Hi, I know that a CFA will help you get a financial analyst postion, a investment portfolio/wealth management position, but what does a undergrad degree in Finance open up in terms of jobs that a CFA can’t?
only thing i can think of is, network contacts that you meet in your Finance class? graduating from a Math program, i feel that i lack the contacts and the placement opportunities that i would have received if I was in the Business program. But that could have just been my Uni. My career services for my program was brutal, and almost none existent. The business one was better, but still not the best. I don’t know how the placement for Business Program and non business program compares in other Universities. But other then that, maybe not much. Honestly, in the long run, I think you’re better off with a CFA and a non business degree.
Unless you come from a top business school (ie Wharton etc) an undergrad in finance means next to nothing. Undergrad finance degrees are a dime a dozen. The best you can hope for is something in sales or a back office role. A graduate degree starts to open some doors, CFA will open more still. Relentless networking will help compensate for lack of specific credentials, but I have never been a big fan of kissing people’s a$$e$. Edit: I have run into a lot of people with BBA - Finance degrees from mediocre schools (including the one that I went to) who know next to nothing about finance besides the basic buttons on a financial calculator.
McLeod81 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Unless you come from a top business school (ie > Wharton etc) an undergrad in finance means next to > nothing. Undergrad finance degrees are a dime a > dozen. The best you can hope for is something in > sales or a back office role. A graduate degree > starts to open some doors, CFA will open more > still. Relentless networking will help compensate > for lack of specific credentials, but I have never > been a big fan of kissing people’s a$$e$. > I agree. I majored in finance but because I never came from one of the major name brand schools, I don’t feel I had many opportunities out of college, although I must add that I graduated during the previous recession (2002) and my geographic location isn’t the place you want to be if your finance/banking oriented–unless you get a job with RJA.
> Edit: I have run into a lot of people with BBA - > Finance degrees from mediocre schools (including > the one that I went to) who know next to nothing > about finance besides the basic buttons on a > financial calculator. That is so true. I graduated summa cum laude with a finance BBA from a state school. I took my education very, very seriously, but my classmates were lazy idiots. In our final capstone finance course, people were actually asking the professor how to calculate a percentage change!!! Due to the poor quality of students, no firms were recruiting for legit finance positions. I would guess that, if your from a mediocre school, you’re better of as a finance major then a non-finance major. If your from a target school, your major doesn’t seem to matter that much.
undergrad majors mean zilch, brand name of the institution means everything.
Actually, undergrad majors can mean quite a bit. Especially when contrasting the hard sceinces vs liberal arts. My sister did her undergrad at dartmouth (4.0 gpa) and went to sussex for her masters and she could not get my job if she wanted to. I went to a state school and got a finance degree. Also, try getting an engineering job with a philosophy background…not gonna happen.
I’m going to go ahead and disagree with the common wisdom here. I went to a state school–by no means a brand name school (think the Commonwealth of Virginia’s best football program)–our finance program was our flagship program and the program was a weed out program so only the creme de le creme of finance majors were allowed to earn a finance degree (I graduated near the bottom of my class and passed L1 of the CFA exam on the first try). Of our 200 or so graduates, at least 25 ended up in an investment banking role, which is a high percent given that few people desired to get into those roles. Two other points–a finance degree isn’t a dime a dozen as most schools don’t even offer a finance degree, particularly in the Tier 1 programs. In addition, I’ll add that if you don’t go to a brand name school (i.e. you attend a state university) your chances of breaking into the finance industry are inferior to a new graduate with a finance degree from that respective state university. I will agree that recruitment of finance majors is weak at non-targets, but if you do your own leg work, there a ton of opportunities available to those at non-targets with finance degrees.
GenY - good point. Hard science and quant majors do make a difference. However, really it comes down to brand. Your sister’s exp. is not representative of what usually occurs (a definite outlier). Trust me a 4.0 GPA in any major from an ivy league school is going to get you an interview…and that is whether you majored in the classics, english, business, or sociology.
Is a 4.0 in international studies better than a 3.3 in Engineering? im pretty sure 3.3 in engineering is alot harder than 4.0 in international studies. But yet companies don’t care about that.
I think I’m missing something but a CFA [being a designation that requires actual work experience…regardless of how its defined/audited] seems to suggest that you at least have a cursory understanding about where the large financial towers are located in your community. A Degree in Finance, on the other hand, suggests that you do not. Willy
Your undergrad means nothing. All that matters is your contacts and if you have luck on your side. I went to a decent state school, goofed around all the time, hardly went to class, and now I’m a trading at a hedge fund at a young age.
Er…well yeah there’s that. But come on, do you honestly want to cruise through life on contacts TH? Willy
CFAMaven Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi, > I know that a CFA will help you get a financial > analyst postion, a investment portfolio/wealth > management position, but what does a undergrad > degree in Finance open up in terms of jobs that a > CFA can’t? The only thing that a undergrad finance degree can do is to help you get a job in Finance upon graduation. Once again it’s not guaranteed, but judging by your question, I guess you have already graduated college, don’t have a finance degree, and don’t work in finance? So I guess you’re wondering what you’re missing out on.
TH, how did u get that kinda job? are u working in NYC?
TeamHydro Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Your undergrad means nothing. All that matters is > your contacts and if you have luck on your side. > I went to a decent state school, goofed around all > the time, hardly went to class, and now I’m a > trading at a hedge fund at a young age. There are always situations like this, but the suggestion that your undergrad degree means nothing is highly misinformed and erroneous. I won’t re-hash what’s already been discussed in this forum and also knowledge to the general public, but one need to look no further than the type of recruiting that goes on at the top 10 universities versus that of most lower-tier schools in order to realize the meaningful disparities between the two. Where you graduated from may matter less as you move up the rungs, but I’m certain that most Harvard/Yale/Stanford/Princeton/Wharton etc. graduates feel pretty fortunate about the recruiting efforts that took place at their schools – I know I did.
True, numi. Recruiting at most state universities is paltry at best. Although, I paid $40,000 for tuition, room and board and books for my entire 4 years–we state university grads don’t have $200,000 in college expenses we’re trying to pay back with a big-time job right out of school.
That’s true – even though financial aid at most of the schools I mentioned is pretty good, a lot of us still had meaningful student loans to pay off. Hard to get a “free ride” unless you really need it and deserve it.
Ive observed in what I see that most students who are NOT from pedigree schools, specifically I am referring to the ones who are hungry for success because of the will they have to work their ass off- Ive actually seen these people succeed and make it big. I’m not taking away from the fact that students from stanford/harvard etc do well but the desire that some of these folks have is incredible and in most cases more that ones from pedigree schools who got it easier than them…I just started work a while back and I see it here my my office as well, and with the people I interact at the other offices…Once you’re in as Numi said, its all about you and your work, the education takes a back seat…
bottom line: an undergrad degree from stern or wharton will get you into the front office much more easily than passing one or even all three lvls of the CFA but with only BO experience to back it up.