<p>How good is the job market? s1 is graduating next December with a degree in Finance with a 3.25. He is very worried about the job market. He worked at Kroger from Jr yr of HS to Freshman year of college, did accounting for a year for one of our friends, and is doing a sales internship this summer(which is basically grunt work for peanuts). He is in a couple of clubs and is joining a couple more academic clubs the next year and a half. He hasn't had a real job in college and is a bit worried-he switched his major last year so he is busting butt to catch up and 18 hours of finance classes doesn't leave much time. He has an officer position he got from an ex GF who he is still friends with of an academic club. Most jobs he says want 2-3 years of experience, he was told to intern next summer and get another one post graduate. What can he do to better his chances? We had a neighbor across the street who graduated with a degree in communications from Georgia State and is still waitressing 3 years later and cannot find anything with her major (she had a 2.5 FWIW though)</p>
<p>There is a big difference between graduating with a communications degree (and a mediocre GPA) and graduating with a finance degree and work experience. Can’t tell you what else he can do to increase his chances (not my field) but nephew recently graduated with an accounting degree and a lowish GPA and did get a good job. Keep up the faith, and good luck to your son!</p>
<p>The job market is better now then it’s ever been since 2008. As for advice, internships help but that’s about all I can say on finance. It’s not my thing.</p>
<p>I’m not sure the point of all the club joining. If he’s joining a “young entrepreneurs club” which has leaders from business and industry coming to campus to speak and then network- sure. Great idea and well worth the time. if he’s joining a club which does service projects in town which will allow him to meet heads of local non-profits and folks that run foundations- Great idea, well worth the time.</p>
<p>But he doesn’t need more than two of these. He should double down on having a quality academic experience and a quality extra curricular experience vs. spreading himself too thin. Getting out and about in whatever college town he’s in- especially if he’s meeting local business and non-profit folks is great. Random joining for the sake of bulking up his resume is a waste of time imho.</p>
<p>Re: finance hiring- not all finance majors are created equal. Taking a class in valuation/corporate finance is really valuable. Taking a class (or two) in statistics and both micro and macro economics is really valuable. Bulking up on “soft” business classes like organizational behavior won’t help him- taking a meaty history class which requires a lot of writing is a better use of the credits. Taking poli sci or area studies (so he can talk with confidence about why Brazil’s economy is different than India’s, or why funding infrastructure in China is not the same as funding infrastructure in the EU) is really helpful.</p>
<p>The overall “market” is better than it has been in a couple of years. But that doesn’t help an individual student if he or she doesn’t know what their interests are, and haven’t been exposed to enough of the real world to start to figure it out.</p>
<p>Read, read, read. Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Financial Times.</p>
<p>I’ve been in roles where I’ve hired dozens of entry level finance kids- someone sitting in front of me who tells me they want a job in finance when it’s clear they don’t read ANY of the leading business publications- well, that’s a quick interview. They don’t need to read everything every day. Heck- they don’t need to read through every publication when they do read it. But a kid interested in a job in a corporation’s finance department ought to have heard that Greece and Spain are a drag on the Euro and that the German’s are getting testy about it. A kid interested in working for a bank’s public finance department ought to know that many municipalities have had their bond ratings downgraded because tax revenue has not kept up with spending. You catch my drift.</p>
<p>Why is your son interested in finance and what does he hope to do after he graduates???</p>
<p>He originally started off as a psychology major and a history minor(wanted to teach) breezed through his classes. 3.7, 3.4, 3.5 3.4 for four semesters. Switched to finance bc of the job market. Was taken aback by how much harder it was and got a 2.75 one semester, but pulled a 3.21 this spring. He wants to go into banking(commercial) or real estate his fallback. He is a smart kid, he just declared and wants to join specific clubs to his major(doesn’t want employers to think he’s slacking). One is a business frat he dropped to study for his internship test, which he will pick back up. I and him are concerned that he will cram himself up and not be able to do well. But it’s imperil I’ve he is in a few clubs </p>
<p>Learn how to use LinkedIn for job searching and networking, and research the bejeezes out of prospective employers – target them. </p>
<p>Is he at a private? If so, contacting alums may be worthwhile. For that matter, contacting alums of the business frat would make sense regardless of the type of school (though it’s easier to give advice if the type of school is known). And for extracurriculars, the business frat is probably all he needs (unless, as someone said, those extracurriculars offer networking opportunities). I think spending the time really researching industries, networking, and really learning stuff relevant to the fields he’s interested in (he can find out what those are through Vault guides and the like), as well as keeping up with the business news (he can do what the pros do and keep either BloombergTV or CNBC on in the background at all times, just to keep up on what’s in the news, though he should keep in mind that the commentators are generally clueless bloviators) will be a better use of his time than more clubs.</p>
<p><a href=“University Graduate Career Surveys - #69 by ucbalumnus - Career Opportunities & Internships - College Confidential Forums”>University Graduate Career Surveys - #69 by ucbalumnus - Career Opportunities & Internships - College Confidential Forums; can give some idea of what it is like.</p>
<p>Commercial banking and real estate generally have two buckets of talent from which they pull (I’m generalizing of course, but trying to help)- the more math intensive tracks (credit analyst at a bank; deal flow analysis and the like at a REIT or a hedge fund or another firm that invests in real estate), and the “relationship” type tracks (interfacing with large commercial borrowers at a bank, or the person that works the client or commercial leasing side in real estate.) There are others too- operations for example, but the large point of entry for new grads in banks and real estate can generally be divided into these two tracks.</p>
<p>I think it’s important for your S to demonstrate a facility with the core quant concepts in finance regardless of which track he’s interested in… but of course, much more important to show math savvy for the first track.</p>
<p>Employers (at least the one’s I’ve hired for) don’t look at the list of EC’s on a resume and say, “hey this kid is a slacker” if he or she only has one or two outside activities. Especially if the participation in one activity has been meaningful. And the only way a kid can use outside activities to compensate for academic performance is when he or she is a superstar in those activities- managing editor of a well known campus newspaper; chair of the political union which sponsors Tony Blair debating Condi Rice and then next week the Dali Lama appearing on a panel with a group of Chinese dissidents. Just loading up on a bunch of clubs which demonstrates… not sure… I don’t think this is going to help his case.</p>
<p>The meatier the finance classes he takes, the better off he will be. And Purple Titan gives great advice!!!</p>
<p>He said he would still like to do banking but the mortgage officer looks not too hard to get into-problem is, where would be a good place to intern to do that? He is fine with working a PT job if he decides to do that but he wants hand on experience first.</p>
<p>If he’s interested in the mortgage side of the house, he can either get a job with a bank or a mortgage broker. Entry level roles at either will require good phone skills, computer literacy especially excel, and evidence that he can work with the public. He most definitely does not need a degree in finance to get a job at a mortgage broker. A bank training program is likely a better bet- it will rotate him through several different departments so even if he ends up in mortgage he’ll have a better understanding of the rest of the organization.</p>
<p>His first stop needs to be Career Services at his U. They will help him with a resume; they will show him the recruiting calendar of when the banks show up on campus for both internships and full time jobs; they will do practice interviews and coach him on what he’s doing wrong (or right). He needs to do this ASAP if he’s a December grad- he’s going to be off- cycle, and so the Career Service people will need time to help him figure out where he can interview and then start in January (some banks will have two classes- one in January and one in July/August, but January is always smaller).</p>
<p>He should plan to self-study for the CFA after he graduates- and once he signs up for the test, he can put “studying for the CFA” on his resume which is huge.</p>
<p>Any place is a good place to intern, as Career Services will tell him. He can get a job at a retail brokerage firm doing spreadsheets for their wealth management professionals (what used to be called “stock brokers”). He can get a job at a large bank answering phones for professionals in Private Banking. It doesn’t need to say “mortgage” on it for it to be relevant.</p>
<p>He can get a job working for a small law firm which focuses on residential real estate doing the endless amount of paperwork necessary for closings. (Chasing down the HUD filings; reconciling the escrow math; calling the title agencies for the 15th time.) Great prep for mortgage work.</p>
<p>The professionals at his U will want to help him- but only if they know about him.</p>
<p>Getting a job in accounting/finance should not too hard as long as one understands that those will NOT be glamorous jobs. Entry level positions will require longish hours or low pay. Yet, that beats the “darn” internship route that has become popular with both profiteering employers and parents who want to allay the non-employment syndrome. To keep it simple: after graduation, internships are rarely worth the time and effort. At best, they served a purpose while still in college, and even that is dountful. Friends of mine found it hard to survive a resume filled with various internships while others with less prestigious summer jobs got back on track a lot more quickly. </p>
<p>All in all, resist the urge to give away your time, regardless of the promises of an internship. Getting a lower paying job is an easier step towards gaining those now-often-required 1-3 years of experience. This “purgatory” is the perfect time to start looking at the CPA or the securities examination. An early start might help in landing interviews for better positions as companies might want to endorse a candidate who shows the desire of moving up. </p>
<p>Lastly do not forget to check the offers in the public sector. Some jobs require to take an entry exam, and the score on such exams are most important to become a finalist. And the other candidates are not always the most competitive in terms of qualifications! </p>
<p>Oh I wholeheartedly agree. This internship he is doing now is straight sales based and he loathes it. He says it’s sick that these companies rope kids in telling them that they “need valuable experience” and than take all their contact info and yammer at their relatives. Half of the kids quit-which is hard because some of them won’t have one before they graduate 
</p>
<p>He has one more week and he’ll be done. He is taking a session class at his college that next week, which he will go to than. It’s very hard to get your foot in the door, he has been at this since last December trying to get himself an advantage and he says he’s regressed in terms of he isn’t learning anything. We offered for him to work for my work and do accounting, but he said no. Anyways, he’s trying his darnedest but it’s a dog eat dog world. He’s seen a ton of his friends from home that are a year or two years out and are waitressing and and just getting off their feet and he does NOT want to be that guy. Our neighbors kids are 25,24 27 22 24 21 21 and 20. The 25 year old was the comm major who works at ruby Tuesdays and just moved out 2.5 years later. The 24 year old has been out for about six months on his own-finance major with about the same stats as s1, with one fewer internship and graduated dec 2012. Is working at a bank as a financial analyst, worked as a teller for 7 months before moving up. The other one is out of grad school with a sociology degree and can’t find anything. The 27 year old is married and the 22 year old is on his fourth year of film studies in junior college. One who is s1s age is going to nursing school, the other is a philosophy major and is doing nothing. So 1 internship with all these kids- the only one that is doing ok professionally. But it worries him, I tell him he won’t fail if he stays motivated but you never know</p>
<p>Graduates in 2015 December so he still has time, albeit not much. </p>
<p>1.5 years is a lot of time.</p>
<p>Working PT at a bank, preferably a bigger one, (even as a teller) is an option. A lot of places don’t advertise openings (or do so incompetently outside their organization), but once he gets his foot in the door, he’s more likely to know of openings.</p>
<p>My local bank hired summer tellers and my son got one of those coveted spots after his PG year and before university. The pay is decent, the atmosphere is professional, it was good for him to be part of a real organization with training and dress codes and standards. Only a high school diploma is required – although they look for basic math talent and nice personal presentation.</p>
<p>Fast forward – he graduated with a business type degree with a concentration in finance and real estate, and an official real estate minor. He is working for a REIT as a acquisitions analyst, four years after college
graduation.</p>
<p>Sent him a text today telling him to finish strong. My advice for him would be to do a couple orgs(whittle it down) and keep his officer position that he just got while joining the business frat again and he will be set. He will try to get a teller job when he is back at school or at least something. He does need work experience BUT working at Outback Steakhouse or Publix isn’t going to help him at all.</p>
<p>Tide- have any of the kids you’ve mentioned actually worked with Career services at their universities? Has your son?</p>
<p>I am often asked by neighbors and friends to “work with” their newly graduated kids on a job hunting strategy. I am happy to do so. I am always flummoxed by the kids who are one month or six months or one year out of college who have NEVER done a practice interview with someone from their college. They have NEVER gotten a professional re-write of their resume (or even a template- someone to tell them to take “member of the tennis team all four years of HS off their resume” unless they are applying for a job as a fitness coach). They have NEVER asked for a list of alums of their college who work at a company that they’d like to work for to do some networking. They have NEVER even logged on to the career services calendar to see who comes to campus and when; who is the contact person at the company for new grads, etc.</p>
<p>Your son is going to make the job search unnecessarily difficult if he tries to “go it alone”. You are paying for the nice folks who sit in career services to help him- has he gone in for an initial meeting? The traditional “resume drop” date in October or November of senior year is not going to help him since he’s graduating in December. He needs someone to help him get on the recruiting calendar for his junior year so he could potentially have an offer lined up by September of senior year with a start date in January 2016.</p>
<p>Getting a job as a bank teller is a great idea- but waiting until graduation to put a plan into place isn’t as efficient as using the resources on campus right now.</p>
<p>Both of my kids used Career Services at their schools and attended Career Fairs and Engineering Expos. It was helpful and as blossom says, there are resources on campus to help your son.</p>
<p>I will second (or third) the suggestion to get to Career Services ASAP. It was the best thing my D (and accounting major) ever did. Unbeknownst to us, Career Services had all kinds of resources and programs to help job-seekers - not just resume advice and interviewing help (although those were awesome), but information on alumni networking, interview schedules, and job-hunting dos-and don’ts.</p>
<p>What really impressed me, though, was how SOON all the job-hunting stuff starts. I begged/cajoled my D to contact Career Services at the beginning of her junior year - and it was almost too late! I guess we didn’t realize how early the intern recruiting starts…</p>