How do you get an entry-level Banking/Finance/Consulting gig

without having stellar grades, or even a relevant undergraduate degree?
At this point (for those who care about the backstory) I am done with lawyering. I will gladly take the most junior of positions at any bank, finance-related company, or consultancy. I don’t care if it’s Booz Allen or Boob Allen. I just need to start to get some degree of experience in this field.

Thoughts and advice appreciated.
Oh, for the record I am a commuters-distance away from the epicenter for all american bank/finance/consulting work (Manhattan)

My brief experience in finance went like this: I sent my resume to Credit Suisse and was invited to a “dinner” at a local hotel with many soon to be graduates. At the event they gave us a 1.5 hour test followed by a presentation and dinner with Credit Suisse employees.

I would guess most of the people there had backgrounds related to finance, but I did not (I had literally zero experience with finance - my degree is in physics). However, I think the only thing that mattered was your score on the test, and they made it very clear that experience in finance was not necessary. I declined the offer for a follow up interview because I was no longer interested, so I’m not sure how it goes after that.

I had the benefit of being from a prestigious school during the official recruitment period, but I think that as long as you seem reasonably interested and intelligent (no misspellings or anything on your resume), they might send you an invite to take the test - just send them a resume and cover letter. Especially because you’re so close - its really not a big expenditure for them.

Thanks for the info. Are these “job screening” things posted as recurring items on their career pages, or do you have to look elsewhere to find them?

The one I went to was not posted - I just received an email in response to my resume. It also said that the event was invitation only, and I should not forward the e-mail, although I’m skeptical that the screening process was very rigorous as my resume was actually written for software development jobs and so really didn’t fit them at all.

I should also say that the event I went to was specifically for PhD’s and was run by their PhD recruiting office, but I’m about 95% certain the process is very similar for non-PhD’s.

Also - you asked about grades before: I didn’t indicate my grades anywhere on my resume and was never asked about them. Its possible that they come up later in the process, but I seriously doubt it. Especially if you’re not coming straight from school and have other experience to point to.

Our local banks are always hiring for entry-level positions, if that’s what you’re talking about.

No, not retail banking :wink:

But are you sure that they were only looking to fill finance positions? CSFB employs a lot of programmers too, ya know :wink: (I’m also assuming the test was a sort of generic aptitude exam?)