Hello forum,
I'll be blunt, i'm coming here for advice as i'm not really sure what do to anymore.
A little bit of story and background first.
I'm 25 and I graduated back in April of 2013. My bachelor was in business administration but I prefer to say finance as that was my major. I'm not gonna lie, my grades weren't the best and at that time I wasn't as serious about my studies as I have been for the past year and a half.
I knew for sure that I wanted a career in finance, although not sure in what particular sub-field. With that in mind I decided to take the CFA exams, I passed the first one and will be writing the second one in June of this year. Also, as of last week I have passed both parts of the FRM exam.
This opened my mind to a lot of stuff that I didn't even know existed. I now have a better idea of what I want to do for a career but I have no idea where to look for it. I'm a bit cursed in my job search because not only did I not have good grades back in university (B minus average) I've also only worked in call centers my whole life. In fact, I have spent the last year working in the call center for a transfer agent here in Canada. This makes it hard for me to apply to jobs that are actually meaningful for the FRM designation experience requirements (the HR people see my call center experience and just put me in the reject pile, it's my best guess for why i'm not getting any call backs).
I want to find a job where I can prove myself and move up the ranks (my last job was a dead-end type deal). I've been applying at all of the big banks in Canada, most of the big companies like Telus, Bell, Hydro-Québec, etc etc. I feel like there is no way for someone with no prior experience in risk management to actually land a job in risk management.
This brings me to my question that I want to ask to you all risk management job seekers. Where do you look? What's the best way to approach an interview when all you know about the field is theory? Are there any websites that list only jobs for new graduates or people with little experience? Is it appropriate to go to a business in person and ask to speak to a manager and discuss employment opportunities? Should I start doing work on my own so that I have something to show?
I just don't know where to look or how to look anymore.
Thank you
I'll be blunt, i'm coming here for advice as i'm not really sure what do to anymore.
A little bit of story and background first.
I'm 25 and I graduated back in April of 2013. My bachelor was in business administration but I prefer to say finance as that was my major. I'm not gonna lie, my grades weren't the best and at that time I wasn't as serious about my studies as I have been for the past year and a half.
I knew for sure that I wanted a career in finance, although not sure in what particular sub-field. With that in mind I decided to take the CFA exams, I passed the first one and will be writing the second one in June of this year. Also, as of last week I have passed both parts of the FRM exam.
This opened my mind to a lot of stuff that I didn't even know existed. I now have a better idea of what I want to do for a career but I have no idea where to look for it. I'm a bit cursed in my job search because not only did I not have good grades back in university (B minus average) I've also only worked in call centers my whole life. In fact, I have spent the last year working in the call center for a transfer agent here in Canada. This makes it hard for me to apply to jobs that are actually meaningful for the FRM designation experience requirements (the HR people see my call center experience and just put me in the reject pile, it's my best guess for why i'm not getting any call backs).
I want to find a job where I can prove myself and move up the ranks (my last job was a dead-end type deal). I've been applying at all of the big banks in Canada, most of the big companies like Telus, Bell, Hydro-Québec, etc etc. I feel like there is no way for someone with no prior experience in risk management to actually land a job in risk management.
This brings me to my question that I want to ask to you all risk management job seekers. Where do you look? What's the best way to approach an interview when all you know about the field is theory? Are there any websites that list only jobs for new graduates or people with little experience? Is it appropriate to go to a business in person and ask to speak to a manager and discuss employment opportunities? Should I start doing work on my own so that I have something to show?
I just don't know where to look or how to look anymore.
Thank you