I am unable to find a job in finance. Should I take up a job in sales? I am a level 2 candidate, fresh out of MBA (finance). Have no prior work-ex and summer internship in sales.
What type of sales job is it?
Used car sales 
J.
I think the CFA would be great for used car sales. You’d really be differentiating yourself from the used car salesmen that only have their class of 2008 Harvard Business School MBAs.
T2 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What type of sales job is it? Its a job in a new insurance company where I will be managing a team of about say 10 salesmen. Responsible for their targets. They say that they are open to our shifting to finance in case we have the required knowledge. I do not know whether to believe it. 
I have also appeared for FRM and have a very strong feeling that I will pass it. I have also registered for L2 long back. I cannot find a job. I will leave the college by March. Don’t know what to do. I am ready to work for very less pay at even entry level jobs but do not know which are the entry level jobs that I can get in. Also, my MBA college is not one of the worst. Its competitive, but no jobs.
Once you get into sales, it’s virtually impossible to move to the analytical side. They may tell you that you can, but it’s extremely unlikely. You can make a lot of money in sales, but I would consider it a last resort because you will likely be closing some doors on your future.
what should I do? Is there any accountancy work or something like a very very entry level job that I can do right now? I mean is there any position at all that I could possibly look at? I am open to doing anything in finance … from risk management to corp fin. I have really been working hard for past many months and looks like I cant land any job except sales.
Where have you been looking for jobs, and how many have you applied to?
@j-rad, I have been looking at the KPOs (usually back-end research stuff). They say that I am over-qualified and won’t stick to their job. I haven’t been able to find openings in corporate finance, I can’t really find an entry level job there and there is no opening without work-ex for top-jobs. The banks will offer sales jobs and they have not responded at all even for sales. So, in a gist, I have applied to mostly KPOs and have found rejections. Though they take my application for Analyst roles and not for entry-level ones… how can I communicate to them that I am open even for entry level jobs?
Without knowing for sure, I suspect that CFA could be useful for HF sales and institutional sales. If you have a complex product or are selling to portfolio managers/fund-of-fund managers with more complex investment requirements, it helps to be able to speak the PM’s language, which is CFA-ish.
Have you tried at adventity or Copal Partners or Amba research (financial KPOs with some good work). They are hiring and they do have some relevant work, and its not a bad option to enter financial services KPO at this time, they might pay you decently as well. As you know am also with a KPO currently but my firm is on a hiring freeze and also they now have a bond of 2 years (so I won’t suggest this option). Also, have you tried in middle east…there are some banks hiring there as well… All the best anupam, hope you get a good opportunity…
bchadwick is correct that the CFA is valued by institutional sales people. Most of them don’t have it, so it’s a good differentiater. What kind of insurance sales are you talking about? If you mean retail insurance sales then I’d avoid it like the plague.
yes retail insurance sales. Gauravku, I’ll try and get in touch with you in a couple of days. Can you please email me your number? I doubt that Adventity would be hiring as they had laid off a few joinees recently. I’ll try to get more information on this. I will update you all. thank you all. I am feeling terrible right now and hoping something will work out soon.
Hate to say it but retail insurance sales on the resume is about as bad as it gets for CFA candidates. You are better off staying unemployed and waiting for something acceptable to come around.
Thanks. Things look not so bad on this forum. In the industry, however, everyone just tells me that “we are on hiring freeze”. I mean I could never have imagined this happening when I joined my MBA. If anyone here has/knows of any opening for a person like me, please shoot me a mail at anupamjain008@gmail.com. I am based in India and open to relocate anywhere.
what school did you go for your MBA in India? Did you try any recruiter in your area?
@ cfaboston28, I have done my MBA from one of the top-30 institutes. If you know about Indian entrance exams, then I had a 99.14%ile in XAT to get in this institute. Unfortunately there is no Equity Research firm in this area, or that I know of. I am absolutely flexible to move across the country and location is not a constraint. I have not applied to recruiters here, simply because there are none, or my college would have got them to the campus on the very first day.
Isn’t your college in Mumbai or any bigger city like this? When are you graduating or you already graduated?
No. Not in Mumbai or any big city. I am graduating in March but the courses will end sometime in February hopefully (dates not yet fixed).