Will this bring me closer to Equity Research?

Hi all, This is my first post in this forum and I need some career advice from you people here. I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering and worked as a shipyard engineer for a year before I decided to switch into the financial industry. I wanted to be in equity research but I took on a job as a Financial Planner then as I did not have any relevant experience. I have sinced cleared levels 1 & 2 of the CFA exams but have not been successful in getting any interview for equity research related job. I have a job opportunity now to work as a research analyst in a University’s research centre. The centre covers economic, environmental, political and social issues in the maritime sector. My question is: will this job bring me closer to getting a job as an equity research analyst? The kind of research may not be exactly what equity reseach analysts do but can I say that I will have specialised industry experience in the maritime sector after 1-2 years in this position and that can help me in getting a job in equity research? Should I take up this job or should I keep looking?

This sounds like it is a step towards becoming a Research ASSOCIATE (which then becomes a step towards analyst). any job that gives you better research and financial experience than a fianancial planner (which, sorry, isn’t going to get you on the street) is a step in the right direction. With two levels of the CFA passed and a Mech Eng. undergrad you should be landing some interviewiews (especially in metals & mining) for associate positions. Perhaps you should have a pro. look at your resume for feedback? Good luck!

xcfax Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi all, > > This is my first post in this forum and I need > some career advice from you people here. I have a > degree in Mechanical Engineering and worked as a > shipyard engineer for a year before I decided to > switch into the financial industry. I wanted to be > in equity research but I took on a job as a > Financial Planner then as I did not have any > relevant experience. > > I have sinced cleared levels 1 & 2 of the CFA > exams but have not been successful in getting any > interview for equity research related job. > > I have a job opportunity now to work as a research > analyst in a University’s research centre. The > centre covers economic, environmental, political > and social issues in the maritime sector. > > My question is: will this job bring me closer to > getting a job as an equity research analyst? The > kind of research may not be exactly what equity > reseach analysts do but can I say that I will have > specialised industry experience in the maritime > sector after 1-2 years in this position and that > can help me in getting a job in equity research? > > Should I take up this job or should I keep > looking? It won’t…the best way to get into ER is to just do ER. In fact if you keep doing CFP or academic research or whatever it’ll take you even further away because your career path will look even more divergent. Just use your networks, talk to headhunters, and be creative.

"the best way to get into ER is to just do ER. " Great advice, I don’t know why he didn’t think of it earlier.

newsmaker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "the best way to get into ER is to just do ER. " > > Great advice, I don’t know why he didn’t think of > it earlier. LOL

Decision is iffy in my opinion. I agree that being a financial planner isn’t really going to do a lot for you, but this research job seems pretty unrelated as well. What you have going for you is your eng degree and prior experience. You want to do something that can leverage that to appear as ‘expert knowledge’ and get into ER in the appropriate sector. While being able to write well is required in ER, I have seem some pretty horrible reports, and I doubt you are bad enough that you would require a job to prove that you are literate. The macro stuff you would learn on the job is not bad, but it is something you can learn on the side. If you are genuinely interested in financial markets you should be following business/economic news anyway. I would probably jump ship if the comp was better, but the bank (assuming that is where you are) would probably have more opportunities to get into the capital markets side of the business. Are there no financial analyst type of jobs where you are? You are obvious quantitatively inclined and have CFA to back you up to some degree.

newsmaker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "the best way to get into ER is to just do ER. " > > Great advice, I don’t know why he didn’t think of > it earlier. sorry, at the risk of stating the obvious i just meant to say that it’s best to do whatever you can to get straight into ER – doing another job before that isn’t exactly going to prepare you for ER (unless we’re talking about investment banking or corporate finance) and can sometimes take you further away from your end goal (i.e. the more lines on your resume that you have that are non-ER, the more likely you may have actually strayed off your path to ER)

Thank you all for your great advice. Aerius, I’m not working in a bank, its a financial planning firm, so there isn’t any opportunitites to move into any other positions.

What numi’s trying to say xcfax is that although this might be a step (i believe it would be) in a better direction than being a financial planner (which those on the street don’t care about or see relevant) that perhaps you are better suited as a planner and keep looking for aapital markets jobs. I suggest that with your credentials you put together a research report on a company you like. Do a full initiating report covering everything from macro effect, challenges, positives, valuation etc. and submit those 20 or so pages after your resume. Those that do flip through it will likely be impressed enough to give you a chance to interview…

Strikershank, your suggestion to write a report sounds great, I have never thought of doing that. Would most probably attempt to do something like that. I agree with numi that getting into ER directly will be the best option. I wasn’t very keen to take up the research job initially but I was frustrated that I’m not moving anywhere by staying on as a financial planner (I’m not doing very well here also) and also not getting any interviews in ER. Also, I’m concern that taking up the research job will not count as an experience requirement for the CFA charter. At least for a financial planner (may) qualify.

xcfax, feel free to take my word on it as someone who works in equity research at a major bank and who does recruiting for the department…and yes the report idea is a good one, see if you can get a hold of an initiation report for a company you’re interested in and try to follow a similar format and structure by building your own model and writing your own report. it may not be perfect but at least it shows your commitment to the job and your going out of your way to prove yourself

Where are good sources to find ER reports? I’m trying to write these as well.

listen to numi. he knows i’m right on that one as i recruit as well and have spent 2 years in research before moving on. So listen to both of us and doa report. i used my own report to get into the industry. It was crappy report looking back (i mean crappppy), but the content of the report they didn’t care about. They care that you took the initiative to do it, the understanding of many things that drive the company, a report demonstrates your writing ability, and you ability to do a valuation that although likely wrong, still is better than most candidates who don’t submit anything. as for initiating report: google the company name with a *pdf after the name and see what pops up. or find out what analysts cover the company you like and use the analyst name *pdf…see what pops up…even if you can’t find one for your company if you get one for a different firm you can see the flow of the report… numi - since you recruit i would’ve expected more help from you via my ‘what interview questions should i ask’ post when i was looking for new ideas/questions to keep my from getting bored!!! you’re in deep sh*t. haha.

i don’t have too many creative recruiting questions…generally i just like to see how people think about different business and investment situations, which i think tends to be the most common type of question. at least for me, i don’t ask brainteasers or “tough” questions out of potentially good candidates – i just want to see that they’re thoughtful and analytical and it’s pretty easy to tell whether or not someone knows what they’re talking about. if you get an unusual technical question or a brainteaser, i think that is usually a bad sign - people only ask those questions if they’re trying to pass the time or don’t really care why you’re there. i can’t remember personally getting asked a tough brainteaser question and actually making it through the next rounds.

I slightly disagree with your last sentence numi. I tend to ask a couple ‘tough’ questions to see how they think, especially on the spot. I only ask one real techincal question (unless i’m bored and want to pass the time, haha)…that technical question currently is the Company A/B question you posted a few weeks ago. I found that’s a great conversation question in an interview as well as seeing how they approach a situation with lots of ambuguity. but i’ll agree that the more qualified the candidate, the more the interview becomes a two way conversation vs. question after question…

First interview question was a brian teaser. One of the analysts in the group always starts off the interview with 2 b-teasers. I don’t think their a bad sign. Also, I’ve mentioned this before, but to reiterate above posters, writing a report is a good idea. I know 3 people who got their foot in their door that way, including my analyst. Even if it’s crappy report, there’s an upside, which is you’ll be able to pitch a stock at following interviews because of your knowledge regarding company xyz.

First interview question was a brian teaser. One of the analysts in the group always starts off the interview with 2 b-teasers. I don’t think their a bad sign. Also, I’ve mentioned this before, but to reiterate above posters, writing a report is a good idea. I know 3 people who got their foot in their door that way, including my analyst. Even if it’s crappy report, there’s an upside, which is you’ll be able to pitch a stock at following interviews because of your knowledge regarding company xyz. good luck

strikershank Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I slightly disagree with your last sentence numi. > > I tend to ask a couple ‘tough’ questions to see > how they think, especially on the spot. > I only ask one real techincal question (unless i’m > bored and want to pass the time, haha)…that > technical question currently is the Company A/B > question you posted a few weeks ago. I found > that’s a great conversation question in an > interview as well as seeing how they approach a > situation with lots of ambuguity. > > but i’ll agree that the more qualified the > candidate, the more the interview becomes a two > way conversation vs. question after question… actually, that was a good question now that i think about it too…wonder if i’ll use it myself at some point

i missed that question (havent been keeping up on my AF reading unfortunately). what was the question/thread?

nolabird, check out this question. http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?13,613572,page=1