Hey guys, first a bit of background. I’m a charterholder with 4 years fund of funds and 1 year of credit research. I have zero experience with financial modeling. Been out of work for quite awhile and have had no luck getting an interview. Because there are no FoF jobs near me, and I want to transition out of it, I’m always applying for other areas of asset management, although I try to find openings that aren’t too demanding with specific skills or exp I don’t have.
Anyway, one required skill I see a lot of, even outside of equity research, is financial modeling. The local CFA society is sponsoring a Wall Street Prep boot camp, but the discounted cost is 1k for the shortened 2 day course. I already have their self study basic financial modeling package, although I only paid $10 for it thru Udemy. Normally there’s no way I’d shell out a grand to take some course, but desperation makes people do stupid things. So, I guess the crux of the matter, is if taking this course would give me enough of a boost to get me a job. Being unemployed, I really don’t want to spend so much money if it would only make a small difference in my job chances. Any thoughts?
Bromion, I have the 250 dollar WSP modeling course already, so I’m sure with that and other resources I could teach myself, but I’m not sure it would credible in helping me get a job like the actual boot camp.
I’m not sure the boot camp is going to move your resume to the short list. A two day course doesn’t teach you to model anymore than the WSP self study does. You haven’t demonstrated that you can model, someone else probably has.
I was on my phone earlier and I hate texting but my comment implied that it would be faster and less painful to simply light the money on fire if your goal was a resume boost.
I don’t think that the boot camp would have any marginal benefit over the self study course. As others have said, neither would probably boost the resume that much but you could use the skills you learn from the course to build a model on the companies you’re following and include it with your application along with the research report?
I agree with this. As a resume boost, you’d probably get more traction by sending the money to me and put line on your resume saying that you’re my friend. I’ll give you my paypal account if you want to do that.
However, it could be useful if the bootcamp makes you feel more comfortable modeling and you use the skills to build some models of companies on your own that you then send with your resume (assuming that your modeling has improved as a result of the boot camp).
People here will point out that you can probably pay less for one of the online programs like Breaking Into Wall Street., but it’s only $500 or $700 less, and some people learn better in a classroom setting than in an online-only environment. I’m actually one of these people… for some reason, the fact that I’m interacting with a live person and can ask questions seems to help (even if I don’t actually find I need to ask questions).
If the bootcamp comes with a password to an online version of the course so you can brush up on things that you didn’t catch the first time around, I’d say it’s not a bad deal, necessarily. What’s nice about the online stuff is that you can go back and review things and not have to try to remember what the instructor originally said. As long as the difference in price over the online-only version isn’t going to break you or send you to the poorhouse.
why don’t you buy biws? you’ll have it for the rest of your life. i purchased an excel course, fundamental and advanced modeling course for 500$ and completed them. I still go back and use them as a reference when needed. much better value than a 2 day course that costs 2x as much
I’ve looked at hundreds of resumes and interviewed dozens of analysts over the past few years and can categorically sayy that having “modeling boot camp” on your resume adds exactly zero value. You’re almost better off using your time to become an expert at chess or tennis and then putting that on your resume instead, which would actually catch my attention.
Which city/state are you in? FoF skillset is very unique and doesn’t transfer well into many other roles.
If you are not in a finance city (NYC/CHI/BOS/PHI) I would suggest looking at local private wealth firms, investment/benefits consulting, and pension plans. For additional skills I would look into learning VBA, SQL, Access, and try to make a move as a business analyst or treasury at a local firm. Most small firms probably have dated systems or no systems at all.
If you want another FO job and have the ability to move, then I would move to NYC.