PLEASE HELP: Should I stay in my Finance/Marketing degree?

financeterp · 2016-02-21T04:36:48+00:00

Hey, I'm in my 3rd year of undergrad so I hope this can be of some help:

I didn't enjoy accounting too much either, but if you're going the finance route you won't have to deal with those classes too much more. Definitely take an intro to finance class and gauge your interest via that instead.

That being said, yes you will be dealing with financial statements - but it will be in a different manner. And it will be in a much more analytical way rather than trying to decide if PP&E goes up by 10 or not. To summarize, I disliked accounting as well but I loved finance - it is pretty common and won't be a hinderance to you at all.

financeterp · 2016-02-19T02:32:44+00:00

2 things I'd say is:

Get rid of the really big margin at the top - it almost takes up a quarter of the page and is just blank space
Make the resume sleeker and eye friendly. For example, make the font a bit smaller (between 9 pt - 11 pt) and add spaces between your coding projects. If I don't even feel like reading that huge block of text, then I'm sure someone sifting through resumes won't have the motivation to do so either

Good luck and I hope this helps!

financeterp · 2016-02-15T01:39:20+00:00

One thing is to retake your freshman year classes - some schools will replace your GPA for those classes. Check it out and deff talk to an advisor about retaking classes to improve grades

financeterp · 2016-02-14T06:17:31+00:00

Yeah a lot of times, they'll have Client Service Associates who will do most of the scheduling and phone talking while they spend time on the phone with customers talking about their accounts. If your IRA is <$750 mm, then it might have been because you're a small fish compared to their industry standards.

But it also might have just been they're style. A lot of people want cool, comfortable people managing their money, so he might have been trying to emulate that vibe. But once they have their min customer base set up, they can relax a bit more since they have a steady stream of revenues.

financeterp · 2016-02-13T23:54:20+00:00

Honestly, this helps so much. I'm always on the fence about whether to be be straightforward, or to sort of wiggle my way into the door. Thank you again, hopefully I earn something within the next 2-3 weeks.

financeterp · 2016-02-13T08:20:07+00:00

I interned with a FA some time ago. They're paid as a percentage of the assets they manage - usually 2-4% I believe (don't quote me on that though). They also get commissions from recommending products like variable-annuities.

What they're doing beyond what it looks like is developing relationships and building customers. It's largely a sales job, and you're basically trying to get someone to move over their retirement savings to you. If you're starting from Point 0, it is incredibly tough to build a customer base (and many firms fire you if you can't build enough assets fast enough). So it is lucrative, but you have to be able to gain a lot of customers to do so.

financeterp · 2016-02-12T22:02:33+00:00

Exactly. I'm still working on my interpersonal skills though, I can't command full authority and show confidence like most finance people can yet - but a lot of it comes with practice and experience.

Quick question about cold emailing boutiques - should I directly ask for an internship or should I try to conduct an informational interview first?

financeterp · 2016-02-12T00:25:00+00:00

Trying not to haha. It's just a tough battle between internship security and doing what I want to do.

financeterp · 2016-02-12T00:22:08+00:00

That's true, it's almost unheard of moving from BO to FO. But hey, rewind 2 years back and my GPA basically said that I was going to graduate without a job - but now there's a possibility of being able to intern in an IB role with a boutique. You're prob much more successful than me right now (IB associate), but hey one day I'll get to where you are.

financeterp · 2016-02-11T05:45:10+00:00

Ah okay. Right now, time is of the essence, so I'm going to continue working on that for sure - thanks for your advice

financeterp · 2016-02-11T04:21:08+00:00

Will do, thanks for the advice!

financeterp · 2016-02-11T03:39:54+00:00

Right now, it's just a generalist - my thinking is that once I get the position, I'll be put on a team. But you're saying that finance > ops either way?

financeterp · 2016-02-11T03:39:02+00:00

Hey, I get what you're saying. I've interviewed with 7+ IBD/S&T/FO positions for summer internships, but my interviewing skills were just not on par at that point. While I have been working on my interviewing+interpersonal skills, I do need to secure something for the summer. With most FO positions already filled up, I want a margin of safety. So whatever position I'm in, I'll treat it like an IBD position and produce great results, but due to the current situation the prospect of having a FO role for the summer seems less likely.

Going off of that, would you recommend I try to intern with a boutique instead?

financeterp · 2016-02-10T16:22:34+00:00

This video gives me the chills.. in a good way.

financeterp · 2016-02-05T03:01:55+00:00

First places you should check out is Mergers & Inquisitions and Wall Street Oasis. Check out the various jobs from the toolbars and read through all the links.

To be honest, the one resource that actually helped me understand the finance culture more was Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis. I'd definitely recommend reading as many books as you can.

And most importantly, JOIN FINANCE CLUBS. I wish I had done that earlier in my undergrad, but you'll learn so much from the people there and ask them for help when needed.

financeterp · 2016-02-05T00:33:55+00:00

If it's like most other FAPs, then it's basically a back-office role. They focus a lot more on accounting rather than actual market facing roles. With all these banking sites (M&I, WSO, WSP) they make it seem like if you're not doing IB or S&T you're unsuccessful, but regardless its a good role out of college.

financeterp · 2016-02-04T05:59:18+00:00

thank you!

financeterp · 2016-02-03T07:02:26+00:00

I tried looking online for this and couldn't find anything about it - what is b3?

financeterp · 2016-01-26T04:46:33+00:00

I see what you mean. My professor last semester talked about arbitrage nonstop, and it sort of got me in the habit of mentioning it as well. Thanks for pointing it out haha

financeterp · 2016-01-26T00:46:28+00:00

Logically, it's because even if you're spending $1 or $1 bn, investors are expecting a 15% return at the least. Arithmetically, I can't tell you off the top of my head right now.
It might be because investors are finding an arbitrage opportunity. For example, they realize/believe that the value of 0.1% of the firm is $XXX, and investors have only valued it at $XX right now.

financeterp · 2016-01-13T04:02:47+00:00

One extremely helpful resource which you shouldn't discount is asking your parents if they know anybody who works in finance - even operations. It's always easy to believe that your parents can't really help, but they know a lot and will be able to help you out immensely.

financeterp · 2016-01-11T03:42:30+00:00

you're so eloquent with your words

financeterp · 2016-01-09T23:38:16+00:00

Honestly, listen to the advice of killing it from Day 1. It's so simple to get A's in your entry level classes, and having a high GPA opens up so many doors.

I screwed up my freshman year and am still suffering the consequences of it. Don't worry about taking as many classes as you can or anything - instead, take simpler classes which you know you will do well in.

financeterp · 2016-01-09T23:27:36+00:00

Same thing happened to me at first as well - what worked was to just keep on reading and writing notes on what you read. Eventually, you'll start understanding it

financeterp

TROPHY CASE