I am entering my final year in the Air Force, ending a 10 year career as an air traffic controller. My intention is to leave the Air Force next July with a full-time job offer in equity research. Any advice on what I need to do to better my chances will be greatly appreciated; that is if I have a chance without any finance experience. Lastly, I am thinking of taking CFA level 1 in December so I can put it on my resume for the spring, but I would prefer to take it next June reference my current schedule. Below is an outline of my resume. Thank you in advance.
Education- Master of Science Applied Economics, University of North Daokta 3.6 GPA Master of Science International Relations, Troy Univerisity 3.8 GPA
Professional Experience- Ten Years n the Air Force as an Air Traffic Controller, 4 assignemnts to include my current assignment Turkey
Leads and supervises a crew of 12 personnel, directly supervising six individuals
Oversaw 29K annual aircraft operations delivering 10 million pounds of cargo to seven continents
Directed Unit Fitness Program for 150 personnel; 97% pass rate on military fitness standards
Served as international liaison to 20 Belgian Air Force members during 30 nation exercise
Orchestrated airdrop operations enabling 215 Special Forces members to remain combat ready
Deployed to Iraq providing air traffic control services for six airports servicing 275K annual aircraft
Quarantined airspace daily for F-16s providing troops cover from insurgent attacks
Relayed surface to air fire reports, cleared airspace and tailored aircraft routes to avoid attack
Prepared four fields for rice planting, maintained six fields of maize and herded seven goats daily
Planned and cooked five meals to feed 350 homeless women, men and children in Kathmandu
Publications- Air Space and Power Journal, Academic Book Reviews
U.S Defense Politics: The Origins of Security Policy
The International Arms Trade: War and Conflict in the Modern World
The Soviet Biological Weapons Program: A History
Other Languages : Russian: Limited Working Proficiency Awards: Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year, Excellence in Leadership, Air Traffic Control Watch Supervisor of the Quarter Technical Skills: STATA, Excel Activities : Traveled to 18 countries, Completed three 55km trail runs and 3 Olympic distance triathlons
I’m not an expert, but I would bet most responses will involve stating MBA as a transition tool. It sounds cool though and I bet you’d be good for Defense sector.
Being a Level 1 will show that you have interest, but in my opinion and from what I’ve seen, you are taken more seriously after you pass level 2, which gives you all of the analytical tools you need for equity research (level 3 is basically PM). Anyone can write “CFA Level 1 Candidate” in their resume.
From what you mentioned, I see 3 important things.
You have a background in economics, that will certainly help.
You have good writing skills, definitely needed for Equity Research, and the fact that you wrote 3 publications may help with this.
3)Given your background, you could certainly do research for the defense, or transportation (airlines) industry.
An MBA would definitely help to widen the range of jobs you may land, or if you were interested in P.E or I.B, but seeig that you have 10+ years of experience, I don’t think it is the best option. If you are 100% sure that you want a job in the Finance Industry, especially A.M (E.R, or P.M) I think the CFA it’s the way to go.
For your applications I highly suggest you write a research report for a company in the industries I mentioned above, and use it as part of your applications. The CFA requires a lot of discipline and dedication, but considering you are in the military, I don’t think that will be a problem.
Check out the link in my signature. It will answer many questions that you have. I think anyone that aspires to get into equity research should read it. Thank you for serving our country.
Thank you for the reply! Yes, I agree that working towards the CFA outweighs an MBA at this point in my life. Disciplne and dedication will not be a problem, the hard part is actually getting hired anything needed after that is not an issue.
I think that that a career transition to Equity Research is very unlikely via the CFA route, unless you have a close relative or friend that can hire you into an entry level ER role.
Your best bet is to do a top-10-ish MBA and then get hired into an ER role via on-campus recruiting.
Fortunately, MBA admissions officers really like ex-military applicants.
Unfortunately, a top MBA is very expensive. But in your case, probably very worthwhile.
I am ex-military and was in your shoes years ago and I am STILL trying to break into equity research. Don’t want to rain on your parade but, a couple points:
1 - Take CFA Level 1 in December. No excuses. Get after it. The civilian job world is brutal & you need every advantage. No more cushy military job security for you. The civilian world doesn’t care what you’d “prefer” or what you did to protect the country. It will hire the next person while you are sleeping.
2 - Your resume, while just peachy by military standards, doesn’t mean d*ck to an investment firm who needs people who can fill a hole in the research team. A liason to some officers? great. Quarantined airspace? super. Directed Unit Fitness program? ok, you want a cookie? So how does any of this help MY FIRM? I’d rather hire the 23 year old who has a degree in finance and has been following equity sectors for years and has a bunch of companies modeled out with pitches ready.
3 - Take some financial modeling courses (wall street prep has a good one), and start building a legit portfolio. Highlight that on your resume and be able to speak fluently about it. They will grill you on the companies you own and you can’t just say "I think people will buy more of xxxx because I just think so "
It’s a brutal world out there. Every kid can pass CFA Level 1, so you should have at least that much before applying for anything. Good luck.
Yeah, see if you can get in touch with anyone in the alumni networks at these places. Use LinkedIn. A lot of the sell-side firms are actually hiring right now so you should keep your eyes open for these job descriptions.
"