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16 Apr 2020, 05:40
Kudos
Bookmarks
eishmehta
Hey,
Thank you for your points. I agree that for the career switch I seek, Rotman is the safer bet. My post-MBA goals are aligned towards financial consulting and Private Equity. A first-year student told me that getting a summer internship has been quite difficult. Companies would come and hire only 2-3 people and till March mid she had no offer in hand and then COVID happened. Usually, by when do majority people have a confirmed internship? Also, are most of the internships acquired through recruitment on-campus/ job postings by Rotman or is personal networking a huge component?
ghui is correct here, the internship is 100% your responsibility. It is not a requirement for graduation, and many students choose not to do an internship as they pursue other interests (e.g. research project with a professor, summer courses so they can finish the MBA early, personal development via overseas trips, etc.). The onus is entirely on you. Thank you for your points. I agree that for the career switch I seek, Rotman is the safer bet. My post-MBA goals are aligned towards financial consulting and Private Equity. A first-year student told me that getting a summer internship has been quite difficult. Companies would come and hire only 2-3 people and till March mid she had no offer in hand and then COVID happened. Usually, by when do majority people have a confirmed internship? Also, are most of the internships acquired through recruitment on-campus/ job postings by Rotman or is personal networking a huge component?
When you get an internship is all over the place; some get it just months into the MBA, others get it literally days before they start their internship (like me). Most internships I would say are found off-campus, and networking is a huge, huge component. Whichever MBA you choose to accept, you should do at least one coffee chat a week, if not more. I did 2-3 per week the first few months of my MBA, and I average about one coffee chat per week, even now. It's a good habit to keep.
As for my personal experience, I found my internship entirely via networking. I didn't have much luck getting interviews, probably because I had zero work experience, but I networked myself into an internship with a company who wasn't even thinking of hiring interns. I connected with a former professor from grad school, who connected me with his wife, who connected me with her boss who's in the supply chain industry. We met, I pitched myself on how I can help his company even in just four months, he was sold, and told me to start the following Monday. A lot of it is luck, but a lot of it is also how hard you work at it. The career centre definitely helps provide you with tips and strategies, they certainly help you with honing your pitch, but they're not responsible for getting you that internship.
While Ivey is a great school for finance and finance consulting, the fact that you do not already come from this industry should knock the School down your list, just because of that internship opportunity. Companies can't "test" you out for a couple months; they have to commit to you full-time without seeing you in action. That's a harder sell if you don't have the finance and/or consulting experience to prove yourself. Now, I'll be a bit blunt here, based on what you said above, your profile doesn't quite stand out. 3.5 years of work experience is average, and a ton of people have audit/accounting backgrounds, and a US CPA is not that big of deal (especially if you DON'T come from a Big 4 firm). If you have a CFA III on top of that, that's an entirely different story... not only would this indicate to potential employers that you have your eyes set on the finance industry, it also means that for every year while you were working, you were studying AND passing the CFA, that's a big deal.
My personal opinion from what I'm reading: go to Rotman. It sounds to me that you need that internship. Not only that, finance is a different beast, it is HUGE on networking. Probably 90% of my colleagues who got hired into finance were through networking, and what's more, THEY reach out to you based on the resume book Rotman publishes to employers (which is based on your pre-MBA profile). To provide some examples, some of my friends already had internships by October of first year, and these led to full-time positions (mostly). If you do not have a network here in Toronto, I would start now, even before your MBA.
While this sounds daunting (and it is), the Rotman Finance Association (RFA) is the second biggest club at Rotman (second to the MCA, for consulting). They provide a TON of help, advice, interview practice, and networking opportunities. I can't speak for Ivey's equivalent since I didn't go there, but I assume they have something like that too. But as you said, you're a career switcher, and based on that alone I would highly recommend Rotman over Ivey.
16 Apr 2020, 07:24
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thank you for your points. They are quite insightful!
To the point on the profile, I disagree with your assessment because what I did in those 3.5 years and the experience gained then speaks a lot more which both these schools felt was good enough to get me admits. I have a few networks within the Big4 firms in Toronto- especially the teams I worked with. I, however, do not know many in the core finance fields. If it isn't too much, can you help me connect with your friends who are in such fields (IB/M&A/Private Equity/ Financial Consulting etc.)? I would like to know their journey and their views on my goals and how I can improve myself.
Thanks again!
When you get an internship is all over the place; some get it just months into the MBA, others get it literally days before they start their internship (like me). Most internships I would say are found off-campus, and networking is a huge, huge component. Whichever MBA you choose to accept, you should do at least one coffee chat a week, if not more. I did 2-3 per week the first few months of my MBA, and I average about one coffee chat per week, even now. It's a good habit to keep.
As for my personal experience, I found my internship entirely via networking. I didn't have much luck getting interviews, probably because I had zero work experience, but I networked myself into an internship with a company who wasn't even thinking of hiring interns. I connected with a former professor from grad school, who connected me with his wife, who connected me with her boss who's in the supply chain industry. We met, I pitched myself on how I can help his company even in just four months, he was sold, and told me to start the following Monday. A lot of it is luck, but a lot of it is also how hard you work at it. The career centre definitely helps provide you with tips and strategies, they certainly help you with honing your pitch, but they're not responsible for getting you that internship.
While Ivey is a great school for finance and finance consulting, the fact that you do not already come from this industry should knock the School down your list, just because of that internship opportunity. Companies can't "test" you out for a couple months; they have to commit to you full-time without seeing you in action. That's a harder sell if you don't have the finance and/or consulting experience to prove yourself. Now, I'll be a bit blunt here, based on what you said above, your profile doesn't quite stand out. 3.5 years of work experience is average, and a ton of people have audit/accounting backgrounds, and a US CPA is not that big of deal (especially if you DON'T come from a Big 4 firm). If you have a CFA III on top of that, that's an entirely different story... not only would this indicate to potential employers that you have your eyes set on the finance industry, it also means that for every year while you were working, you were studying AND passing the CFA, that's a big deal.
My personal opinion from what I'm reading: go to Rotman. It sounds to me that you need that internship. Not only that, finance is a different beast, it is HUGE on networking. Probably 90% of my colleagues who got hired into finance were through networking, and what's more, THEY reach out to you based on the resume book Rotman publishes to employers (which is based on your pre-MBA profile). To provide some examples, some of my friends already had internships by October of first year, and these led to full-time positions (mostly). If you do not have a network here in Toronto, I would start now, even before your MBA.
While this sounds daunting (and it is), the Rotman Finance Association (RFA) is the second biggest club at Rotman (second to the MCA, for consulting). They provide a TON of help, advice, interview practice, and networking opportunities. I can't speak for Ivey's equivalent since I didn't go there, but I assume they have something like that too. But as you said, you're a career switcher, and based on that alone I would highly recommend Rotman over Ivey.
To the point on the profile, I disagree with your assessment because what I did in those 3.5 years and the experience gained then speaks a lot more which both these schools felt was good enough to get me admits. I have a few networks within the Big4 firms in Toronto- especially the teams I worked with. I, however, do not know many in the core finance fields. If it isn't too much, can you help me connect with your friends who are in such fields (IB/M&A/Private Equity/ Financial Consulting etc.)? I would like to know their journey and their views on my goals and how I can improve myself.
Thanks again!
jigglypuff
eishmehta
Hey,
Thank you for your points. I agree that for the career switch I seek, Rotman is the safer bet. My post-MBA goals are aligned towards financial consulting and Private Equity. A first-year student told me that getting a summer internship has been quite difficult. Companies would come and hire only 2-3 people and till March mid she had no offer in hand and then COVID happened. Usually, by when do majority people have a confirmed internship? Also, are most of the internships acquired through recruitment on-campus/ job postings by Rotman or is personal networking a huge component?
ghui is correct here, the internship is 100% your responsibility. It is not a requirement for graduation, and many students choose not to do an internship as they pursue other interests (e.g. research project with a professor, summer courses so they can finish the MBA early, personal development via overseas trips, etc.). The onus is entirely on you. Thank you for your points. I agree that for the career switch I seek, Rotman is the safer bet. My post-MBA goals are aligned towards financial consulting and Private Equity. A first-year student told me that getting a summer internship has been quite difficult. Companies would come and hire only 2-3 people and till March mid she had no offer in hand and then COVID happened. Usually, by when do majority people have a confirmed internship? Also, are most of the internships acquired through recruitment on-campus/ job postings by Rotman or is personal networking a huge component?
When you get an internship is all over the place; some get it just months into the MBA, others get it literally days before they start their internship (like me). Most internships I would say are found off-campus, and networking is a huge, huge component. Whichever MBA you choose to accept, you should do at least one coffee chat a week, if not more. I did 2-3 per week the first few months of my MBA, and I average about one coffee chat per week, even now. It's a good habit to keep.
As for my personal experience, I found my internship entirely via networking. I didn't have much luck getting interviews, probably because I had zero work experience, but I networked myself into an internship with a company who wasn't even thinking of hiring interns. I connected with a former professor from grad school, who connected me with his wife, who connected me with her boss who's in the supply chain industry. We met, I pitched myself on how I can help his company even in just four months, he was sold, and told me to start the following Monday. A lot of it is luck, but a lot of it is also how hard you work at it. The career centre definitely helps provide you with tips and strategies, they certainly help you with honing your pitch, but they're not responsible for getting you that internship.
While Ivey is a great school for finance and finance consulting, the fact that you do not already come from this industry should knock the School down your list, just because of that internship opportunity. Companies can't "test" you out for a couple months; they have to commit to you full-time without seeing you in action. That's a harder sell if you don't have the finance and/or consulting experience to prove yourself. Now, I'll be a bit blunt here, based on what you said above, your profile doesn't quite stand out. 3.5 years of work experience is average, and a ton of people have audit/accounting backgrounds, and a US CPA is not that big of deal (especially if you DON'T come from a Big 4 firm). If you have a CFA III on top of that, that's an entirely different story... not only would this indicate to potential employers that you have your eyes set on the finance industry, it also means that for every year while you were working, you were studying AND passing the CFA, that's a big deal.
My personal opinion from what I'm reading: go to Rotman. It sounds to me that you need that internship. Not only that, finance is a different beast, it is HUGE on networking. Probably 90% of my colleagues who got hired into finance were through networking, and what's more, THEY reach out to you based on the resume book Rotman publishes to employers (which is based on your pre-MBA profile). To provide some examples, some of my friends already had internships by October of first year, and these led to full-time positions (mostly). If you do not have a network here in Toronto, I would start now, even before your MBA.
While this sounds daunting (and it is), the Rotman Finance Association (RFA) is the second biggest club at Rotman (second to the MCA, for consulting). They provide a TON of help, advice, interview practice, and networking opportunities. I can't speak for Ivey's equivalent since I didn't go there, but I assume they have something like that too. But as you said, you're a career switcher, and based on that alone I would highly recommend Rotman over Ivey.
17 Apr 2020, 06:25
Kudos
Bookmarks
em20
Thank you for your points. They are quite insightful!
To the point on the profile, I disagree with your assessment because what I did in those 3.5 years and the experience gained then speaks a lot more which both these schools felt was good enough to get me admits. I have a few networks within the Big4 firms in Toronto- especially the teams I worked with. I, however, do not know many in the core finance fields. If it isn't too much, can you help me connect with your friends who are in such fields (IB/M&A/Private Equity/ Financial Consulting etc.)? I would like to know their journey and their views on my goals and how I can improve myself.
Thanks again!
Like I said, my "assessment" (very loosely termed, as I'm not a recruitment professional) is based on what you've posted here so far. If I'm hiring someone, I don't care if you had three years of work experience or ten, what matters to me is what you did in that time. Did you stay an analyst? Or did you get two promotions in two years? "3.5 years" isn't enough to make a good judgement, unfortunately!To the point on the profile, I disagree with your assessment because what I did in those 3.5 years and the experience gained then speaks a lot more which both these schools felt was good enough to get me admits. I have a few networks within the Big4 firms in Toronto- especially the teams I worked with. I, however, do not know many in the core finance fields. If it isn't too much, can you help me connect with your friends who are in such fields (IB/M&A/Private Equity/ Financial Consulting etc.)? I would like to know their journey and their views on my goals and how I can improve myself.
Thanks again!
Also, as a side note, in case this matters for anyone in the future: employers don't really care about what you "experienced" or "learned", what they care is about what you did, and how you grew. Employers don't care you self-learned SQL, they'll care that you transformed a company's database storing and querying procedures to reduce time spent on querying by 30%, or that you were promoted to a manager because you did this. I know it might sound a bit rough, but that's been my experience.
And my apologies to you (and anyone else), I prefer to stay anonymous on these boards! I've actually had another account on here before where I was public about who I am, and Rotman reached out to me and asked me to say certain things and not to say others. I prefer to be straightforward in my advice here than coming off as a Rotman "representative". This way I can help and say things that I experienced from my perspective. Hope you understand!
