I’m far from a veteran but I’ve been in sell-side for two years plus. Have been in a smaller sell-side firm and now in a BB firm (dont bother asking). Have seen lots of people wanting to get in and plenty of questions - felt the urge to share a little light on the industry. Here goes: 1. Q: What it takes to get in - A: Try sending your resume to the head of research/sector head rather than the HR dept (do both - preferably). Make that mail a registered mail so that you know it gets to the head. Make your resume quick & punchy b/c he/she has only 20 secs before it gets into the bin. 2. Q: “I’m working in a non-finance line right now…will I get in?” - A: Often the best analysts are from the related industry itself. Use that to your advantage, you may even know the industry better than the analyst himself. No money can buy you that experience! But do take the initiative to read up on valuation, finance principles (straight P/E valuation isnt going to cut it) 3. Q: “I’m currently in L2 now, I’ll complete CFA first and I’ll blast my CV to Merrill” A: Please don’t wait, don’t waste time. There are thousand of CFA holders there - you may be in L1 but you may have something that differentiates you from the crowd. Use that to your advantage. 4. Q: “I’m obssessed with valuation, Excel spreadsheets”… A: Yes no doubt this is important, but its not everything. Equally important are the company drivers and industry drivers and how the whole thing fits together. You can’t model a company if you don’t understand it. Other thoughts: 1. Be humble. Having a hardworking attitude is a must. This job is takes up at least 70 hours/week. 2. Be prepared to answer questons like: How many cars are there in the world, etc. 3. Ironically, starting out at a BB firm maybe a bad thing. Immense competition, pressure, etc. Starting out at a small/mid-tier firm works for more - you get human colleagues/friendlier environment/less politics (this can kill)/colleagues that teach, etc. 4. CFA is not everything. This job is more of an art, fyi. 5. This industry is at its sunset. Sell-siders are viewed as a cost-centre. I’ll stop here. Good luck!
thanks for the information. i will be more aggressive with my resume sendings. any ideas what i should make the objective?
EMRA32 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > thanks for the information. i will be more > aggressive with my resume sendings. any ideas what > i should make the objective? NO Objective!!! That takes up space that you could write about a leadership position you held. C’mon everyone wants to make money; no matter how you phrase it. You will have time to elaborate on your objectives during an interview.
Objective is good if you are looking for something that is different from what you’ve done in the past. It lets people know to look for transferrable skills and work ethic as opposed to looking at your last job and trying to figure out what the next logical step in the progression would be. So, no objective if you are looking for the same line of work; add an objective if you need to indicate a change in direction.
hmm. how interesting. Thanks guys! Whats your general opinion on cover letters? I always right one, but, i dont know if i may have the best execution. I may make a topic about this if i dont get an answer but heres my general outline: i- Greeting, say how i found about the position. ii- show a few examples of how i meet their qualifations and why i would be good. iii- write one last paragraph about how even though i meet the qualifications (or not), why im still a good candidate because of my work ethics, personality, handsome good looks etc., and then give them my number. Its okay if i dont get a job. i just dont want to blow an opportunity because i completely duffed the cover letter and resume. i know i will be removing the objective.
Total second what Starleauge has here: broke into reseach from the retail brokerage world using those tactics, interviewed with 10 firms before I got an offer but in the end it was all worth it. Cold calling analysts/hor was definitly the most effective way to find interviews as most jobs are never posted
Skip the objective on the resume. It’s corny. Write a quality cover letter that is concise -you can state your objective here if need be.