May 13, 2012

Where do the 2nd rate finance majors go?

Just out of curiosity, where do those people who don't do well in college and basically half ass their way to a finance degree go? I've talked with some people in finance (albeit not high up) and they said they go into operations and/or the same jobs as people who do do well but at a smaller, lesser known smaller pool of talent places and that these jobs have a much longer rate of career progress (e.g. instead of 3 years to xxx at a big 4, it takes longer than that)

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Senior Neanderthal

CO

11y

the unemployment line

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CF

11y

Guest1655:
the unemployment line

Beat me too it. Ugrad fin is honestly pretty worthless.

Accounting is a far more useful degree and probably prepares you better for Corp fin.

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CO

11y

They work for commercial banks or small accounting firms.

?

11y

they sit on WSO while waiting for the financial field to get outta the shit pot/ contemplate life and what other fields they can take their talents to because they've worked way too hard to settle as a bank teller or some stupid BO at a HF gig (jk, thats just me)

GBS

ST

11y

Yeah, unemployment and retail banking (ie cashing your paychecks) about sums it up. Though I do know one such underachiever who's going to do entry-level corp fin at Burger King! I am sure prosperity awaits him.

There's no way they could get into operations. Ops typically requires a technical background, not business - think engineering or cs. Most bankers aren't qualified to do operations.

O

11y

gammaovertheta:
Yeah, unemployment and retail banking (ie cashing your paychecks) about sums it up. Though I do know one such underachiever who's going to do entry-level corp fin at Burger King! I am sure prosperity awaits him.
There's no way they could get into operations. Ops typically requires a technical background, not business - think engineering or cs. Most bankers aren't qualified to do operations.

I've never heard that about Ops. What would require an ops analyst to come from a technical background? Just curious.

ST

11y

turtles:
gammaovertheta:
Yeah, unemployment and retail banking (ie cashing your paychecks) about sums it up. Though I do know one such underachiever who's going to do entry-level corp fin at Burger King! I am sure prosperity awaits him.
There's no way they could get into operations. Ops typically requires a technical background, not business - think engineering or cs. Most bankers aren't qualified to do operations.
I've never heard that about Ops. What would require an ops analyst to come from a technical background? Just curious.

Some investment banks include tech support in their operations divisions. Whenever someone puts in an order to buy 12% of volume over the day, a program handles the execution. Same thing for the dynamic hedging all options desks do. Somewhere in the back office there's a tech support team that regularly tweak and improve those programs. If they mess up one line of code and it isn't caught, it can suspend trading - or worse, the bank can bleed millions. (They have enough failsafes that this hasn't happened in recent memory as far as I recall.)

https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/resources/skills/trading-investing/stock-symbol

ST

11y

Best Response

gammaovertheta:
turtles:
gammaovertheta:
Yeah, unemployment and retail banking (ie cashing your paychecks) about sums it up. Though I do know one such underachiever who's going to do entry-level corp fin at Burger King! I am sure prosperity awaits him.
There's no way they could get into operations. Ops typically requires a technical background, not business - think engineering or cs. Most bankers aren't qualified to do operations.
I've never heard that about Ops. What would require an ops analyst to come from a technical background? Just curious.
Some investment banks include tech support in their operations divisions. Whenever someone puts in an order to buy 12% of volume over the day, a program handles the execution. Same thing for the dynamic hedging all options desks do. Somewhere in the back office there's a tech support team that regularly tweak and improve those programs. If they mess up one line of code and it isn't caught, it can suspend trading - or worse, the bank can bleed millions. (They have enough failsafes that this hasn't happened in recent memory as far as I recall.)

True, but that said, there are tons of back-office roles that most certainly do not require an engineering or CS degree (let alone a bachelor's degree...) to be able to do. I would know. I'm in one of those roles. Can't wait to get the fuck out...

CO

11y

Depends how badly they want to break into the finance world. Either they make it or they don't .

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HF

11y

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Disclaimer for the Kids: Any forward-looking statements are solely for informational purposes and cannot be taken as investment advice. Consult your moms before deciding where to invest.

PE

11y

Big 4.

“...all truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” - Schopenhauer

?

11y

^ Damn, now I'm scared about my upcoming BO SA.

YGCS

AM

11y

some go to BO. others to maybe a small consulting firm.

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IB

10y

Middle office for Jefferies' Agency Desk.

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Alexander Hamilton

?

10y

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