First time poster, long time reader. I was fortunate enough to receive the CFA student scholarship from my school (non-target but still in the top 100 according to business week…for what that’s worth) and completed work for the university’s investment fund (I researched PEP, KO, and MD). I passed Level I in June. I’ve come to the conclusion that although many people on here, myself included, lacked confidence going into and coming out of the exam (Level I). After passing, I realized that it is probable that the pass rate for people participating in this web forum have a higher chance of passing than the general population. Congrats to everyone for taking a proactive approach in your studies. My question: I have a high GPA and Level I under my belt with 2 internships (unfortunately both in wealth management) and relevant experience for my university’s educational investment fund covering PEP, KO, and MD. I just received word that I did not make it past my phone interview with a middle market bank for sell-side research. Should I focus on buy-side and, if so, what is the best way to get contact info for these firms? The contact info is more hidden than sell-side contact info. Any response is appreciated
Does your school have alumni listings? If your school has a CFA scholarship, it must have *some* people working in research. These guys would be more likely to respond to cold calls than random people.
I definitely recommend going the alumni route. No one on the buy side is hiring right now.