Went to a state school, top 100, obviously non-target with a 3.94 GPA, degree in Econ.
Worked at a Broker/Dealer for about a year in their Alts Group as an Analyst.
Now currently been at my job working for a third party deal management firm for Institutional RMBS clients (Fixed Income basically) as a Senior Analyst for right at about 2 years now but hate it.
My questions are, I just cleared Level I in December and sitting for Level II in June, but want to know, how do I get into ER and or the buy-side from here? I had an interview a couple weeks back with a Hedge Fund for an analyst role over the phone but haven’t nor am hopeful that I am going to hear back. Is getting this charter really going to help me get more ER/AM interviews or is my state school Bachelor’s degree and current fixed income role really going to hold me back? I realllllllly do not want to drop 100k+ plus on a top MBA even though the ROI is usually worth it. Main reason is I just turned 30 and do not want to study and take the GMAT either.
3.94 gpa is great. Now when you say top 100 state school what are we talking about? UVA, UMich, UNC, UMD, PennState, UGA, Arizona State? I think in your case CFA can help open more doors. Average age at MBA’s nowadays is 26-28 depending on the school. So applying in 2017 for 2018 admission (when your 31 is not bad). GMAT isnt terrible. I think that being in a fixed income role for so long is really what’s holding you back from getting more ER interviews. Top GPA from a state school and working at a fixed income shop as an analyst (i.e. not back-office) shows you’re a hustler and CFA might help a potential employer get comfortable with your lack of equity experience.
Why does everyone and their grandma want to work in ER? Not trying to crap on the industry, but I have heard nothing but horror stories lately from people at all the big firms. With 3 rate hikes looming this year (and probably more in the future), fixed income is going to be more interesting than it has been in the past few years. Why not do something that you already have a background in?
You know what Ohai, I completely agree with you. I was just sitting here thinking about a distressed debt high yield credit research analyst position I interviewed for last week with a large Canadian bank (position based in the US though) and it did seem pretty interesting, however, I did some research on “The Team” and don’t get me wrong, appeared to all be really smart people but one problem: Age. I would be the youngest person by probably about 15 years there plus moving to a new city where I know NO ONE. Not exactly a recipe for a cultural fit nor having much in common outside of work with colleagues : /
It doesn’t HAVE to be ER per say, but I would like to be at a boutique buy-side shop with probably no less than 500 Mil in AUM. Plus with my background, I am not getting in at a top fund anyway. Just reality.