Career Guidance

Water Cooler Careers
#1

Hello,

Looking for some career advice or guidance. I recently graduated college (22yrs old) from UGA with a Int. Business and Economics degree. I was not studious at all in the past and finished with a 3.25 with poor grades the first 2 years of school. I decided to break into the IB or Portfolio Management space late in my college life and was not able to find good summer internship programs at large institutions.

I started studying for the CFA Level I in March and passed in the 90th percentile, and now going to work for Level II. Also, I am currently starting a financial modeling certificate through U Penn Coursera to better my excel and modeling skills. I currently work in the WM arm of a bulge bracket bank working with emerging affluent accounts as a financial advisor. The FA training program is a bit slow for my pace. I enjoy the work of a financial advisor and can see myself as a financial advisor for a branch office group in the future, but interested in working in IB/Capital Markets/Portfolio Analysts positions to gain some experience in investment analysis.

I understand IB classes for next year start to fill up in the next coming months, but do not know if I should apply now or look for something off-cycle, or if I’m even a qualified candidate for an entry level analyst position. I’m not too fond of the idea of applying for new jobs 2 months in to my new job as I do enjoy my office. However, I’m turning to this forum to see if anyone has recommendations/guidance on how I should approach my job search.

Thanks

#2

.

#3

Looks like you’re on the right track. The financial modeling classes, along with the CFA program will be helpful along with the experience you’re gaining in your current role. “I started studying for the CFA Level I in March and passed in the 90th percentile” Please don’t say things like this, especially at an interview or on your resume. It’s like saying “I have a high school diploma”. No one cares and it makes you sound delusional.

#4

I suppose you mean how he’s phrasing the comment. Basically that he crushed L1 with three months of study time. Yes, I agree that’s extremely lame and it’d turn me off immediately. OP should definitely bring up that he’s a CFA candidate and just passed L1 though. Just do it like a normal, non-socially awkward person. So, OP needs to channel his FA side and not is analyst side for interviews.