Hi everyone,

I’ve always been fascinated by the world of finance—specifically areas like asset management, private equity, and similar fields. From the outside, it seems like an incredibly dynamic and stimulating career path, full of problem-solving, creative thinking, and strategic decision-making.

But I’m curious: is this perception accurate? Are these careers genuinely exciting, challenging, and rewarding intellectually, or do people mostly pursue them for the high salaries? Is there variety and creativity in the day-to-day work, or does it end up being repetitive and routine?

For those of you in these fields (or with experience in them), what has your experience been like? Would you describe your work as engaging and fulfilling—or more as a grind you endure for the financial payoff?

My long term goal is to work in financial or company policy for defense companies like Lockheed. my husband works in gs and I know the nyc financial firms care alot about school prestige and family background. do defense corporations care as much ?

What kind of roles within Finance lean towards data/ analytics (besides quant at quant firm)? For reference, I did a math/stats and finance undergrad, so I’m looking to see if there are more roles out there that is a good mix between the 2.

I had a second round interview with a boutique firm about a month ago - I thought it went really well, however I have yet to hear back. I've followed up with my interviewers a couple times sending them additional research I've done about their firm and the market space that they operate in, but they haven't responded. My reasoning for not giving up on the opportunity yet is as follows:

• The firm doesn't have a formal recruitment or HR team because they only have about 40 members, which leads me to believe their hiring process is less structured
• I networked with a connection I have who covers the firm externally, who told me they have cancelled several weekly meetings in a row due to an overwhelming schedule
• at the same time, after my first round interview, they asked me to do a second round that same day, but now I have heard nothing for 4 weeks

Am I over-analyzing the situation / should I write it off? My instinct is that I must still be in their process, as I would imagine after a hirevue and 2 interviews they would at least tell me if I was no longer in contention. Any thoughts?

Just wondering for benchmark purposes.

Thanks.

I am a 23-year-old working male in an Amazon warehouse. After two years of trading gold/Nasdaq futures, I have decided to pursue a career in finance and aim to get a BCom/Economics degree, targeting Canadian pension funds or big banks. However, after researching finance jobs in Canada, I am feeling super nervous about my decision to invest time and money in studying and researching the markets, especially when I see limited job prospects after completing an undergraduate degree.

My questions are:

1. Which degree or major should I choose to have the best chances of securing a job in finance?
2. What should I learn or do differently to stand out on my resume apart from joining school clubs and focusing on grades? I was thinking of writing a thesis, creating a demo portfolio, or even starting a finance blog to differentiate myself from my peers.
3. How can I make contacts and maximize my chances? Should I start sending cold emails now to try and meet people?

I am feeling super stressed, and I would deeply appreciate any suggestions.

Hi I currently have an upcoming interview for this position. Recent graduate with a bsc in Econ, I have some internship experience but not a vast amount. Curious to what they could ask me on the first round and sounds like a great role. Any advice since I haven’t found much online pertaining to this role or interviews for this role. Currently unemployed so…..

Hey everyone,

To give you some background I am 27 and have graduated from a top 50 school with a 3.3 gpa in finance in 2020. I did one year at a discount broker as a financial services representative (acquired 7 and 63 easily) but did not like it because it was customer support at a call center.

In 2021 the tech market was booming and I became interested in tech sales to obtain financial security. Much of this was rooted in insecurity I had from growing up in a lower-middle-class family and wanting to earn as much as my friends who graduated prepared to enter roles in high finance, medical, law, etc.

I was very successful in my first year as an SDR and obtained the position of Account executive after one year. I was earning between $120-150k per year and joined the company pre-ipo so I was able to get about $80k in stocks.

While I was decent at the job, I was experiencing extreme levels of stress which led to a stimulant problem and generally made me a less happy and less friendly person in my personal life. I had some mental health struggles in late 2023 and left the job in April 2024.

I did some soul-searching and went backpacking in South America but returned without much more of an idea of what I wanted to do next.

I applied to and was accepted into a Computer Science post-bacc which I am slated to begin in January and figured I could continue to work in tech sales while I complete the degree.

My problem is that while I am interested in technology and have the aptitude to complete a degree in CS I fear that I will run into the same problem of not enjoying it because it is not necessarily fulfilling in the definition that I personally hold.

My favorite conversations as a sales rep were ones where I talked about the personal lives of business owners and got a chance to learn from their wisdom. My fondest memories in life are of people who have shared their valuable advice and of me getting the chance to help encourage and advise others. I feel that as a financial advisor I would be able to live a mission driven life of helping others live in the moment knowing that they have budgeted for their purchases and life experiences. I don't want work to be a separate part of life from my personal life and think that the ways that I would need to be involved in my community to network as an FA (church, volunteering, community groups, etc.) would enrich my personal life as well.

My good friend went from FSR to Private client advisor and says he makes about 100k and does very fulfilling work with the potential to earn much more down the road. I'm very interested in learning more about what this career path entails, but I am often discouraged by all of the negativity in this community whenever I look into the realities of the job. The weird part is that a lot of these comments don't seem to line up at all with my friend's experience.

TLDR: I am at a crossroads in my life. Burned out as a tech sales rep and deciding whether to pursue financial planning/FA and use my degree in finance or further my skills in tech so that I can move to a less stressful role. Hoping for some advice from those who have found fulfillment in being a Financial Advisor.

Hi everyone,

I recently received a job offer from a large bank. On the offer letter, it mentioned that I have two weeks from the date of the offer letter to decide on the offer. That said, the HR has been a bit pushy and would prefer that I make a decision earlier.

Would it look bad if I took the full two weeks to make a decision regarding the offer as this is an important decision or is this reasonable as that was the timeframe that was technically given to me?

Thanks

I’m looking for advice on how to transition into finance after starting my career in audit. I have a Bachelor’s of science in Finance and minor in a quantitative field. When I graduated, I couldn’t land a finance position, so I accepted a business audit role at a large investment bank (think Morgan Stanley) as my first job. I worked there for just over a year, but I realized that audit isn’t the career path I want to pursue so I left.

Unfortunately, I’ve been out of work for over a year now, despite applying consistently for finance roles. During this time, I’ve been working to improve my skills—I’ve started learning Tableau and Power BI, and I picked up SQL during my time at the large bank. I’ll also be taking the CFA Level 1 in 2025 to strengthen my qualifications.

To stay engaged and build experience, I’m currently volunteering remotely part-time for a small nonprofit in Africa.

I’m particularly interested in roles like Financial Analyst, Business Analyst, or Financial Management Analyst. I feel stuck and unsure of how to position myself to employers given my audit background.

How can I pivot into these types of roles? Are there specific skills I should focus on, ways to reframe my experience, or strategies to break into the field? I’d appreciate any advice on how to get back on track.

Background: I will end my Business Administration degree in a non target-university (which was free) + internship in a decent bank as bank teller. As I don't have any relevant internships nor a prestigious degree. I was wondering if I should consider a 2nd bachelor in economics in StGallen + master. instead of only master in any other European country .

My reasoning of a 2nd bachelor is to have enough time to learn german from b1 to c1/c2, rebranding my undergraduate (in a moderately cheap university) and have chance to networking and learn about the local culture of Switzerland. And because the salaries are quite high, I consider that even if don't get in "high finance" I still have a decent return of investment. Besides that, I love high quality chocolate and watches, low taxes and blonde chics.

On the other hand I could either just doing a master that is 50k (HEC, LBS, etc), which I highly doubt that has decent roi for just 1 year master especially without any decent professional experience. Moreover, I don't like France (obvious reason) and the UK is quite competitive and it has an uncertain future ( skill worker visas, economic evolution, many banks move their offices into continental europe, etc)

Your thoughts? Any alternative or argument that I should consider.

Keeping it short, I am a final year undergrad, searching for jobs, campus placements going on but lot of students fighting for a limited seats so difficult in standing out between them.

So, coming to the point I recently discovered that Finance Advisory services is what intrigues me more, personal finance, tax, credit cards, stocks I don't have much knowledge in them but these topics really intrigues me, I really get excited when these topics come up.

And I have basic knowledge of Data Science & Machine Learning projects on my resume, I like that work too, but wanted to know can I infuse them with finance. Cause DSA has not been working out for me and I hate that.

I am really into companies like Goldman Sachs but I don't know what projects they work on, I really want to get hands on work experience, so that I can upskill myself and I am ready to learn at any amount, I can work for free too, I just want to learn.

Any advice for a person like me it will be of great help, Thank you.

Hi all,

I have an interview for the Comerica Commercial underwriting program and wanted to ask if anyone knew about the process or what they will be looking for?

I also want to know if anyone has gone through it and if you felt it was good experience especially for someone looking to transition into more wealth management?

Appreciate any kind of help!

I know SIG focus on quant trading. How’s their capital market group.

Did everyone applied get OA? What kind of questions will you expect? Do they have interview after? Do most people who participate get internship? Thanks.

Hi everyone,

A few weeks ago I was reached out to by a recruiter on LinkedIn for a Research Analyst role at a Hedge Fund. We spoke on the phone, she shared details about the position, and initiated the application process with me.

I only have a few years of experience in consulting with no finance/banking-focused projects or prior experience in undergrad, but the job description seems pretty general that I feel confident in pitching myself to interviewers.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I should be preparing for a first-round interview and the following interviews afterwards? What concepts do I need to study/etc.?

All advice welcome and strongly appreciated, please help! Thanks :)

Hello everyone ,

I have recently moved on from my analyst role a few months ago and am actively searching for new opportunities in UAE.

I currently have over 4 years of experience in asset/fund management, where I assisted in managing an in house AED denominated money market fund and assisted in portfolio asset allocation duties and managing discretionary UHNI/SWF portfolios, alongside executing financial due diligence on MENA equities.

Would greatly appreciate if anyone knows about any potential opportunities/leads within their network, and would be glad to share my profile with them.

Just got the online assessment for the discovery day at sig, does anyone know what to expect? its a 25 minute assessment

Hey guys, I will have a ficc & Equities Summer analyst superday soon and I wanted to ask what type of questions I should expect and how should I prepare?

Thanks!!

I’m a college student looking to transfer from cc to either Rutgers business schools or Fordham Gabelli for finance. For Rutgers I get in state tuition and for 2 years it will be around 60k. However, for Fordham 2 years totals around 135k since transfers don’t get any aid their first semester. Both schools are non target / very low semi target so is that 75k difference worth it to attend Fordham?

Hi everyone! I recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and I’ve been looking for an entry level job since October. I’d like to break into finance, more specifically compliance/ anti money laundering, although I’m open to any other areas since I’m not so familiar with all offered positions. My question is what are the most essential skills (both hard and soft) that one 100% needs in order to break in. Excel ofc is super important, I was more wondering what exactly in excel one needs to know how to do. Maybe there’s someone here who works/ worked in compliance and would be willing to share some insights from their job.

Hi Guys,

I’m currently applying to JP and from what I understand I’m in the race for 2 analyst positions. Let’s call them job A and job B. All interviews have been via zoom which is convenient since I don’t live in the city im applying to.

I had an initial hirevue interview, then got an email invitation inviting me to a 45min interview for job A. The interview was with 2 VPs, of which one was the hiring manager for job A and one was the hiring manager for job B, who was interviewing me for her own position, which VP A and I were surprised about during the interview. The interview went well and they told me the next step would be an interview with „business management“. I’m still not quite sure what business management is given the context.

The next invitation I got was again for a 30min interview for job A, again with 2 VPs that work with (and seemed to be senior) to the hiring manager A. Interview again went well.

Today I got the invitation for another 30min interview, again the job mentioned is job A, again 2 VPs but the roles seem like they are a little closer to job B than job A. I was surprised because I was told it by the hiring managers it would probably only be one more interview, and this would make it 2.

So my questions, is it normal to do 4 interviews for an analyst position ? Could the new interview be for job B, even if job A is mentioned in the email (since in the hiring manager interview job B wasn’t in the invitation email either ?). My application portal status is the same for both jobs. And lastly, how likely is it that I will get an offer for either job if I’ve made it to the 4th interview ? Does that mean I probably have the job if I don’t f it up, or do they probably still have multiple people in the race even this far along ?

Thank you in advance ☺️

Hi, is anyone willing to edit my resume? I would really really appreciate it. Please PM if interested i will send the link

I'm at my first job out of uni, working for a major European bank, and I hate how long it takes to find the documentation that I need about a certain process.

They use a platform to share documents and it has a search box, but the search results are pretty awful.

Is this industry standard?

Do your guys’ companies do this?

I applied to another position within my company because it sounded interesting. I then get an email from HR basically saying” thanks for applying, we informed your manager of this application.”

What the hell hahah? That’s kind of awkward. I’m not sure why this would be a thing, I feel like that should be none of my manager’s business, but whatever.

Anybody else work in finance and regret going down this path?

Finding the lack of purpose and fulfillment through finance jobs takes a toll on me. Of course it’d be natural to think about a career switch but that is easier said than done. I’m a recent graduate and not going back to school when I’ve invested in my degree already.

You always hear people talking about office jobs and being depressing but the salary makes up for it. I’m not finding that to be true. I’d much rather be working outside or doing something not in front of a screen all day for a company where I’m just a number.

Has anyone found fulfillment or a job in the finance world that they truly enjoy?

(I’ve worked in rotational program in FP&A, Data Controls, and Venture Capital. None were interesting to me truthfully)