<p>I just have one question and I am asking you because you have a lot more experience than I do. How possible is it to get a full-time job in Finance (wall street or non-wall street) without having a bachelors in Finance or Accounting? I am getting a bachelors in Biochemistry/Biophysics and a Masters in Financial Engineering simultaneously. </p>
<p>Everywhere I look (except for Wall Street job postings) all entry-level finance jobs are looking for a bachelors in Finance or Accounting - do companies stick to this rule while recruiting? </p>
<p>What is financial engineering? I understand why finance firms want most of their employees to have a background in finance or accounting; you can’t really do the job unless you have the financial training (unless they are going to work in a division like marketing or IT). Not sure what financial engineering is, though…</p>
<p>I think that a Masters in Financial Engineering would be good enough to get you through any door. You’ll have to explain it, of course. Be sure to amp the financial and downplay the engineering.</p>
<p>Thank you starbright! I was wondering about that…</p>
<p>ellemenope - thank you for the advice </p>
<p>Other than interning at a finance job (I have a Business Analyst Position at JP Morgan, what else can an undergrad do to make their resume more “Finance-oriented”?</p>
<p>Interning at JP Morgan as a Business Analyst is a big deal. Be sure to describe the things you did at your internship and be ready to talk about them enthusiastically at your interviews.</p>
<p>Are you part of any Business-related clubs at school? Are you the treasurer for any clubs at school? Do you have a part time job doing some finance thing at school? Have you helped any mom and pop business with your financial acumen? All of these things can work to highlight a more finance oriented resume.</p>
<p>Being good at finance is more than being good at the financial piece. Read the economist; read the FT; read the WSJ. Get familiar with the major think tanks that deal with politics, agronomy, banking policies overseas. It is easy to find a new grad who aced all their finance and accounting courses; it is harder to find one of those who also understands the difference between what’s going on in India vs. China in their drives towards urbanization and industrialization or why Brazil’s economy is fundamentally different from Chile’s.</p>
<p>A friend of mine heads recruiting for a huge hedge fund. Her last hire was a new grad with a BS in Geology who had never taken a finance course. But he not only understood the geo-politics of oil and gas drilling, and where the major untapped sources of natural gas were around the world, he also had read voraciously about the Kyoto accords and other climate change legislation; he had followed the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and Libya and had opinions about how they would impact the worlds financial markets, was a student of world culture and family structure and how that plays into the political systems of different countries.</p>
<p>His company will have to teach him how to do a discounted cash flow analysis or how to assess the balance sheet of a company but they’re not too worried!</p>
<p>So read and learn all you can about anything out there in the big wide world!</p>
<p>Financial Engineering (for the person who asked earlier) translates to schools trying to create a specific curriculum and training program for the physics/mathematics/cs Ph.D’s who were hired as quantitative analysts (I’m not sure if they pertain to other positions on Wall St.). Most disagree with the effectiveness of getting an FE MS since the objective is obviously to train technically-oriented people in the financial research sector. The reason physics Ph.D’s were so valuable was because certain physics and the mathematical equations that describe physical processes (like fluids or combustion) are very similar to the equations describing certain types of markets in finance (mainly this is the area of differential equations, and normally the problem would be to write down a partial differential equation that accurately describes a system and then solving it (which can only be done by supercomputers in a reasonable amount of time)). Plus, if you have a Ph.D in the subject, you’ve spent years and years figuring out these problems, so you know the math inside and out, not just how to apply it in a certain situation.</p>
<p>If you’re getting an FE MS from, say, Columbia Univ., then that’s a different story.</p>
<p>Also, if you already have an internship as an analyst, I wouldn’t worry too much more about it. Also, that seems like a position that wouldn’t have anything to do with being a quantitative analyst, since that would require years of expertise in programming and mathematics. But if that’s true, then I don’t really understand why you’re getting a financial engineering degree, unless there’s more to the financial engineering program than I know about.</p>
<p>ellemenope - I am part of a business related club at school and I hold several leadership positions on campus for clubs that have to do with sustainability</p>
<p>blossom - thanks for the advice, that’s just it. I read WSJ and keep very current with the news and debate on it, but I feel like a lot of wall-street and non-wallstreet corporations are just looking for the “Bachelors in Finance/Accounting/Business” tag. </p>
<p>oldfort - I am interning as a business analyst. My school is not a target school for finance people.</p>
<p>hadsed - I am currently choosing between becoming a business analyst and finance analyst after graduating from college. My school is not a target school for finance for any major companies and that’s my biggest barrier. Finance seems like an extremely exciting field to me, but I am not sure I can get there without a bachelors in Finance or a degree from a top school.</p>
<p>aiko, there is no magic bullet. If you are interested in finance, there are many ways to get there. Industrial companies hire treasury analysts, who work with banks, credit rating agencies, etc. and work on liquidity and financing deals. All public companies have Investor Relations groups, the rating agencies themselves hire analysts, even your state government has finance teams- some work with actuaries and labor unions to deal with budget issues, some actually work with underwriters on bond issues (every time your state issues a bond to finance a bridge, a new dorm for the State U, a waste treatment plant the finance team is involved), etc.</p>
<p>You are thinking much too narrowly if you are obsessing about your school not being a target school for major companies. Go to J P Morgan and work really hard; you can figure out your interview strategy after that. And you definitely don’t need a BA in Finance as long as you have the basics on your resume- strong quant skills, some experience in a relevant field, good grades, evidence of leadership.</p>
<p>hi blossom, thank you so much for your advice! I knew I was looking too narrowly, but I wasn’t sure what else to look at. Your advice gave me some clues that I will definitely pursue :)</p>
<p>As with many jobs, looking for the kind of work you want to do in firms or companies that aren’t located in happening cities will yield better results. Think Minneapolis rather than Chicago, for example. </p>
<p>Even though your school isn’t a “target school” for certain firms, it is very well thought of. Are there any alumni of your college working at the firms you’re interested in? Be sure to count those who went undergrad to RPI and grad school at a “target B-school.” They would be happy to give advice, I’m sure.</p>
<p>I’m confused. Why are you getting a bio degree when you want to go into finance? Do you enjoy biology/science? Also, what are your motivations for working in finance? Why do you think you’ll like it, and what do you think you’ll like about it? What do you like to do in general?</p>
<p>ellemenope - our alumni are famously known for not caring about their school unfortunately! However I will definitely look for some on Linkedin and contact them.</p>
<p>Hadsed - i used to be a pre-med student due to familial pressure and decided against it. I would love to devote my life to finance and learn the complexities of the entire financial sector (yeah not going to happen in my lifetime, but hey!). One thing I do want to learn is the exact process, in large banks, of buying and selling risky stocks. </p>
<p>I have another question: do all financial engineers end up on Wall Street? What if I wanted to work for a non-wall street company instead (Boeing, GE, Microsoft)? Would my masters be a hindrance?</p>
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