CS Major looking to switch and break into high finance - is it over for me?
As the title says, I'm a CS undergrad (first year) from a non-target in Canada, which is known for its above average CS placements, but not finance.
I want to switch to finance because I hate CS and it's getting super competitive.
What are my options if I want to get into AM / ER / S&T ? I don't really care about the specific sector, but I want to make it onto Bay Street. Would a Rotman/Ivey MBA after graduation secure a spot in high finance? Or should I get a CFA or try to get into a U.S. target for business school?
Right, high finance is not competitive.
It really depends how good you are at doing simple math quickly and recognizing patterns. The CS background would prove valuable in S&T, particularly in the trading side (although if you hate CS, not sure if you’d mind coding a fair bit). An MBA would only factor in when you’ve earned work experience because right now that isn’t on the table for you. I’d say taking CFA level 1 wouldn’t hurt to demonstrate you know basic finance and accounting concepts. You can break into S&T with a non-finance background if you can demonstrate the technical and academic ability. I’ve seen people do it with Eng and CS backgrounds it just takes a bit of networking. You should probably try for trading desks and quant funds. On the sell-side, the big 5 banks have pretty robust S&T operations on Bay Street, while in the AM space, firms such as CC&L have fairly strong quant funds.
It appears I misspoke - I'm currently completing my cs major (still a first year), and I want to get into finance.
I think I'll add an economics major and grind for S&T roles. Thank you.
The CFA level 1 exam can now be taken after second year of university. An Econ minor or double major would also be a good addition too. The firms I mentioned take interns in the various roles so you can still pursue all that I mentioned above.
Transfer Ivey after 2 years
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