I have questions regarding a career in finance and the best way to get a foot in the door within the industry. I am taking the Level 1 CFA in June 2015, and am wondering how much this will help me in the short term (finding a job right now, and in the months following after I pass) and in the long term (finding a job assuming after I pass level 2 and 3). I’ve read on these forums that just passing the CFA exams does not guarantee you a job, which I understand, but I’ve also talked to people a few years older than me who are on CFA Level 3 who assure me taking the CFA exams is the best way to get into the industry.
I just graduated from University of Maryland (which I believe is a top 50 or 60 university) with a degree in economics this May of 2104. The things that I guess I would say that I have working agaisnt me are that I was not sure what career path I wanted to take until the latter part of college, and therefore never pursued any internships during college. The second adveristy is that my GPA is not overwhelmingly great (around a 2.9 or 2.8), however this is negatively effected because of my 2 year stint as an engineering major, which sabatoged my GPA for my freshman and sophomore year of college before I switched my major to ecnonomics. Also, the engineering school I was a member of at UMD is 17th in the country, so obviously I’m not some sort of dummy. Once I was majoring in economics I received A’s in nearly all of my quantitative and qualitiative analystical courses. So the things that I would consider a positive are I have an economics degree from a top 60 university, and would consider myself a pretty intelleigent individual. I also live in the Baltimore/DC area, which is flooded with financial jobs and opportunities. In addition I plan on joining the Baltimore CFA society (and potenitally the Washington DC society… can you join two?) and taking full advantage of its opportunities and the networking events. I was wondering how much these will help me? I have also read on these forums that if you possess certain traits such as “being anti-social or a geek” and things of that nature, that it will be very hard to break in to the industry. Fortunately, that does not describe me, as I would say I am very outgoing an sociable. While I would not say I am super connected I would say I have greater networking possibilities than the average. I was in a fraternity at Maryland that has a huge local and national alumni network, and I went to a private highschool in the area that is huge with business alumni functions and networking events for alumni up and down the east coast, but oviosuly mainly focused in the Baltimore/DC area.
So mainly I am asking, given my background and current standing, how much will registration for the CFA level 1 help my job outlook and how much will passing it help? And then how much will passing level 2 help? Assuming I already take advantage of the CFA society events and other networking leads, does anyone have any other adivce for me in this matter and for starting my career? Thank you
So, I was looking for more professional and constructive criticism rather than some comments that look like they were formed by a middle schooler on myspace. Any help from any real people out there?
Hey OP, maybe my experience will answer some questions. I have an economics degree with a 2.9x gpa (from a 3.5 year stint in pre-med). Sold cars for 4 years until someone told me about the CFA program. I didn’t have any call backs after level 1, I got a few after level 2 (i took a job with a small valuation firm), and then after level 3 and a year or so experience, I’m having call backs and recruiters interested in me. Decided to take a valuation job with the big 4 and who knows what will happen in the next few years.
Few notes:
After Level 2, my two call backs were from that small valuation firm, who offered me a job and then another from a small wealth management firm after i accepted the first offer.
After Level 3 and 1.5 years of work experience, i got call backs from a real estate advisory company, an accounting company that does something with tax benefits, big 4, and another i don’t remember.
I’ve NEVER gotten a call back for research though.
I’ve never had luck at any networking events while I only had an economics degree (I did take 1 accounting class but no finance).
Both finance jobs I got, I applied straight off the website, no referal, just cold applied. I continue to plan to network but I think i’m gonna be pushed pretty hard in this new role and the new connections i make will likely be in valuation, so that may be my path, beats selling cars.
Your post is really long and I didn’t read the whole thing but it looks like a long shot. My view is to network like hell with people from U of Maryland. That’s not a bad school and there are a few people from UofM on the Street, you might get lucky. One of my good homies who runs a hedge fund is from UofM so I know they exist. I’m not going to make an intro but it’s there if you want it.
CFA won’t help you and b-school is out of the question I would guess. Your options are to lower your expectations or network in, that’s about it.
This is one of the most competitive games in the world. You can’t screw up for years and show up hoping to get a seat to the big game. 2.9 is not even close.
There are plenty of ways to make good cash in finance without a top 2 ER job or something that is certainly out of your reach at this point. What do you want to do? Does it have to be research or banking?
Bro is right. You’ll need to probably lower your expectations. That doesn’t mean you’re condemned to a life of poverty and irrelevance though.
Most people don’t do internships. I spent one summer at the university’s computer department, one working as a camp transportation coordinator, and two doing National Science Foundation-sponsored research assistantships. I would say that’s fairly typical.
It did for me. Eventually experience builds and your GPA becomes an irrelevant piece of the past. Bust ass, develop niche skills, pursue the Charter and get on with it. Crying about it isn’t going to get him anywhere. Its a harder road for sure, but get working on it today.
I can kind of relate to your story because I’ve had a similar story as well. As a matter of fact, earlier this year I left my job in Baltimore, MD because I was not satisfied with the work I was doing, which is back-office operations work in a prime brokerage…if you do some research you can probably figure out what firm it is.
Moral of the story is, job market is super tough. SUPER tough if you didn’t graduate from a top tier school but not all hope is lost yet so have faith. I’m a cfa level 2 candidate and I get interviews for some smaller tier equity research firms in and around the MD/DC/VA area. I graduated from a so-so Va university for both my undergrad and grad in finance, worked at two bulge bracket banks in a more administrative role to get the feel of the environment but you don’t want to stay too long because that tends to make you less attractive for other positions. I know this bc most of the other ppl I used to work with in bmore is trying to climb the same ladder as well…not into the research space though but there’s a lot of different avenues you can pursue.
im actually currently looking for a career more in line with research as well, both buy side and sell side, government and private. Studying for the cfa helps, but I think people tend to over-exaggerate it though because compared to a few people I know that graduated from Hopkin’s MS in Finance, I find that I tend to get more calls for interviews because of my cfa candidacy and it tends to attract their interest more.
If you have any other questions feel free to PM me and I’ll happy to help. There’s a lot of haters on these boards that tend to be nay-sayers. Fact of the matter is, not everyone can have the financial and intellectual backing to go to a top b-school, and while job opportunities in this space is slim, it shouldn’t discourage you to do what you want. I’m a firm believer in the idea that it’s the people that makes the school, not the school that makes the people…if that makes sense. All the best, that’s just my 2 cents.
As soon as I saw “I have questions regarding a career in finance and the best way to get a foot in the door within the industry,” I knew this was “red alert,” and although I *skimmed* the rest of your message it just wasn’t necessary for me to read.
I think you have a lot of work and self-reflection to do insofar as figuring out what area of finance you want to work. I suggest you read the articles in my signature as well as other material on MergersAndInquisitions.com.
This site is an excellent resource for you to find out (1) what areas are of greatest interest and (2) how you can network resourcefully. I have advised multiple clients from Maryland, both current students and recent alumni, in getting jobs on Wall Street. Most recently, I worked with two rising seniors to get internships at JPMorgan investment banking and Millennium Management (the $25 billion hedge fund).
It is definitely possible for you to get a job especially since you seem early in your career and very determined, albeit with need for better aim. However, since Maryland isn’t a “target” school you will just need to be that much more creative and polished in pursuing your aspirations. That means it behooves you to become more educated in the different areas of finance and really tailor your pitches accordingly.
You really should have stuck with Engineering kid…you’d have a much higher chance in finance with a low GPA in Engineering than a low GPA in Economics. I did Economics and Mathematics at University of Maryland…and I’ve passed all three levels of the CFA exam…I work at a private equity fund in a major financial district, my GPA was > 3.5 and it was a tough battle. You got your work cut out for you but it’s possible. Remove frat related business, it is not looked well upon especially if you had a low GPA…people will just think all you did was party. Also, there are crap shit opportunities in Baltimore/DC…DC is more consulting related roles, OCIO’s, and crap long-only funds (I know I used to work in DC). Baltimore might be ok but you’re better off moving to NY, Boston, Chicago, or San Fran. Also, good luck, switching from engineering to economics (at UMD) is not really looked well upon…you’re “one of those”. I know because I switched from computer science…but I picked up Mathematics because let’s face it, the Econ program at UMD is what the students make of it, really leaving it open for a bunch of f*cktards taking easy classes and graduating with shit GPA’s and ruining it for everyone else, they need to become more selective to make the econ programs reputation better.
