How do I build a strong finance career if I started with a non-target school degree?

Hi there,

First, you need to define what area of finance you would be interested in. Finance is much broader than consulting which impacts type of work, work hours, ease of getting offers, remuneration, exit opps, etc. 

Once you figured this one out, your recruiting efforts can be more targeted.

Second, networking plays a major role in finance - much more than in consulting. Make sure to reach out to current finance professionals to get the ball rolling.

Third, interviews for many roles are much more technical than for consulting.

Cheers,

Florian

Dear all, 

I thank you very much for this question. I have a strong passion for finance and can give great advice here. First really fun and doablebto start a finance career, secondly aim high in terms of firms and fields with several easier backups.

A) Finance is vast, pick your favorite area or areas and get started:

AA) venture capital - as entry position a lot of going through a lot of existing investment proposals and less shaping of your own but super to get a big picture view and investing is fun, climb up fast and start shaping plus try to join board discussions of the best funds and portfolio firms early on, so you are engaged in some of the most fun parts of helping your portfolio succeed. Insist early on with the Partners there to do so, I suggest from Day one.

AB) private equity: super exciting, really great also for consultants. Help your portfolio succeed at above board levels to outperform and achieve returns above thirty percent. (IRR) As PE manager you stand above all levels of your portfolio companies. You truly focus on creating value in business and drive so much. Super for those who have a strong interest and talent.

AC) Hedge funds, funds, financial techniques: super exciting. You can find everything here. Up to the point where people formed new industries out of their hobbies. Super well regarded, work with top people who are passionate about the field and importantly: you are important to them, too. Here I suggest ask them from the start to show you how to do all this yourself eg how to have your own fund, do that already for business ownership at any point in time. For smaller firms, ensure a continuous learning curve is included and see what seniority you can achieve early on.

AD) Finance at companies: so much CFOing, accounting, finance management and other financial positions and roles are possible. Truly exciting for those that find these fields at firms with lots of innovation, fast career models and super culture so you can shape your journey there.

AE) Ibanking: so much fun if you land in the right department for you. Get the lifestyle right from the start and decide if you enjoy trading more than M&A etc., be very clear about the roles you are aiming for and find really enough time off.

Coaching and prepping

F) To start, several consulting skills are transferrable and you will find though that we offer specific fun finance coaching for those wishing to join finance. Same with your peers, practise directly for finance and know a lot of your consulting prep is super valuable. For example, on preplounge if you practised ask peers to tailor to your goal during practise. Many of them might come also from finance backgrounds or you could look for former finance professionals to practise with.

G) Master the field as such. Early on master the knowhow during the prep, the knowhow requirement is much higher than in consulting, be able to handle content questions and know all developments.

H) For easy start, feel free even to do a CFA or similar qualification. Something that is highly regarded, can be done next to your work or studies but is EASY, so you can complete it successfully.

I) Practise cases as most finance interviews include cases and don't forget the interview part. For finance it helps to show interests, examples and as a career start it is easy to get started there. You will find your way.

Have a great day.

Great question. As a non-target candidate who broke into the industry, I've learned that you just have to do the same things as everyone else, but better. You have to be more prepared and more polished to get the same attention. There are three things to do before your first interview:

1. Networking: Before the interview even starts, make sure that you've reached out to and talked with as many people as possible at the firm. Learn about what they care about and what they're learning for in a candidate. Build advocates.
2. Behaviorals: Then, get started on your behavioral prep. Work on your behaviorals "trifecta"--tell me about yourself, why banking, why this bank, and then create a stories-based approach for other behavioral questions.
3. Technicals: Finally, once you get past the first round (usually behavioral) it's time to really hone in on technicals. Start with the 400 Question Guide and then it gets more advanced from there. 

There are 10,000 other things we need to discuss on each of these pieces--please reach out for a free intro session and let's talk about how to get you into the industry!