I am graduating in May and still haven't found a job.

wkdwnstjdTprtm · 1/30/18

Hi,

I am an undergraduate student majoring in operations research with interest in quantitative risk. I have solid relevant internship experience (quantitative risk) but I haven't gotten replies from companies yet. I am not sure why (I am wondering if it's because my name is a foreign name despite that I am a Permanent Resident, and they assume that they will have to sponsor me?).

Now the graduation day is approaching, my worry is getting bigger and bigger. What if I become unemployed and have to work in a factory or walmart after I graduate? Does anyone have advice please???

MRoss · 1/30/18

Before everyone gives advice, please specify what you have done so far to find a job.

wkdwnstjdTprtm · 1/30/18

MRoss said:
Before everyone gives advice, please specify what you have done so far to find a job.

Here's a list of things I have done so far..
1) apply jobs online (university career database, indeed, monster, etc)
2) network with people on linkedin and meet them for coffee chat
3) improve my resume constantly

MRoss · 1/30/18

wkdwnstjdTprtm said:
Here's a list of things I have done so far..
1) apply jobs online (university career database, indeed, monster, etc)
2) network with people on linkedin and meet them for coffee chat
3) improve my resume constantly

I'll be a bit aggressive only because I'm trying to help.

#1: Waste of time. Unless you are PERFECT 4.0 and 800GRE (or whatever the top score is these days), your application will be ignored = 1 hour of your life down the tubes.

#2: How many people? What was your agenda going into the coffee? Just to meet people? When you met with someone from JPM did you ask if they know someone in <Enter Division You Want to Work In> perhaps they could introduce you to? (Not for a job, just to learn about the JPM culture in said division).

If your coffees never led to coffees with other people you are doing coffee wrong

.

#3: You shouldn't have to improve it constantly if it looks good. Just make sure its perfect and consistent. The only change you should be making is when you apply to a job, you should change the first few bullets to tailor the job you are applying for exactly.

Focus more on building your network. Just landing a coffee doesn't make you a champion networker. It's what you do with that conversation.

Believe it or not, my entire career is built on a single conversation I had with my DAD, a network IT guy. Networks can start anywhere, you just need to be passionate about growing yours.

CavQuant · 1/30/18

Why haven't you turned any of these internships into full time offers? That's the key pipeline for all of the BB banks.

pingu · 1/31/18

wkdwnstjdTprtm said:
... I have solid relevant internship experience (quantitative risk) but I haven't gotten replies from companies yet. ...

Your internship(s) were not solid because you didn't get an offer which means the employer didn't think you will cut it. It also means you have the wrong perspective of yourself up to this point. This is not bad, it just shows you need to find out what you are doing wrong (behavior? knowledge? find out). That will put you on the right path.

wkdwnstjdTprtm · 1/31/18

CavQuant said:
Why haven't you turned any of these internships into full time offers? That's the key pipeline for all of the BB banks.

The team did not have enough budget. But I still talk to my colleagues/boss

pingu · 1/31/18

wkdwnstjdTprtm said:
The team did not have enough budget. But I still talk to my colleagues/boss

They like you but they don't think you were good enough for a job. If they did, they would've done something about. Believe me, if you join a group and they want you

Was this a paid internship?

wkdwnstjdTprtm · 1/31/18

pingu said:
They like you but they don't think you were good enough for a job. If they did, they would've done something about. Believe me, if you join a group and they want you

Was this a paid internship?

Yes it was a paid internship, but its kinda complicated actually. Yea I actually agree. They like me as a person or friend, but I struggled on the job. It's not their fault of course but mine. But now what do I do..

Ken Abbott · 1/31/18

@wkdwnstjdTprtm: As usual, @MRoss has hit the nail on the head. Heed his advice.

wkdwnstjdTprtm · 1/31/18

MRoss said:
I'll be a bit aggressive only because I'm trying to help.

#1: Waste of time. Unless you are PERFECT 4.0 and 800GRE (or whatever the top score is these days), your application will be ignored = 1 hour of your life down the tubes.

#2: How many people? What was your agenda going into the coffee? Just to meet people? When you met with someone from JPM did you ask if they know someone in <Enter Division You Want to Work In> perhaps they could introduce you to? (Not for a job, just to learn about the JPM culture in said division).

If your coffees never led to coffees with other people you are doing coffee wrong .

#3: You shouldn't have to improve it constantly if it looks good. Just make sure its perfect and consistent. The only change you should be making is when you apply to a job, you should change the first few bullets to tailor the job you are applying for exactly.

Focus more on building your network. Just landing a coffee doesn't make you a champion networker. It's what you do with that conversation.

Believe it or not, my entire career is built on a single conversation I had with my DAD, a network IT guy. Networks can start anywhere, you just need to be passionate about growing yours.

First of all, thank you so much for the advice. I do not like to lie, so I will be honest. I haven't tried too hart with networking. I added some people who went to the same university on linkedin sometime in August, but I haven't done it after that. Especially last semester, I was focusing too much on improving my GPA, which is not great (currently 3.5/4.0). I guess I didn't try too hard in the past.. What worries me most is that I won't be able to find a job I want (fairly quantitative and financially nice job) after I graduate.

pingu · 1/31/18

wkdwnstjdTprtm said:
Yes it was a paid internship, but its kinda complicated actually. Yea I actually agree. They like me as a person or friend, but I struggled on the job. It's not their fault of course but mine. But now what do I do..

Follow @MRoss advice but also, be true to yourself. From the original post, you said you had a "solid internship". Those were your words and now we are discovering it wasn't solid at all. I think you meant you had an internship in a solid company (?) or a recognizable company. Be true to yourself first and move on. You should tap those contacts you made in the internship and try to convert them into a job opportunity

wkdwnstjdTprtm · 1/31/18

pingu said:
Follow @MRoss advice but also, be true to yourself. From the original post, you said you had a "solid internship". Those were your words and now we are discovering it wasn't solid at all. I think you meant you had an internship in a solid company (?) or a recognizable company. Be true to yourself first and move on. You should tap those contacts you made in the internship and try to convert them into a job opportunity

I will. Thank you very much..

rajanS · 2/4/18

pingu said:
They like you but they don't think you were good enough for a job. If they did, they would've done something about. Believe me, if you join a group and they want you

Was this a paid internship?

No offense. But wtf are you talking about? There are numerous companies that only hire interns and don’t hire full time. CME for instance.

pingu · 2/5/18

rajanS said:
No offense. But wtf are you talking about? There are numerous companies that only hire interns and don’t hire full time. CME for instance.

that doesn't make any sense. If a company only hires interns, does it keep hiring the same interns? because if that is not the case, the business could run by itself since there is no need for continuity. So hiring the interns is just to check a box.
I don't think you thought this through well enough.

rajanS · 2/6/18

pingu said:
that doesn't make any sense. If a company only hires interns, does it keep hiring the same interns? because if that is not the case, the business could run by itself since there is no need for continuity. So hiring the interns is just to check a box.
I don't think you thought this through well enough.

Lol. Anyways no point getting sex advise from a virgin

pingu · 2/6/18

rajanS said:
Lol. Anyways no point getting sex advise from a virgin

I think you should get advise from anybody because whatever you are doing is not working. You seem to complain all the time about your job and your school, etc.

Philip_Mitterrand · 2/18/18

The reason you are not getting offers is just because you are not qualified.
There's already a glut of MFEs & PhDs looking for Quant risk jobs and you are in the same pool. You are like the guy bringing a knife to a gunfight. Broaden your horizon, data science, corp finance whatever than being restricted into a narrow subtext and if you get a factory job at a place like Tesla I would grab it as well. Beggars can't be choosers, until the table turns.

wkdwnstjdTprtm said:
Hi,

I am an undergraduate student majoring in operations research with interest in quantitative risk. I have solid relevant internship experience (quantitative risk) but I haven't gotten replies from companies yet. I am not sure why (I am wondering if it's because my name is a foreign name despite that I am a Permanent Resident, and they assume that they will have to sponsor me?).

Now the graduation day is approaching, my worry is getting bigger and bigger. What if I become unemployed and have to work in a factory or walmart after I graduate? Does anyone have advice please???

wkdwnstjdTprtm · 2/18/18

Philip_Mitterrand said:
Ds looking for Quant risk jobs and you are in the same pool. You are like the guy bringing a knife to a gunfight. Broaden your horizon, data science, corp finance whatever than being restricted into a narrow subtext and if you get a factory job at a place like Tesla I would grab it as well. Beggars can't be choosers, until the table tur

Philip_Mitterrand said:
The reason you are not getting offers is just because you are not qualified.
There's already a glut of MFEs & PhDs looking for Quant risk jobs and you are in the same pool. You are like the guy bringing a knife to a gunfight. Broaden your horizon, data science, corp finance whatever than being restricted into a narrow subtext and if you get a factory job at a place like Tesla I would grab it as well. Beggars can't be choosers, until the table turns.

Thank you for your reply.

I have a second round interview this tuesday for quant role which is only available for undergraduates (so I doubt if it is an actual quant or more towards marketing). anyway, I really want the job