I’m currently employed as an analyst on the buy-side (covering a particular industry) and evaluating career alternatives. The type of funds I’m targeting is deep value-oriented. Since a good amount of value funds seek analysts who served as generalists in prior roles, there is an added element of difficulty to the terrible job market. The fact that a lot of value funds have gotten hit hard over the past two months doesn’t help, either. Because my background is devoid of any value-related experience, I’m making it clear in my cover letter that I’m a big advocate of the strategy and have utilized many of its analyses. One piece of advice I recently received was to send in an analysis of a company that I find attractive. While I agree that this makes sense for those without prior experience (i.e., undergrads or those switching from non-finance field), I’m not sure if it does for someone with hedge fund experience (it may be important to mention that the fund I work will likely not be recognized by other funds - aka we’re small). Another problem is that since I cover a specific industry, I’m most comfortable analyzing a company in that industry. However, sending a report on a company in this industry (even though I haven’t analyzed it for my fund) may put a bad taste in the prospective employer’s mouth – in my experience, most hedge funds are quite secretive and the thought of someone sending out information would ruin any chances. While it’s not impossible to analyze a company in another industry, my lack of experience would make it an arduous process; given the fact that CFA + job + sending out resumes takes up 100+ hours of work per week, this isn’t too feasible. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
" However, sending a report on a company in this industry (even though I haven’t analyzed it for my fund) may put a bad taste in the prospective employer’s mouth – in my experience, most hedge funds are quite secretive and the thought of someone sending out information would ruin any chances." Yep - I would throw away the whole thing unless I thought it was pilfered. If I thought it was pilfered I would send it to your current employer, which would probably cause you some trouble. This is a terrible idea. In any case, even if you did such a report on your own time, your current employer might still own it since you are a salaried employee and you do similar reports for a living. Sending in such a report is an excellent way to get screwed in life. I’m sympathetic about the job market though.
Thanks, Joey.
> up 100+ hours of work per week, this isn’t too feasible I wouldn’t tell a prospective sell-side employer you think a 100-hr week is infeasible.
DarienHacker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > up 100+ hours of work per week, this isn’t too > feasible > > I wouldn’t tell a prospective sell-side employer > you think a 100-hr week is infeasible. unfortunately, the hours i’ve worked over the past two years make those of someone on the sell-side look like a picnic. and if someone is on the sell-side working 100+ weeks on a normal basis, i would considering looking elsewhere, as that is by no means the norm.
DarienHacker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > up 100+ hours of work per week, this isn’t too > feasible > > I wouldn’t tell a prospective sell-side employer > you think a 100-hr week is infeasible. I would. Suppose that you work 6 days. That’s 17 hours per day. Add in commuting and we’re at 19 hours/day. That leaves 5 hrs to sleep, shower, dress. So we’re down to 4 1/2 hrs of sleep. There is no amount of money, power, prestige that should convince you to try to sleep 4 1/2 hrs/night while working all the rest of the time. BTW - These Wall Street claims of 100 hr work weeks are silly. Frankly, I’d be happy to get 40 good hours out of most people.
JoeyDVivre Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Frankly, I’d be happy to get 40 > good hours out of most people. No deal. You get 5 hours of genius and 35 hours of me looking pretty.
chrismaths Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > JoeyDVivre Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Frankly, I’d be happy to get 40 > > good hours out of most people. > > No deal. You get 5 hours of genius and 35 hours of > me looking pretty. Heck with that. You work for five hours and then I look at my Sarah Palin screen saver.
I would simply use your energy networking with people who might get you into the shops you are targeting for an interview. Don’t offer anything more than a resume, that is all you need. If they then ask for some written ideas go nuts. I doubt your report would even get read just “cold delivered.”
If they ask for some written idea, say “Hmm. I feel pretty uncomfortable about that because intellectual property I create while I work for current employer pretty much belongs to him if it’s related to my employment. If I have a good trading idea, I’m supposed to give it to him, not use it for a job search. I would be glad to give you a sample of my writing or do some project that wouldn’t violate my obligations to my current employer.” Potential employers love stuff like that because it means you wouldn’t sell them out for a better job.
If your employer publishes stuff, you should try to get something of yours published by them. Then it’s in the public domain, and you can refer to it. When I do consulting work, I often try to get in on stuff that will be published. Then you can usually distribute it without fear of intellectual property violations.
equity_analyst Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I would simply use your energy networking with > people who might get you into the shops you are > targeting for an interview. Don’t offer anything > more than a resume, that is all you need. If they > then ask for some written ideas go nuts. I doubt > your report would even get read just “cold > delivered.” I agree that networking is the best approach. Unfortunately, I have limited contacts in the area that I’m interested.
EMHdenied Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > equity_analyst Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I would simply use your energy networking with > > people who might get you into the shops you are > > targeting for an interview. Don’t offer > anything > > more than a resume, that is all you need. If > they > > then ask for some written ideas go nuts. I > doubt > > your report would even get read just “cold > > delivered.” > > I agree that networking is the best approach. > Unfortunately, I have limited contacts in the area > that I’m interested. Geographically speaking? You can always reach out to the local analyst society, many have boards setup related to professional development etc., that might be an opiton.
equity_analyst Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > EMHdenied Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > equity_analyst Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > I would simply use your energy networking > with > > > people who might get you into the shops you > are > > > targeting for an interview. Don’t offer > > anything > > > more than a resume, that is all you need. If > > they > > > then ask for some written ideas go nuts. I > > doubt > > > your report would even get read just “cold > > > delivered.” > > > > I agree that networking is the best approach. > > Unfortunately, I have limited contacts in the > area > > that I’m interested. > > > Geographically speaking? You can always reach out > to the local analyst society, many have boards > setup related to professional development etc., > that might be an opiton. Thanks for the advice. I was referring more to investment style than geography, though. I’d really like to join a fund with a value strategy. If my only goal was to make more money, I don’t think it would be as tough (although it would still be difficult givent the current job market). Geography poses another problem, as I’m currently not located in New York, Boston or Greenwich, which is where I’m mostly targeting. That said, I felt that it would be better to just target the PM’s (or analysts) of funds, since I did not have a lot of contacts in the area (I did utilize my contacts first, but unfortunately nothing came out of it). If the approach I’m taking doesn’t work, I’ll need to switch it up a bit.
JoeyDVivre Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > > BTW - These Wall Street claims of 100 hr work > weeks are silly. Frankly, I’d be happy to get 40 > good hours out of most people. +1