Work experience that big of a deal???

I’ve had about 20+ interviews for full-time positions and have yet to land one since my graduation in late December. I make it to the final round of most interviews, but I feel like the 40-year old virgin is a better closer than me. The people always tell me that the candidate chosen had more “direct work experience” to offer to the position. Not that I think I am a seasoned veteran, but what is the difference between taking an advanced course load while working an internship and studying for, and passing Level I of the CFA exam, and someone that has worked a full-time job for a year. It’s almost like these companies can’t hire someone without work experience. I’ve had two different finance internships but that doesn’t count for anything in their eyes. How much harder can a position one year out of college be?

You’re probably right - it’s a CYA provision.

Sorry dude but Work Ex>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MBA/CFA>UGrad. Work Ex really is that big of a deal. It’s invaluable to yourself and to a potential employer. There is an enormous disparity between someone who has a full year under their belt vs. a student w/ internships who has passed L1.

The fact that you got so many interviews in the first place shows that a lack of work experience was not a disqualifying factor by itself. So, one of these scenarios seems likely: 1) You were just unlucky. 2) The people with work experience actually interviewed differently/better. 3) You’re doing something else during the interviews that made people not hire you. (0/20 is kind of surprising)

Keep in mind that the financial sector is not in full recruiting mode now, unless you’re in PE. It can be tough to land a job after graduating in December because most of the recruiting for ugrads occurs in the fall and early winter. What types of firms are you applying to?

Just interviewed last week for a level 1 associate ER position. This week I have a final round interview with a major exchange company, and the HR dept. of a consulting firm called me yesterday to set up an interview. The analyst I interviewed with last week for ER also told me yesterday that he talked to another analyst and recommended me for an associate position that just opened up on his team and I should expect to hear from him in the next few days. In the past I have interviewed with Caterpillar, Edward Jones, Exelon, a smaller hedge fund near Chicago. I didn’t go to a top school or anything like that. The reason I’ve gotten so many opportunities is because I have a good resume and have spent a lot of time networking. Should I address the issue of work experience when interviewing and tell the person what I can bring to the table instead?

Think of it this way. Education and other academic achievements like passing a given level of the CFA are indicators of your ability to a potential employer. Actual work experience with a reference who can say “yes, this guy/girl can do XYZ” is hard evidence that you can do the job. As an employer, I’d much rather hire a known quantity than gamble on a brand new grad, unless I could get that grad for dirt cheap. That said, 0 for 20 is pretty dismal - is there anything something else at play here?

you couldnt get a job at Edward Jones?

In my experience, most consulting firms deal with really unique problems/issues that don’t pop up in the day to day activities of most firms. If you want to make an impression in an interview, you need to show that you can combine creativity with good analysis to solve a problem that doesn’t lend itself well to standard textbook approaches.

robber07 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Should I address the issue of work experience when > interviewing and tell the person what I can bring > to the table instead? yes - i just had one this week for a management role where i have zero ‘professional’ management experience. i explained what i am doing that can be considered ‘management’ as the president of my local alumni chapter and how i view the management role and process. always give complete answers to their questions and situation. after all, that’s what they’re looking for in an employee.

20 different companies or 20 rounds total in all the companies? This is like Peyton Manning in interviews.

I also don’t understand this obsession with work experience in finance. I’ve been on about 40 interviews in 3 years. I just had one yesterday. I got one offer out of all those interviews. Every company wants work experience and in this job market they’re looking for people who’ve done exactly what the job requires. It’s just the way it is. OP, you might need to do what a lot of people do. Lower your standards and get an ops job.

I’ve interviewed with about 12 companies which have amounted to 20+ interviews. It’s not like I’m a crappy interviewer because I usually make it past the first round. A few companies have called me back to interview for a different position. I actually talked to the person from that company and she said I wasn’t chosen because they went with someone who had work experience. Why do these people even interview a candidate if they can look at his/her resume and see he/she has just graduated. It seems stupid and a waste of everyone’s time.

I suppose just keep doing what you’re doing, if you’re getting this many interviews, you’ll be fine.

robber07 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It seems stupid and a waste of everyone’s time. that was the conclusion here -> http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?1,1238718 welcome to HR’s world…where no one can here you scream

Any chance something like this happened in a few of those interviews? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AMgagxCvZQ

I know how you feel, im in the same boat, graduated with Bsc Finance in Sept, passed level 1 in dec, but still work experience is a requirement if not the diversifying factor these days, but I wont give up, and have even started to apply for ops roles, until graduate programs open up again. Best of luck though

When I was coming in w/o experience all I could land was an internship, you should be willing to accept one if it is in the field you want to be in. Since I have built experience in research and have been applying/interviewing for positions where I will get my own coverage or on the buy side. I have been 0/12-15 on these and was just offered one (sell side, cover own names within a year). Although I was at the lower end of experience and didn’t fit the profile I got the job, just keep trying and plugging away. I can’t tell you how discouraging it was but this offer made it all worthwhile, I am also under consideration by 3 other shops for similar roles… So if I can get 1 or 2 more offers I should be really set…

In case your current interview doesn’t work out, you could try to speak with someone from like a campus career center. They could do a mock interview and see if it is anything you do in the interview that could be causing the problem. I would guess not, but I don’t know you. My primary guess would be bad luck. When we recruit someone we get a bunch of interested people (50+ resumes). We might only do final interviews with 3 and whoever gets it might be a crap shoot (ie. all equally good just some small thing might result in that person not being chosen). My advice: don’t get discouraged and keep working hard to find more opportunities.

Unfortunately for recent grads, they are competing with a pretty large pool of folks with a year or two of experience who lost their jobs because they were the most recent hire at their old company. They are willing to work for the same money as the fresh graduate, so its hard to choose a fresh graduate over them. I suspect there are a lot of pretty good Dec grads who aren’t getting any interviews.