story for why IB, a personality that they like on the culture side, and great preparation on the technical concepts in an interview setting.
Practice like crazy, network like crazy, and you should find a good role. Asset management is also less like IB where if you didn't get in from school it's really hard to break in. Lastly - there are a ton of nonprofits I've seen that cater to veterans returning into top finance jobs. There's one called Elite Meet i believe. Good luck and thank you for your service!
I greatly appreciate your response and candor! I will check out Elite Meet and hope you have a wonderful day.
my pleasure!!
I come back to this a lot for motivation just so you know
PM me as well. I made the jump this year (EN officer). I won’t have a ton of advice but I can talk to you about how I framed the problem, etc.
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