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Contemplating a career in finance. TME. Contemplating a career in finance. TME.

04-22-2014 , 07:12 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by capone0
he has a shot, it's just an upward and tough battle. as others have stated, it really matters what he wants in finance. certain paths are NOT obtainable anymore. some paths are definitely obtainable. if OP is interested in those paths, he should go forward in finance, but OP should know what the simple hurdles are.
What makes them not obtainable was more my question.

Also,
I am almost done with 2nd year at asu, the business program here is pretty good.

Last edited by bigpotpoker; 04-22-2014 at 07:18 PM.
Contemplating a career in finance. TME. Quote
04-22-2014 , 08:54 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by brentr03
Cwar, capone, thank you for those last two posts, they were both helpful (slightly depressing though). This gave me some idea of where to go from here.
Don't get too depressed, I actually really like the career trajectory you've taken, yes you dropped out of school but you immediately went to work. Non-applicable work experience is way more valuable a lot of people on this board have (poker backgrounds are hard to sell!). I personally built my career after 5 years in poker exactly as I described, entry level job to get organizational experience for exactly one year at which point I joined a consulting firm where I sell, manage and negotiate.

Here's the thing, EVERYONE has to hustle to get a great opportunity the finance industry isn't any different. Several posters have alluded to the dues you pay going into high finance... From what I've heard it can be soul crushing, think about if this is the goal you're really going after (and how likely this might be to change) or are you just looking for money/power/prestige.

In either case, I think your ticket in is going to be showing that you can be an operator, make big money, handle big deals etc.. Build a track record of sales where you took in $250k+ in commission, run negotiations for sizable deals, any track record that shows you handle high pressure, high importance or big size. It's actually very common for talented sales organizations to look specifically for military/LE backgrounds (no degree required).

The nice part about this path is it will give you money, a track record and flexibility to pursue options beyond finance should you change your mind or want to take a different career trajectory in a year or two.
Contemplating a career in finance. TME. Quote
04-22-2014 , 09:18 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by cwar
Don't get too depressed, I actually really like the career trajectory you've taken, yes you dropped out of school but you immediately went to work. Non-applicable work experience is way more valuable a lot of people on this board have (poker backgrounds are hard to sell!). I personally built my career after 5 years in poker exactly as I described, entry level job to get organizational experience for exactly one year at which point I joined a consulting firm where I sell, manage and negotiate.

Here's the thing, EVERYONE has to hustle to get a great opportunity the finance industry isn't any different. Several posters have alluded to the dues you pay going into high finance... From what I've heard it can be soul crushing, think about if this is the goal you're really going after (and how likely this might be to change) or are you just looking for money/power/prestige.

In either case, I think your ticket in is going to be showing that you can be an operator, make big money, handle big deals etc.. Build a track record of sales where you took in $250k+ in commission, run negotiations for sizable deals, any track record that shows you handle high pressure, high importance or big size. It's actually very common for talented sales organizations to look specifically for military/LE backgrounds (no degree required).

The nice part about this path is it will give you money, a track record and flexibility to pursue options beyond finance should you change your mind or want to take a different career trajectory in a year or two.
So following the path you described, which area of sales would you consider to be the best to look into? Obviously selling vacuums door to door wouldn't cut it.
Contemplating a career in finance. TME. Quote
04-22-2014 , 09:34 PM
B2B sales where you don't need a degree.
Contemplating a career in finance. TME. Quote
04-22-2014 , 09:39 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by twalf
do these high barrier's to entry apply for corporate finance positions as well, such as a fp&a position at a F1000 company?

I'm a poker pro with an undergraduate degree in finance from 2007, I've been considering a masters in finance to make up for my crippling resume gap. I have no desire to work in high finance (pe/hf/ib) but I want to know if a corporate financial analyst gig is a pipedream for someone in my situation.
Fp&a positions are often much less "prestige whoreish" than IB/PE/VC/HF type of jobs. That being said, they are usually filled with former Big 4 accountants or undergrads that have gone through an FLDP program. Big companies are generally quite structured in their recruiting, and employees by and large fit a "cookie cutter" type of resume.

The masters in finance should open up a lot more doors than are probably currently available to you right now, and assuming you can matriculate into a reputable one, I would highly suggest doing so.
Contemplating a career in finance. TME. Quote
04-22-2014 , 11:07 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by brentr03
So following the path you described, which area of sales would you consider to be the best to look into? Obviously selling vacuums door to door wouldn't cut it.
I would look for:
#1 a quality product that has good margins for both you and management to profit on paying you a commission.
#2 Good management, just because they offer you a great cut doesn't mean it will last, look for management that understand how sales fits into the picture. You don't want to build a great book of a business and have the legs taken out from under you because management doesn't like that you're making more than the CEO or various ways to fail at business affecting you.
#3 The most technical product you can handle, being able to sell something with critically important details ups your value significantly.

You may have to compromise on one or more of these and that's fine, your key goal is to get in the door of a company that sets you off in the right direction and will let you gain experience/access to actively using the sales/pitching skills even if you aren't directly in sales.

Good areas that I know of right now:
-IT and big data solutions
-Commercial lighting (huge government grants over the next few years)
-B2B software businesses
-General technology consulting businesses (development, management consulting, online marketing, app/creative development, creative/ad agencies)

You fake and learn your way into most of these businesses, a friend/coworker of mine started his career in tech with no technical experience showed up every day at an IT consulting business until they hired him on for $27k/year in a junior position. He then took every **** client and hacked Microsoft IT support into giving him unlimited free advice on how to actually fix his clients problems while taking meticulous notes.

After 3 months he was making them a lot of money and was given a raise to $110k/year. I believe at a somewhat near point after that he was making north of $150k/year. No degree, no applicable experience. Sales ability and hustle.
Contemplating a career in finance. TME. Quote
04-23-2014 , 02:13 PM
Great advice Anthony and Cwar, thanks.
Contemplating a career in finance. TME. Quote

      
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