I would like to hear your opinion on my current situation. Currently graduated from the U of Maryland in May with a finance degree and trying to get into banking. My prior experience while I was in school was working for my school newspaper doing sales for advertising. Also, was a analyst at a small teleconferencing company last summer(mostly industry research). I was extremely busy running a promotional/event planning company, which I started at my school, which helped me pay for my college. I attended Investment Banking Institute where I really got a feel for modeling, which helped a lot. Since May, I started my own teleconferencing company, pretty much reselling under my own company name. It's been going pretty well, but I don't know how it will end up in the future. Therefore, I am looking to get into banking because I have a true interest (M&A) and the experience/knowledge. I have a true entrepreneurial background, my biggest flaw is that I have a 3.2 GPA, while I was at Maryland. The GPA factor really hurts me because a lot of banks want someone with a GPA of 3.5+. While at Maryland, I had to finance 100% of my education(rent,food,books,everything), started my own business and was actively in the community. I don't want to make excuses but I didn't have the luxury of my parents paying for stuff, I had to grind out everything. How do I get banks to look at me with such a low GPA. My GPA is not a reflection of my intelligence , I wish I could go back in time and realize how important GPA is for banking. I know if I got the interviews I would nail them, but the hardest part is actually getting that opportunity. Suggestions/Comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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You've got to get a referral from a MD or something. I was in your shoes (lower GPA - 3.4, and not coming from an ivy leage school), but I just kept networking and fighting my way in, and I finally got an MD to pass my resume along to HR, got the interviews and nailed them. Now I work in equity research at a BB.
I appreciate your comment, I am starting the network process now, hopefully some good comes from it. I sent my resume to a boutique and the guy straight out asked me "why is your gpa a 3.2". That was the only thing he said in a email. I explained my situation while I was attending school, hopefully he will give me the opportunity to interview.
GPA is not the be-all-end-all for ibanking recruiting. When you have a 3.2, it seems like the largest barrier, but, if you had a 3.7, you would be complaining about something else (i.e. coming from a non-target)
I agree that networking is essential.
Sounds like your a hard worker, but its good you know not to use those things for excuses (not that their unreasonable, but given the nature of wall street).
I would just network if I were you. Use all areas of U Maryland. I got to a non-target but well respected university in the Med/Law fields, and people have definitely helped put me in touch with people on wall street.
I was in a similar situation to you.
I also started, ran, and sold my own startup while in school. Due to the distractions of running my company day to day, my GPA was a 3.3.
Every single I-bank that I landed interviews with asked me (paraphrased) "What's the deal with your GPA?"
Make sure you list your entrepreneurial experience on your resume, as well as specific goals you achieved and skills you learned while running your company. The key is to spin it as a unique experience that you have that others don't. Emphasize the problem solving skills and the perseverance you learned while running your company.
This was my answer: "I was running my own company throughout my time at school, and sometimes I had to prioritize and make some decisions. Was I going to study for my English test (make sure you say a non-Business subject here) or was I going to advance my company? In the end I made the choice to grow my company, and I don't regret it. I feel that the experiences I got entrepreneurially far outweighed anything my peers have gotten in the classroom."
Without exception, every interviewer nodded his head and said "I can respect that" and the interview moved on.
I got almost every position I interviewed for, often over other students with GPAs an entire half point higher than mine.
I really appreciated your comments. Captk, how did you get the interviews in the first place? Some people are very turned off by a low GPA and I feel like they won't even look at the rest of your resume. I got mixed reviews from people that looked at my resume when I said I was President of my company. They joke and said these firms won't take you seriously and think your President. I got suggested I should change my resume to be more financial, so for my own company, I would put like accounting or book keeper, which is true I had to do all that also.
Also, should I explain all this in my cover letter? how I ran a company while in school? or is that too much, I don't want to sound desperate. What do you think?
As far as getting interviews in the first place goes - my cumulative GPA is a 3.25, but my GPA in my majors and minors is 3.35. I listed only the 3.35 on my resume as "Program GPA: 3.35". I think this helped me get into the door at some places. When asked what program GPA meant in a few interviews, I honestly told them that it was major/minors, and told them my cum was 3.25. Nobody seemed to have a problem with that.
Also, I'm sure this goes without saying, but network, network, network. Check with your career center to see where recent grads from your school work, and try to see if they can send an email to HR on your behalf. It's amazing what even a note from an analyst can do. Of course, if you can get in touch with an MD, all the better...
With regard to the "President" title - I'd go with "Founder" instead (because in fact, you were so much more than president - you were accountant, sales, CEO, copy boy, etc). Make sure to detail your responsibilities and the things you accomplished while running the company, and most importantly - how the entreprenurial experience will help you in I-banking (perseverance, ability to follow through, etc).
The BEST advice on resume writing I was ever given - "Employers are not hiring you for what you did at your old jobs. They are hiring you for the transferrable skills you gained there that you will bring to their organization."
Another question I have to people is that I started 2 companies and I am only 22 years old. One was in college to pretty much survive, because I had to pay for everything while I was in school. Another one I am still building it up and have started in May. It's been pretty successful so far. Will these banks think I'm going to go through there bank and just exit. Pretty much take the knowledge and start my own thing because I am extremely entrepreneurial.
I can just spin it off and say I can hit the ground running with my entrepreneurial background or something along those lines. Thoughts?
All of the advice given is solid.
My only advice to the poster is to not let this statement you made cloud your own vision of your future, I have a number of friends who allowed these type of comments to cloud their world view in a way that had a very detrimental effect.
"I don't want to make excuses but I didn't have the luxury of my parents paying for stuff, I had to grind out everything."
The world is far from being fair. You can't hold it against someone for having his parents pay for their education, you would do it for your kids I am sure. Don't push that line of argument at all in your interviews, it's a cop out. Stay proactive, everything else you've talked about is very proactive and forward thinking. Don't focus on others, only on yourself.
Thanks for your comment, I don't use it as an excuse at all. If someone asks I simply say I had to finance my entire education while I was at school, working multiple part time jobs and full time jobs. I know my parents would of helped me if they could of, but I simply had to grow up a little faster and have a lot more responsibilities during college. It was not easy during college, but it certainty built my character.
Don't even go into it. I financed my own education. It speaks for itself. "Were you working paid or unpaid during the school year?" "Paid. I was paying for both my education and room/board my entire time in college."
If it comes up, respond in a "of course I paid for it, next" type of way. No life lessons, not my parents would have helped if they could, etc... why do they care? They will only be impressed by it if you say it in a non-chlalant manner -- the middle class bg is obviously inferred.
Krakauer, I was responding to the previous response. I would never say "my parents would of helped if they could of". Thanks for your comment, criticism is good
Also, if anybody that has experience with resumes and cover letters, could take a look at my CL & resume, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all your comments
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