Can't even get 1 interview. Need help

Water Cooler Careers
#1

First of all any advice would be awesome, thank you very much. I’m 23 and just finished my BA in Economics from UBC (#1 Economics department in Canada). I have been accepted to University of Edinburgh for their graduate LLB program then want to do LLM in Financial Regulations and also been accepted to MA in Economics at McGill and Manchester. The problem is I can’t even get an internship interview during the summer from any of the investment banks that I applied to and that goes from the lowest tired investment banks to Morgan Stanley and Goldman. Does anyone have any advice on what to do? Is Economics a weak degree to have?

Thank you very much.

#2

Bad economy despite what Obama is saying, hang in there pal.

#3

^ the dude is in Canada, no? what does Obama have to do with it.

and to OP, are you only applying to the heavily desired positions like IB or Research? You may want to set your sights lower. something > nothing

#4

given that US imports nearly 75% of Canada’s exports, I’d say it has a lot to do with it.

to answer OP’s question, yes, an economics undergrad is a weak degree to have. it can help if you also have a major in something more quant as well though (physics, math, engineering, comp sci).

#5

I wouldn’t regard an economics degree as ‘weak’. Not necessarily anyway. It will depend on your grades and the specific positions you are applying for. It will be less useful for more quantitaive roles of course.

What I don’t understand though is why you are looking to intern at an investment bank if you intend to start a law degree soon. Have I missed something? Are applying to intern within the legal departments of those banks?

#6

OP has been watching Suits too much.

#7

when did we import a ton of financial services from Canada?

he’s not trying to get a job directly linked to oil now is it

#8

Hahaha ‘Suits’, that’s actually true. But for the question, I spoke to a few people people at RBC Capital Markets and they all said that it’s really hard to get into a position in Canada right now and if you can get a degree aside from Economics that can make you look distinguished then you have a better chance. Although I still am contemplating between MA in Economics and Law degree.

#9

Oh no aside from Investment Banking, I applied to several positions like Research, Analayst in Capital Markets division. But I get what you mean, may even have to go lower from there.

#10

Are you applying in Canada or the US? I would assume you have a much better chance in Canada. IB is a club. Find anyone who went to your school working at a bank and ask them for coffee. It starts there. Do more shit like that until you get something. Ideally they should be a VP, but Hell even an associate might be able to write a nice email to HR about you.

#11

In Canada the business schools hold 100x the sway over intern placement compared to arts faculties. Finance grads at Sauder are probably well taken care of. From Econ you’ve got a long road. Plus you’re in Vancouver (have you tried PH&N?). Calgary or Toronto will hire locally for coops unless you’re a star. And that’s where the jobs are at, though there are very few right now. If you want to be in banking, you should be doing an MBA not more econ.

#12

has numi approved your resume?

#13

I believe economics is a weak degree to have and would not recommend it to anyone. Even worst it’s one of the harder degrees. I have one myself and spent 4 years in sales before I decided to give finance a shot by doing the CFA. Now I actually get replies back to my resume/applications and even the occasional linkedin inmails for interesting jobs (before I only got them to sell life insurance).

#14

I stopped reading after this. There’s your problem.

#15

That’s actually interesting, thanks for the advice

#16

Thanks for the advice. What about a law degree then LLM in Financial Law or Regulation from for example a top school like LSE?

#17

No never tried that but our career services did at my uni.

#18

Thanks for the advice, appreciate it. Interesting how most Econ majors I talked to said the same.

#19

Yeah unfornately shouldn’t have gone with Econ even though UBC is ranked #1 in Canada for Econ. Which one do you think will open more doors, Law school, CFA or MSc Finance? MBA is not gonna work not cause they need work experience.

#20

In Toronto here.

Why would they hire you for the summer if they know you’re going to leave for school again? Most times they want someone who will want to rejoin them after school ends in one or two semesters, not in 2+ years. You’re done your degree, you should be looking for a full-time job, not an internship.

One thing thats not clear to me at all is what do YOU want to DO?

You applied to a MA in Econ (again, despite wanting to work a the bank and knowing that Econ is not an advantage)

You applied to LLB and want to do LLM in a DIFFERENT country, with a focus in financial regulation when you want to work in BANKING?

Pretty inconsistent focus man. In Canada, people hire you to work, not to discover yourself. We don’t have the liquidity and growth to experiment with people. Banks are cutting jobs left and right, what do you add?Find out what you want and go from there. Time’s running out for summer internships (you probably missed the window already), so get to work. If you’re dead set on going back to school (dubious benefits in my mind, if you plan to work in Ontario, non-Ontario law degrees are not appreciated at all), and not really sure what an MA in econ makes you in the world of Finance unless you want to do Macro Research.

Sorry to be harsh but if someone gave me this advice a few years back I’m sure I’d be better off.