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Career Resources
UCB, UCLA, and USC all offer finance certificates
NYU Courant - Advanced Certificate in Financial Mathematics: http://www.math.nyu.edu/financial_mathematics/content/05_prospectiveStu…
Certificate in Quantitative Finance: http://www.cqf.com/
Finance Certificate (Originally Posted: 06/22/2011)
Hello All,
So a little bit about myself, I graduated with an Engineering Degree from a UC and have worked in the Engineering field for about a year. I have very little experience/ knowledge in the finance domain apart from some basic financial accounting courses taken in undergrad. I want to re-direct my career path and go down the finance/IB route and I was considering getting a finance certification from a UC extension in socal.
I wanted to hear from others who have been in this situation and the measures they took in shifting their career focus from a technical background to a career in finance.
So here is my 2 year plan and I would like to receive critique and input on what I need/don't need to steer myself in the right direction.
Year 1: I plan on taking classes towards a finance certification which includes the following courses:
Intermediate Accounting Theory and Practice Business Valuation Finance Modelling Finance Management Financial Statement Analysis Financial Markets and Investment Strategies Security and Investment Analysis International Finance and Capital Markets Finance Options/Derivatives/Risk Management
All the while I will study/take GMATs
Year 2:
Apply for B-school while searching for an ibanking internship or any sort of finance related job that would increase my leverage as an b-school/ibanking applicant
I am also considering studying and taking the CFA level 1 exam during this year.
After this, hopefully I will be attending a business school or in a decent internship gaining additional finance experience.
Your Thoughts?
Master's in Finance > +3 Yrs Work Experience > MBA
or
+3 Yrs Work Experience > CFA > MBA
That's my vote. Who gets a finance certificate?
The main reason why I'm leaning towards the certificate is because my work will pay for the classes as opposed to a MSF which would require me to devote myself to my studies full time. Personally, I plan on making this move to wet my feet in the field of finance. It's a low risk, low cost option.
I think that, with an engineering degree from a UC, you would be well positioned to get a job in IB without any further degrees or certifications if you can use your alumni network and can do a good job of explaining why you now want to do finance as opposed to engineering. Maybe you just take a few of those classes to get some basic familiarity with terms and valuation methods. Getting whole certificate is serious overkill. The only courses on that list that are relevant to investment banking are business valuation, financial modeling, and financial statement analysis. Banks are not going to look down on a degree in a really legitimate field like engineering; you just need to show that you are really interested in finance.
It may be hard to get hired at a bulge bracket but start contacting some boutique investment banks in the SoCal area. See if you can find some alumni on the firms' websites. If you break in at one of those places, you can always transition to a bigger firm after a couple years if that's what you really want.
Also, with your engineering background, have you ever thought about doing trading rather than banking? Traders love hiring kids who are good with numbers and you yourself might find the work more challenging/intellectually rigorous. Some of those courses you listed above are a lot more relevant to trading than banking and maybe those are the ones you would be more interested in. Just throwing it out there as another possibility.
I think classes you take in it MIGHT help you land that first job - shows you have some knowledge of finance.
Great points. Thanks for the input guys.
Are Finance Certificates or equivalent courses elaborate higher education flame? (Originally Posted: 08/12/2011)
Is it possible to get a post-bac in a finance certificate and then transition into an entry level finance career or is this just another money maker with no job options for people who do them?
I don't even know what that is. Is this a European thing?
Value of a finance certificate (Originally Posted: 06/01/2011)
Can I break into financial analyst / consulting after: Bsc --> followed by finance certificate (1 year finance program offered by university business faculty)
I know there are other considerations when you are breaking in. But, here, I just mean the education.
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Finance Certificate (Extension) into Banking? (Originally Posted: 02/07/2013)
Hey guys, so here's my situation, I'm currently a senior at a semi-target, getting crushed in full-time recruiting. My GPA is in the low 3s so that effectively rules me out of decent/respectable MSF programs, however I was wondering if something like UCLA or Berkeley extension would effectively work as an alternative transcript for recruiting and possibly business school down the line? As for why I hadn't really formulated a plan B until now, I was getting pretty solid traction last semester (7 super days) but none of it panned out...
I have extremely relevant work experience, having done a summer analyst stint in IBD with a MM bank last summer and an internship in ER at a boutique bank the summer before that.
If extension is really shit upon regardless of work experience am I just fucked?
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