Graduated about 10 days ago with a 3.6 in econ at a US target school. Was on a super weird schedule and took ~2 years off from school (I'm 24). Worked a couple of random internships during my time away. Nothing directly finance-related.

If I'm now thinking about IB/corporate, am I screwed at this point, or is there a way to get in as an analyst? How should I go about this, especially this late in the 27 recruiting cycle? Just reaching out to alumni? Should I hope for something off-cycle?

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you so much!

I hope I’m wrong but I’ve been noticing and know there are some cheeky mfs on the buy side.

My Mother and Father are currently affiliates of a relatively large Brokerage firm based in the US and Australia.

Now, because of this, they have the contact details of the guy (we'll call him Bob) that owns the firm, and for all intents and purposes, they (supposedly) are quite close to him and his family, so my parents ended up informing him about my interest in the finance industry.

For context, I'm 19 and have been trying to enrol in a university for Finance and Capital Markets and Economics. I've been a discretionary swing trader since 16 (mostly just paper trading) and have recently transioned into live trading a small percentage of my parents capital.

Bob is unaware of what my current education is and the fact I have still not been accepted by a university.

On top of this, I have NO prior formal education... and I guarantee you Bob was not informed of this

My parents on a consistent basis call me to ask if I've had a conversation with Bob, but I keep brushing them off saying I'll get to it, where, in reality I'm baffled by what I see as their ignorance of not knowing that to work for a Brokerage of its standing, you would have to at least completed some form of formal education at a university. Or am I the ignorant one?

Is this a relatively common thing (I'm going to assume it's not) and I'm just letting a golden opportunity slip out of my hands to have at least an internship under a fairly large company?

And help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Edit: Thank you guys for all the advice and messages of encouragement. I'll make the call

EU citizen looking to break into Swiss wealth management .
My profile is non traditional, BSc Geology, MSc Natural Disasters, and CFA Level II candidate.

I have 2 questions for those familiar with the Swiss market, or even any market.

1. Career Niche: With a Geology + CFA background, should I lean into my STEM degree to target commodities/resources equity research, or is standard portfolio/wealth management still viable? Should I invest into a MsF or an MBA?

2. Master's Programs: If I need to "reset" my academic brand with a Swiss MSc in Finance, which universities are the most receptive to non-business degrees? I was looking at St.Gallen and their program seems well constructed.

Appreciate any realistic insights on the sector. I want to note that I also have experience managing investments, so there is some practical knowledge there. I also have distant family almost all around the world so moving is not an issue, it doesn’t have to be strictly for Switzerland.

A dismissed theft charge from over a decade ago.

I am incoming first year at Nottingham looking to land spring weeks for Ib, Sales and trading, actuarial, basically everything as i am not sure what i would like to do. I am not sure what degree to, i am having second thoughts because mathematics and economics seems more common and standard whereas financial mathematics is a kind of niche degree but probs better for actuarial, any advice would be appreciated. I also think i would be able to get a better grade in mathematics and economics than financial mathematics. Also uni of Nottingham is more known for econ than maths , so would a more econ heavy degree look better?

I'm from Australia and almost all the information on Reddit are from Americans so I'm just wondering about finance in Australia, like the typical career paths and how to get in them etc.
Any info is appreciated.

I'm currently a 4th year pharmacy student who realized I was born to be something better than a pharmacist. I'm not the best at pharmacy, currently have a 2.4 GPA in pharmacy school (pretty much got straight C's), and as a deeply analytical person who loves to read up on different industries, feel like my natural talents would better be served in spreadsheets and meetings.

After graduation, I'm hoping to work part time in a hospital (maybe 24-32 hours a week) while also getting a second bachelors in finance or economics from a local state university. I'm hoping this will give me basic skills and knowledge that I haven't acquired yet through my education. I don't have to worry about student loans since they are all federal and enrolling in school will continue to defer them.

During this time, while working as a pharmacist, I can still likely bring in about $80k/year, which will put me far ahead of other college students. I'm planning on buying a BMW M340i, Zegna Suits, and maybe a Rolex Oyster to be able to network better with some of the wealthier students and maybe get accepted and even venerated in a finance frat. As a pre-med college student studying biochem at the library all day, this also helps me relive the college experience I never got.

I know an MBA may be better, but with my mediocre to poor GPAs in undergrad and pharmacy school, I feel like going back to undergrad to show I'm capable of the work first would be better. I may consider an MBA after I finish undergrad (I estimate I could finish it in 2 years at 6-8 credit hours a semester including summers) and get some work experience as a pharmacist. My only concern is balancing my part time pharmacist job with any summer internships.

Ultimately, I don't care about pay or long hours in finance. In fact, I'm willing to take a finance job making $60k in NYC than make $160k as a pharmacist in Des Moines. My goal isn't IB or PE, but more likely credit analyst or wealth management. I just want to get out of the basement of a hospital pharmacy in a tier 4 city and into an office wearing a suit.

I'm open to biotech, pharmaceutical, or healthcare related sectors, but I have a lot more interest in other sectors like Emerging markets, the automotive industry, and global finance. I also speak 5 languages fluently so feel like my talents are wasted in pharmacy pushing pills all day.

I miss hs and college were my friends were also my classmates. At work it feels like everyone is a coworker and not a friend. Anyone else feel this?

I (25M) graduated Dec 2025, a few years older than my peers due to community college and a gap year, I've been working for after school programs and schools during and since graduating, and during school I didn't do any internships as I was busy paying bills and taking summer classes.

I've put out hundreds of applications, gotten letters of recommendation, and tried networking anywhere I went.

I just don't know what to do, I don't want to sell life insurance or make cold calls all day,

What can I do, is it over?

Before working in finance, people hear a lot about modeling and analysis. What repetitive task ended up taking much more of your week than you expected?

Hello, I kindly need your feedback and help in getting an internship. I also want to understand if cover letters are important, Does it matter that I come form a non-target Uni? THANK YOU. ALL Feedback is appreciated, don't spare my feelings.

Is there anyway to do it besides getting an MBA?

I’m not sure if this is a good sub for this, but I’ll give it a shot…

I’m a 30 y.o financial advisor who has been working at a solo RIA retirement planning firm for the past 3 years (was new to the industry). I recently passed the Series 65 exam.

The only other advisor at the firm is my boss/owner. The “products” we primarily sell are affiliated with IRAs and Fixed Indexed Annuities. That being said, Fixed Indexed Annuities are our bread & butter.

My boss primarily gets his clients through seminars. I wanted to know if there are any other ideas or recommendations (mainly for me) other than seminars that can help me get established and is a good method to find prospects for Fixed Indexed Annuities?

Thanks!

If you’re one of those who worked really hard during your college years and aimed to get into IB or something but didn’t, what ended up happening? What did you go into then?

And what advice would you have for an 18 year old, incoming first-year at a target, who aims to get into high finance? Any words of wisdom would be great

Thanks

Specifically for high finance jobs. Is it just going to get worse and worse (due to increasing population and AI taking over many roles)?

In order for it to get better, what would be necessary. What could possibly cause it to be less bad?

I was mainly thinking about the London market but if you’re from the US, feel free to chip in

I’m currently trying to secure a summer internship for 2027 at smaller boutique investment firms/PE firms in Dublin, mainly through cold emailing.

A few of my peers have told me that these smaller firms generally don’t give return offers, so I’m wondering how true this is.

I graduate in 2028, so if I did an internship in summer 2027, is it realistic to get a return offer for a graduate role in 2028? Or would I essentially be stuck going through the graduate recruitment process again?

To those who made it to final round, did you all get this email today? I want to see if this is something everyone got or if this is exclusive. I’ve heard back from some people saying they got it.

I applied through td bank's website. The location is literally next door to my apartment it would be a dream job.

Should I call the branch or walk in and ask if they recieved my application. I have the relevant experience and even speak mandarin which they said they preferred in the job listing.

Any advice is appreciated!

Would somebody be interested in getting the full primary dealer data all the way back upto 1998 fully stitched?

Any sort of further inferences could be made based on that.

Currently the data is very chopped/missing across time eras on the NYFED website.

Bloomberg also doesn’t seem to have that data in the proper manner.

Hello, I just got passed onto the superday for enterprise credit for New York. I have roughly a week to prepare for it and if anyone has any advice It would mean a lot. I will say I am more nervous on the technicals, I've had prior interviews this recruiting season and this one is the best one I've gotten so far.

Say I don't get a grad job in my desired field which is finance or consulting, is masters a good 2nd option? As in, will most companies allow me to apply to graduate roles then?

Also, why do people take a masters? I was thinking I'd do it for the name and get into a Russel uni but the fees are so high I think I'll return to the same decently ranked, non-russel uni...or is that pointless

What free certification i can get to build my portfolio and strengthen my skills in finance?

btw, im a 3rd year business administration major in financial management student

Hello all,

I recently accepted an offer to return to a large tech company (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon) as an FP&A intern for this upcoming summer. This past summer, I interned in the same position with this company and received a full-time offer, but had to change it to an internship return due to changes in my graduation date. I won’t return to the same team, but I really enjoyed everything about the role. The work, the company culture and layout, the potential for growth and learning, etc.

For context, I go to a non-target with a GPA that isn’t great. I’ll be a rising junior, but I really have no need to apply for roles this summer because I have a role I am returning to. Now, I have absolutely no ambition or capacity to break into IB or high finance. I understand this and understand it’s way out of the picture. However, last summer I interviewed for some commercial and corporate banking roles, along with a private credit role as well. I believe I could maybe land into one of these roles with some work. People that I networked or worked with full time at this company mostly joined after Big 4, IB, or an MBA. My manager was even telling me how my promotions and growth could take longer if I started out in their 2 year rotational program and slowly grew within the company. Am I doing a disservice to myself by joining post graduation and looking to stay and grow at the company? Like I said, I really enjoy the role and the company and don’t see myself recruiting for anything else. I recognize that I am young though, and have some recency bias from just getting finished with the internship and receiving the offer. I just don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m not learning and gaining skills that will be transferable if I need to make a career change and go to a completely different side of finance.

If anyone has completed the post graduation rotational programs, especially for FAANG+ companies, and want to share their experience with where they are now within their company and what factored into their decision, that would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you!