Investment analyst position

Water Cooler Careers
#1

Hey all,

I just want to say this is an incredible website and I am so happy I stumbled upon it. I have read several threads thus far and they have been helpful. I am hoping to get some advice, if possible.

I am a Senior at Kennesaw State University majoring in Finance. If all goes well, I should graduate with a 3.5 - 3.72 GPA. I live in GA and I plan on applying to these grad school for my mba: Emory University, Georgia Tech, Georgetown University, Columbia University and NYU Stern. This will be my third year with the brokerage firm. Although I hold a series 7 and series 63, I’m pretty much dealing with employees who have equity compensation plans that are set up through their employer and so my job consist of customer service mixed with placing trades for some of the employees. My goal is to become an Investment Analyst (or perhaps a Financial or Market Research Analyst) and I would like some advice on how to get there. This year I will graduate with my undergraduate degree and attempt to get the Microsoft Office Specialist certification so I can put that on my resume. and I figure by getting an MBA and hopefully the CAIA (after undergraduate) it would give me a shot of becoming one.

Can you please advise if my approach is a good one or recommend some thing I should be doing to get to my goal?

Any input is much appreciated.

Thank you,

Henry

#2

Any insight is much appreciated.

#3

Hi Henry,

i don’t completely know what you want to do, investment analyst is vague, you also mention financial analyst or market research analyst.

Do you plan to get your MBA right after undergrad? You won’t get in to Columbia or Stern or any program worth going to without any work exp.

Being a certified office specialist probably is a waste of time, excel skills are a must but never heard or seen of this certification, it sounds like something an executive assistant/admin would have on their resume.

The best thing you can do is network with alumni and reach out to companies near you looking for a job, I don’t know anything about the finance industry in Atlanta but guessing there are some companies, look at their job listings for what you want to do and try to acquire the skills and experience they are looking for.

#4

Thank you for responding and I appreciate the feedback.

I would like to take the next steps in becoming a financial analyst. With that said, I should be graduating from Kennesaw this year. I thought the certification would help prove my expertise in Microsoft excel. I appreciate all the points you brought out with your comment.

And Yes sir, Kennesaw State University.

#5

The Excel thing is a waste of time, just learn it and be able to use it, you don’t need a cert.

#6

Take the CFA exams (serious suggestion). You need to put more recognizable credentials on your resume.

#7

Go get it!

#8

Reiterating you will not get into any good MBA program without work experience so after graduating this year focus on getting a solid 3-5 years of work experience before applying. Also, financial analyst is different than investment analyst or market research analyst…what exactly do you want to do? I guess we have not heard of Kennesaw but you have a decent GPA so maybe the lack of name recognition won’t matter too much in your job hunt. The Microsoft thing sounds like a waste of time and truly something an admin assistant or someone would have. Learn Excel and become bossy at it…the cert won’t do you any good. Start the CFA program and do CAIA concurrently if you want.

#9

Why is it called “Kennesaw State”? I looked on my map and did not see a state called Kennesaw. City, yes, but no state.

Same applies to Ball State…don’t even get me started on that one…

#10

I think State universities are called State because they are State funded?

#11

OK. Well, all I can say is that I would never attend a university funded by balls unless it meant that I got a firsthand glimpse at this:

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQMMxgcoq5c]

#12

Yeah I think they’re the schools which offer differing in state/out of state tuitions and get the vast majority of funding from the state.

#13

Get work experience first. You should aim for 3-5 years of solid experience and no job hopping (quitting every six months).

Don’t waste your time with silly certificate programs.

Use the next 3-5 years to really learn about yourself. Trust me, in 5 years you’re going to look at the world completly different.

#14

I knew a HCB from Ball State.

#15

Hey all,

Thank for all your honest reply, I really do appreciate it. I will take your advice(s) and focus on graduating, getting a solid 3 - 5 years of work experience while learning about myself , taking the CFA/CAIA and then applying to Grad school.

#16

Henry

The guys gave you solid advice. The most important thing for you to do is to apply yourself and learn about what you like/dislike about yourself and the workplace - this will help you figure out how to proceed. If you ever want to get an MBA and then go into investment management also check out Yale SOM and UNC Chapel-Hill - they have good programs too.

Best of luck!

#17

If you do decide to take the path of a full time job prior to bschool, i would recommend being very strategic in the first job you choose for this will set the precedent for future career paths.

#18

Yes, the 1st job sets the tone for the rest of your career. Very important to start on the right track.

#19

Buy this book to learn how to use VBA with excel: Excel 2010 Power Programming with VBA by John Walkenbahc the link leads to amazon.

That book, coffee, google, youtube and many embarassing mistakes is how I learnt excel. Take that money and buy local “business men” coffee and network (ask to hear how they ‘made it’) instead of paying for a usless certificate.

#20

Oh I bet you did… haha