I graduated with a BBA (Finance) in 2016. I have been working at an investment banking KPO in India for the past 5 months. I don’t like the work and was looking to pursue higher studies. I’m considering an MSc. in Finance but would it help me land better jobs where I’m actually using my knowledge of finance and not just editing pitchbooks or hunting for information (tasks which anyone with a month’s training can perform) ? I know that the syllabus of an MSc. in Finance and CFA overlap by quite a lot but I’m really unsure of what to do. I’m open to an MBA as well.
Man up and stay for at least another year before thinking about a change… most people do the MSC in Finance to GET INTO IB, and most people get into IB for the EXITS. Quitting after just 5 months makes you look weak in the eyes of future employers.
I am sure he knew about it but probably fell victim to some of the biases such as “nah can’t be that bad” or “not me. I should get off work on time and maybe 1 or 2 late days a week.”
The similar biases 90% of today’s CFA candidates make…“I am in operations right now but as soon as I pass CFA exams it should open doors into front office roles…”
If you are implying that people who are in operations cannot move to FO roles at smaller shops internally, or even externally at a different small shop (AUM 500MM under) on the strength of obtaining the CFA charter, I disagree. I’ve personally seen several people do it.
You’re really young (BBA 2016 so I’m guessing 22-24). If you don’t like what you do then just move on. It’s not like you’re 35 and have family commitments and it’s too late. My concern is that you’ve found what you don’t like but have no idea as to what you actually want to do (“I’m considering an MSc. in Finance but would it help me land better jobs where I’m actually using my knowledge of finance” is too vague. No one really cares about finance knowledge in entry-level jobs that much. Pretty much anywhere you go you’ll end up preparing powerpoint presentations, doing generic internet research, proof-reading reports other people wrote, QA/QCing Excel models other people built, all while (hopefully) not making coffee or grabbing doughnuts for someone else. It’s called paying your dues.
I haven’t mentioned having any issues with long working hours anywhere in my post. My primary issue is repetitive work with no value addition thus leaving me with no spare time to learn new things. My learning curve at this role is done with, to be precise.
Well then I’ll be looking to get into some other domain of finance like corporate finance or at least some middle end role in investment banking which isn’t as bad as my current role.
Again, I should stress that what bugs me about this job is the nature of work I’m doing, not the number of hours I spend in the office. I wouldn’t mind spending an equal number of hours had the job not been void of any learning. I’m literally just going through the motions here.
Well I haven’t been anywhere near models these past 5 months and I don’t see any of the seniors in my team working on them either. I guess our client doesn’t send that kind of work our way. Sticking on here for 2-3 years would make me a team lead (where it’s not compulsory for you to even work on client requests and your main job is ensure smooth work flow, distributing work, negotiating deadlines with investment bankers, etc.)
It’s not as if IB is the only domain in Finance. Are other domains such as corporate finance or corporate credit analysis (for commercial banks) also the same? And I’m not exaggerating when I say that you don’t require much knowledge of finance in order to do this job. For instance, one of my seniors insisted I scour press releases and the internet for EBITDA synergies for a particular spin-off (she disregarded the fact that synergies are only for mergers and acquisitions, not for this particular spin-off where you proceeds were used to pay off debt).
Another point that I didn’t mention because I thought it doesn’t have any relevance to my next step, but another reason I’m planning to quit is a toxic work environment and bad work culture.
Nevertheless, should I try for an MBA or an MSc in Finance?