Passed level I in June, good GPA, lots of work experience (in other fields) with good references, yada yada - still zero hope to get an actual analyst job. Is banking easier to get into? Will finance/accounting double major and CFA lvl I help here, or not really? Do most people end up sitting at the front desk and being glorified sales people for at least a couple of years?
I gotta say, thought, that a sales job is not always bad. Many people on here believe that in sales, the reps are product pushers just trying to make a sale and get that commission. That isnt always the case. A sales position is what you make of it. I do acknowledge that there are many product pushers out there, though.
By “banking”, do you mean retail banking like working at a JPM Chase branch?
- you are way to negative. 2) if you get in with a bank, you could move into financial advising role (retail). if you work at a retail bank, you will not really see the investment bankers or portfolio managers. maybe the trust department. at least, that is my experience.
I agree he’s being a little negative, but there’s some truth to what he’s saying. Unfortunately, we can’t all be analysts; the world needs people out there who actually build/make/produce things. But for those of us that want cushy analyst jobs, it’ll be pretty tough to get them, and a recent grad, however well educated with no analyst experience, is not the ideal hire for such a job. There’s a lot of truth to “its not what you know, its who you know” for a lot of dream jobs.
I started from a private retail wealth management firm to a big bank into a retail advisor role. My goal was always to get out of that position to transition to something better. I got into the commerical loans department at our bank, then blew the socks off for a year and half then a job in corporate came up and slid into that. So working some complex debt deals from 50mil to 1 bil with a syndicate of other corporate bankers. It is giving me some great experience. I showed some competence early, the CFA program was a bonus but not a be all and end all. Still have interview well. Our bank is a mid tier bank which is about to become very big so opportunities are their with less politics. It is doable. But you have to make sure you hit numbers and have to kiss ass for the first year or so.
I worked as a retail financial consultant for a few years. Absolutely hated it. The only thing that retail bank investment programs want you to sell are fixed and variable annuities. It’s all about revenue there, not about advising clients. Despite what they tell you or what the corporate mission statement is, it is not about advising the customer and doing what is right. It’s about increasing revenue, hitting sales goals, and being the bank’s b$tch. If you do well and play nice, you can become more of an investment advisor within the bank where you are purely on the investment side vs. selling both bank and investment products. If you’re going to do the financial advisor thing, I suggest you go to Merrill or somewhere you have a salary for a year. You’ll be more satisfied but the work is much harder and you absolutely must bring in assets or you’ll be canned.
All this is nice, but it’s sort of irrelevant unless you’re actually deciding between job offers. Just apply for every job that is even remotely interesting.
you have no related experience so you want to find a job to give you experience but the job wants you to have the experience first…it keeps on and on with an endless circle Then, i want to ask a question “how did those experienced guys get their first buck of gold?”
It’s not as complicated as you’re describing. Most people in front office finance were recruited to entry level positions out of college/MBA programs. Other move up from closely related positions, like the middle office. The longer you spend doing unrelated things, the lower your chances are. Lots of people want to become hot shot investment bankers, but most don’t make it.
You could go for an accounting job at a bank and then work your way up the corporate finance ladder to financial modeling/investing/CFO position. I’ve seen it done, and with CFA and maybe an MBA down the road it’s very possible.
people are going to tell you all sorts of things. If you really want it, you would try and do it regardless.
Have a back up plan though.
Whats the shot at any financial services type position for a recent grad with 2 years Public Sector Consulting Experience and having successfully completed level 2? Also just a side note my undergrad gpa was subpar but i did complete my bachelors by 20.