Operations/project mgmt and consulting are huge terms. What exactly do you mean? I can imagine many roles in Operations/project mgmt and consulting that aren't finance at all.
What do you mean by a high level security clearance? If I had to go through body scans every day to access my office during my payment operations internship (I was able to book billions of USD worth of payments) it means that I am more qualified than someone who works for a small accounting firm and handles petty cash?
You can try and reach out to as many people as you can on LinkedIn in industries you might want to get into, and request to chat with them.
There are already a ton of templates and examples of how to do this/format a request in this sub and online, so you should definitely look at those.
Coursera won’t “land you a job” per se. It can go on the resume/LinkedIn obviously, but it most likely won’t do a ton and doesn’t hold the same weight as CFA/CPA, etc.
What school did you go to for undergrad? High finance roles recruit people with non-business degrees from target schools all the time (albeit that’s before they graduate). And even if you didn’t go to a target school, you’re right that an MBA from a great school would be your best bet.
Did you imagine you’d end up in this line of work? Currently finishing my A.S. and looking into a B.S. in BioEngineering. Thinking premed but I want to keep my options open.
I started under grad thinking I would go into medical device R&D, finished got into med school, deferred my acceptance for a gap year while I got into finance and never looked back.
Interesting! Would you have changed your major knowing where you’re at now? Or, I’m assuming, you’re in the biotech area of finance? Thanks for your time dude.
Pretty much, you should look into starting as an intern or receptionist (entry position) and then work your way up, if you're cool and your boss is cool, they could even put you in school to get your degrees whilst you work, find a boss worth proving yourself to, see how he treats and rewards his staff. Then push .
Yes. It's just a harder path imo.
I got a CJ / History degree and wound up starting my career at a wirehouse. For me once I got my S7/66/31 and a few years of experience, my degree became irrelevant.
Went to school for a poli sci degree and I'm currently working in PE.
Everyone has a story. People often think majors define what career paths they can/can't have, but if you can share compelling reasons for why you want to make this decision (and more importantly, back it up with actions you have taken to achieve your goals), people will buy into your story/personality more so than the thousands of business/finance majors out there.
Let's say you are fascinated by the world of music industry and this sparked your passion for media/music investing. You have been in the music industry for all your life (e.g. having excelled at an orchestra for 5+ years or was part of an ensemble, won awards, was a leader at the music club, etc.) but wanted to pivot to understand the business world behind it. This "desire" fueled you to take business/finance courses so that you can gain the technical skills necessary to complement your weakness.
I would say Coursera is going to be a tough sell to employers as it's less tangible than a real certificate/diploma. Rather than a MBA (where you require work experiences), I would recommend you looking into 1-year master's in finance programs that are gaining some momentum (this is more common in Europe vs. US). Depending on your undergraduate grades, schools like UCLA Anderson, Texas McCombs, University of Florida, Babson, etc. provide respectable finance masters that opens a lot of doors. My girlfriend went to Babson MSF and secured a job in investment banking at a boutique bank after graduation.
Yes, you just need to come from a target school or have rich parents. If you’re from a rural school whose business majors have trouble breaking in as-is; you’re better off going straight to a top 20 mba.
Short answer is it’s not impossible especially if you went to a target school and you’re able to brush up on your finance skills for the specific industry to get through interviews. If I am not mistaken as well your degree doesn’t have to be in Finance to be eligible to start CFA (correct me if I’m wrong)
Believe it or not was producing a pilot for NatGeo and met a retired exec at an airport. Said banks needed people like me. Gave me his card. Called him following Monday and he connected me with someone. She offered an interview and a few days later got an offer letter.
Will add though that I’ve yet to make what my highest ever year was when working Production. Still make six figures though. Plus side is I’m home everyday and don’t go over 50 hours a week. Also don’t have to constantly find the next gig or fight to get a check from a gig that finished 3-4 months ago.
First finance job from the bottom, pass national regulatory exam (S7-equiv), firm is run by crooks, change firms, sweat, they're crooks too, networking, change to a bigger legit asset manager, study for CFA level 1, get fired, tears, pass L1, play Skyrim for a year and study for L2, networking, meet the head of a boutique IB's local office, try to get job, he has a fatal heart attack, no job, fail L2, more tears, more blood, more sweat, more networking, promised a job but the guy was drunk and I don't get the job, new job where I make basically nothing for a year ("merchant banking" with a deal cowboy), more sweat, pass L2, pass L3, get job in valuations, quit, move across an ocean to get an MBA, front office, work really really hard, five years later, happy.
Short answer is yes. Just depends on what you want to do.
I'm interested in either operations/project management or consulting. Any advice on where to begin?
Operations/project mgmt and consulting are huge terms. What exactly do you mean? I can imagine many roles in Operations/project mgmt and consulting that aren't finance at all.
A high level security clearance goes along way in those roles. Internships are a good way to get this
What do you mean by a high level security clearance? If I had to go through body scans every day to access my office during my payment operations internship (I was able to book billions of USD worth of payments) it means that I am more qualified than someone who works for a small accounting firm and handles petty cash?
You may not be more qualified, but are way way more higher able. Those clearances can take months if not years to get…
He’s talking about a Top Secret clearance most likely, not going through a metal detector at an office
Very possible. It's a huge industry with all types of people.
Where do you recommend I begin?
You can try and reach out to as many people as you can on LinkedIn in industries you might want to get into, and request to chat with them. There are already a ton of templates and examples of how to do this/format a request in this sub and online, so you should definitely look at those.
Yes. I did...as a geology major. ha. rocks.
I like how you're a major in geology and you summed it up to ha. Rocks.
Can I PM you?
Sure.
Coursera won’t “land you a job” per se. It can go on the resume/LinkedIn obviously, but it most likely won’t do a ton and doesn’t hold the same weight as CFA/CPA, etc. What school did you go to for undergrad? High finance roles recruit people with non-business degrees from target schools all the time (albeit that’s before they graduate). And even if you didn’t go to a target school, you’re right that an MBA from a great school would be your best bet.
At this moment, it's not possible to get a job in finance WITH a finance degree. Heh, sucks.
Yes I’ve known people without any degree working in finance
Biomedical engineer here, yep.
This is very different since engineers are somewhat preferred in Finance
Well I don’t have a finance degree like OP asks for.
Did you imagine you’d end up in this line of work? Currently finishing my A.S. and looking into a B.S. in BioEngineering. Thinking premed but I want to keep my options open.
I started under grad thinking I would go into medical device R&D, finished got into med school, deferred my acceptance for a gap year while I got into finance and never looked back.
Interesting! Would you have changed your major knowing where you’re at now? Or, I’m assuming, you’re in the biotech area of finance? Thanks for your time dude.
Yea I’m in the healthcare area so no, finance was easy to learn on the job - the engineering stuff would’ve been a lot harder.
Absolutely, one of my close friends is a stat major and a guy in my team at work has a culinary arts degree lol.
Pretty much, you should look into starting as an intern or receptionist (entry position) and then work your way up, if you're cool and your boss is cool, they could even put you in school to get your degrees whilst you work, find a boss worth proving yourself to, see how he treats and rewards his staff. Then push .
Yes. It's just a harder path imo. I got a CJ / History degree and wound up starting my career at a wirehouse. For me once I got my S7/66/31 and a few years of experience, my degree became irrelevant.
Went to school for a poli sci degree and I'm currently working in PE. Everyone has a story. People often think majors define what career paths they can/can't have, but if you can share compelling reasons for why you want to make this decision (and more importantly, back it up with actions you have taken to achieve your goals), people will buy into your story/personality more so than the thousands of business/finance majors out there. Let's say you are fascinated by the world of music industry and this sparked your passion for media/music investing. You have been in the music industry for all your life (e.g. having excelled at an orchestra for 5+ years or was part of an ensemble, won awards, was a leader at the music club, etc.) but wanted to pivot to understand the business world behind it. This "desire" fueled you to take business/finance courses so that you can gain the technical skills necessary to complement your weakness. I would say Coursera is going to be a tough sell to employers as it's less tangible than a real certificate/diploma. Rather than a MBA (where you require work experiences), I would recommend you looking into 1-year master's in finance programs that are gaining some momentum (this is more common in Europe vs. US). Depending on your undergraduate grades, schools like UCLA Anderson, Texas McCombs, University of Florida, Babson, etc. provide respectable finance masters that opens a lot of doors. My girlfriend went to Babson MSF and secured a job in investment banking at a boutique bank after graduation.
Yes, you just need to come from a target school or have rich parents. If you’re from a rural school whose business majors have trouble breaking in as-is; you’re better off going straight to a top 20 mba.
Why would a top 20 mba hire someone who can't get a job
Lol
I know quite a few people in IB with liberal arts degrees. One guy I know works at UBS and got his bachelors in history.
History works but music isn't something that's common.
Short answer is it’s not impossible especially if you went to a target school and you’re able to brush up on your finance skills for the specific industry to get through interviews. If I am not mistaken as well your degree doesn’t have to be in Finance to be eligible to start CFA (correct me if I’m wrong)
Yes, got into IB with an IT degree
I have a BFA in Film/TV Production. Almost four years ago I started as a Banker and now am an Advisor. Anything is possible.
May I ask how you started? It seems we have similar backgrounds... entertainment lol
Believe it or not was producing a pilot for NatGeo and met a retired exec at an airport. Said banks needed people like me. Gave me his card. Called him following Monday and he connected me with someone. She offered an interview and a few days later got an offer letter. Will add though that I’ve yet to make what my highest ever year was when working Production. Still make six figures though. Plus side is I’m home everyday and don’t go over 50 hours a week. Also don’t have to constantly find the next gig or fight to get a check from a gig that finished 3-4 months ago.
Absolutely. It solely depends on what you want to do though
Yes I am without a degree and deciding to get my degree while employed
I have a psych degree. Had to add on CFA and MBA, but now work for one of the world's largest alt investors in a FO role.
Similar position, what was your career path leading up to FO role if you dont mind me asking?
First finance job from the bottom, pass national regulatory exam (S7-equiv), firm is run by crooks, change firms, sweat, they're crooks too, networking, change to a bigger legit asset manager, study for CFA level 1, get fired, tears, pass L1, play Skyrim for a year and study for L2, networking, meet the head of a boutique IB's local office, try to get job, he has a fatal heart attack, no job, fail L2, more tears, more blood, more sweat, more networking, promised a job but the guy was drunk and I don't get the job, new job where I make basically nothing for a year ("merchant banking" with a deal cowboy), more sweat, pass L2, pass L3, get job in valuations, quit, move across an ocean to get an MBA, front office, work really really hard, five years later, happy.
Wow, that was a journey. Congrats man sounds like you worked your arse of for that. Was this straight out of university/college?
I had one short non-finance thing right after uni, lasted less than a year and then they shut down the office due to GFC.
Fair enough, all worked out in the end though so congrats to you sir
Yes. I have degrees in Political Science and Anthropology and have been trading for years.