I reached out to my former students through Linkedin and asked the question.
“Hi, This is Professor Ha-Chin Yi from TSU. I am reaching out to you to hear about how you successfully secured your current job or previous position. I am collecting positive/negative stories from you all so that I can pass them on to my current students. Your experience will be very helpful. Could you briefly share your job search journey with us? You can leave it here or email me at hy11@txstate.edu. Thank you!”
Below, they have responded. Since I explicitly said that I will pass them on to my students, it would be okay to send this information to you all too.
Hi Professor Yi,
I graduated with my BBA in Finance from Texas State University back in 2008, but I will share some of my journey in case it is still helpful.
Job prospects were slim back in 2008, so I initially took a position as a bank teller at Frost Bank in downtown San Marcos upon graduating. A couple months into the job, a friend was leaving their Accounts Receivable position at 3D Welding Supply in San Marcos and referred me to the role, which I took. I was seeking more growth opportunities and proximity to Austin, so after 2.5 years at 3D Welding, I took a position at a nutrition company in Dripping Springs (Genesis Today) doing accounts receivable work. Prior to securing the position at Genesis Today, I interviewed at a company called mindWireless and did not get the role. After a year or so at Genesis Today, mindWireless contacted me and said the person they selected didn’t work out, and they made me an offer to join their organization as a Financial Analyst. The role at mindWireless was very niche, performing cellular billing allocations and optimizations for large companies like John Deere, Aon Hewitt, and Coca Cola. The work was quite repetitive, and the company culture left something to be desired. After 1.5 years, I interviewed and accepted a role at Dell Technologies as a Telecom Expense Management Analyst. The specialized experience at mindWireless, while monotonous, opened the door for me at Dell. After a year at Dell, my manager left the company and joined General Motors. He reached out and recruited me to join GM, where I’ve been since 2013.
My career at GM has been fantastic. I’ve travelled to Europe twice, Brazil once, became a manager 5 years ago, and had increasing levels of responsibility throughout my tenure here. GM paid for me to obtain my Master of Science in Information Technology from Carnegie Mellon, which I completed in 2021 with highest distinction.
My advice for current job seekers would be the following:
- Don’t be too picky on what company and what role you take to get started after college.
- My journey took many twists and turns to get where I am. Every experience shaped my skillset, knowledge, and desired direction.
- Personal networks are extremely important – nurture relationships so you’re not trying to rekindle them when you need support.
- Keep the door open with companies even if you don’t get an offer right away. They could seek you out in the future.
- Try not to get discouraged when you interview and don’t get a job – it’s all part of the process.
- Differentiate yourself with hard work and excellent communication, no matter what role you are performing. It will set you apart in the long run and generate new opportunities.
I hope this is helpful. It’s been quite some time since I was at Texas State, but I still remember your course. I thoroughly enjoyed the content and your teaching style. I wish all of your students success in their job searches.
Hi Professor, It surely has been a while, hopefully everything is good with you!
So currently I am a senior accountant at CBRE and ….. It took me a whole year of applying for a job at CBRE I crushed the interview and became the youngest real estate accountant in my office Within 2 years, I worked hard and showed my worth, and they promoted me to senior accountant I wouldn’t have gotten the job I wanted if I didn’t do internships and work in a similar industry. So I highly recommend students to always ask questions to people that are in the same industry you want to get into, because they will give you great insight. Get good experience, make great connections, and work hard.
Good morning, my prior role was found out of a job fair for risk industry students at grad school …. I had a colleague at that company move to a neighboring company, and he recommended me for a complex financial data project. That was about 6 years ago. So advice is to attend job fairs, network in campus, and build collaborative relationships with colleagues to allow you to help them and vice versa.
I left Texas State and went to work for a State Farm agent in Austin. I obtained my licenses to sell all kinds of insurance and mutual funds. I quickly advanced to sales manager and then financial services manager. I was on a fast track plan to opening my own agency and had a business plan ready. I left State Farm to work for an independent insurance company after feeling limited by their products. The business model was completely different. I had to switch from pushy direct customer sales to networking with lenders to gain referral partners. Personal issues took me out of the insurance world and I became a school teacher as a result of a spiritual experience. Now I coach athletics and teach math at a middle school. It’s extremely rewarding and I’ve never been happier. I’m extremely grateful for my finance degree. It’s helped me in every job I’ve had and with my personal finances. Hope someone will find that useful!
My last job was through a connection. One of my former coworkers had interviewed for the position a few years before and he got good connection with the hiring manager. A few years later my coworker find out the same position was open again and send me the notification to apply. I went ahead and submitted my application. Given that I was part of the same company the hiring manager directly emailed me to set an interview and get going with the hiring process. I do have to say that JP Morgan Private Bank typically try to recruit banker analyst from certain universities from whom their employees are alumni. A lot of time employees with hiring responsibilities rely on referrals from other employees. So it would be great for students to get involved in professional networking events outside of the university and try to get internships while in their sophomore and junior years. I hope this is helpful. Thank you for reaching out.
Hey Professor Yi. After undergrad, I did a grad program, MS Business Analytics, at UT Austin. From here, I applied and reached out to people at companies I was interested in. The company I’m currently at, Salom Consulting, I had reached out to a recruiter at the Austin office on LinkedIn. I connected with her and attached a message saying that I was soon to graduate, and that I was interested in the work at Slalom along with the culture. She messaged me back, and from there I got a call going. She enjoyed talking to me, thought I’d be a good fit, but at the time they were not hiring new grads at the Austin office. She got me in contact with the regional hiring manager out of Ft Worth. I had a call with her, and then gave her a list of office locations that I’d be interested in moving to. Chicago was one of the cities on that list. Not too long after, I got reached out to by a recruiter from the Chicago office. I had my four rounds of interviews, and eventually received the job offer. I set up one more call with a data science person in the company because I wasn’t quite sure if it was a good fit. After talking to that fifth person, I was convinced to accept, so I took the job and moved to Chicago in the summer of 2021. One thing to note is that I did get this job with my graduate degree. They do hire a lot of undergraduates, but for my specific role, I don’t think I would have gotten it with the finance undergrad at TXST, to be completely honest.
Hi Dr Yi, I am glad you’ve reach out! I took FIN 3312 with you back in Fall 2017 and was first in your investment trading contest on Investopedia. My journey in finance has been unorthodox. Since my GPA was xxxx I had limited opportunities for internships and never was offered opportunities through the university job platform, Handshake. So I have earned every position on my resume (see linkedin) and deserved them all. There are transferable skills in the work force that are applicable in all positions. Being coachable, analytical, curious, and able to communicate your thoughts and ideas in a concise manner will get you far in any role. I’ve learned that if you are passionate and express interest in opportunities that are available you will be given chances to obtain those opportunities and more.
I was already employed going into the the program. I had about 5 years of work experience in commodities trading/risk. I landed my first role on a temp contract through a recruiting agency. During the program I started a trading role, partly due to my reputation in the company and partly due to the skillset learned through the program. My advice would be not everyone is going to land a superstar job out of college. Have the humility to accept an entry level role, and understand that high performers in most cultures will get noticed and promoted. For most entry level (year 1-5), Marathon generally hires based on intangibles. Be teachable, understand how to solve problems, etc. I’m part of a large corporation that values culture over a raw skillset. Some companies will be on the other end of the spectrum.
Finding the right job can be hard. Here’s a few things I did to make it easy: 1. Apply to multiple jobs daily/weekly. With each interview and rejection I became more effective in selling myself. 2. Use job descriptions and LinkedIn as a tool to create role/industry specific resumes and cover letters. Job alerts on linkedin ensure you don’t miss an opportunity. 3. Build/Use a network of individuals that are in the industry, especially if it is something you are less familiar with. The hard truth is that you may not end up with your dream job at first. I had to apply the basic principles from investments: – Do not put all your eggs in one basket. – Diversify. I often found myself discouraged but I stuck to my plan and ended up finding a great position with a great employer. Most importantly, an employer that values my background and skills. I told myself I didn’t want to work in economics or move back home to Houston. Guess where I landed? Economics role in Houston with no regrets. Lesson learned – the best things can come when you’re least expecting them. The icing on the cake was being able to apply my quantitative skills to my supervisors (plus confuse people when I go down the rabbit hole of statistics and forecasting).
I graduated from Texas State in May of 2019 with a degree in Finance. Prior to graduation, I accepted a job in Dallas at a small software consulting firm which specialized in Human Capital Management software implementation. Covid hit in 2020 and we went WFH. I spent about 1.5 years at the consulting firm before accepting a job at a local Dallas software company. Again, working in implementation and end-user training. I spent about 1.5 years at this company as a product consultant. I found my current career through a recruiter on LinkedIn. I was contacted for my HCM experience as well as experience in Mutli Family Real Estate. I am currently a T3 support engineer focusing primarily on HR involved systems for the Mutli Family branch of Lennar Homes. My overall recommendation is to always keep an eye out for new positions you may find interesting, do not be afraid to apply/work in positions that you do not think you are qualified (i.e. I became heavily involved in tech/software by accident as a Finance major and have enjoyed every bit), and always keep the 3 P’s in the back of your mind (Be professional, be polite, and be non-political). Best,
Hey Dr. Yi–I got my current role primarily through a headhunter. But it might be easier to just give you the full story. Right out of college (2014), I got a job at Sage Advisory, a fixed income manager in South Austin. I got that role by cold calling them. I Googled “RIAs in Austin” and just started calling a lot of the smaller ones to see if they were looking to expand their teams anytime soon. Sage hadn’t posted the job listing yet, but they were looking to add soeone to the team. I think this is the good thing about cold calling–sometimes you can get ahead of the competition a little bit prior to the job being posted! I passed L3 of CFA program in 2017 and took a 9 month sabbatical. Then I returned to Austin and started looking for new jobs. My fellow classmate, Stephanie Daul, was at TRS, and knew UTIMCO was looking to expand their team. She really helped vouch for me, and I joined the long-only public equity team at UTIMCO in Sep 2018. This is really where most of my experience came from. I was exposed to some of the most elite hedge funds in the world, and I learned about all the strange ways to make money. I had a kid during COVID, and I really couldn’t work long hours anymore, so I started applying for new roles. A headhunter found me, and recommended a role in Dallas TX, where I’m originally from. I was at UTIMCO for 4 years, and now I’m at a single-family office in Dallas. I’ve been here for around 4 months. I’m more of a generalist, looking at public securities across the spectrum, as well all private equity deals. So I have a lot to learn!
Hello Professor Yi, great to hear from you! I’d love to give some insight to current students. First, I’d like to thank you for educating me and giving me a letter of recommendation in the past. I really enjoyed your class and always remember a time when you told my class about developing yourself into an “Irreplaceable”, by developing a skill set and knowledge base to adapt and make yourself competitive in the real world, alleviating the anxiety of finding and keeping a job in the business world. Advice to students – I secured my positions through education, networking, and internships. As a student, making sure you do well in the classroom will help ensure you’re a competitive candidate on paper, especially prior to building work experience. Combining a competitive (doesn’t need to be perfect) gpa with networking through business organizations creates opportunity to interview for great internships. Internships are the true key to full time offers and any entry level roles in your desired field. If you get a solid internship in your desired field, you take care of the most critical part to building a career in that field. If you don’t get an internship or find yourself struggling to break into the field, you may need to build your skill set through LinkedIn learning, Khan academy, Udemy, GitHub, etc and your network with an organization in your desired field (Accounting, Finance, International business, etc). The path isn’t always linear, you might take a role you didn’t exactly envision, but it may be a stepping stone in the right overall direction. A tip is to create a strong LinkedIn profile, LinkedIn can really help to network and secure a role. Look at strong profiles of people with roles you’re interested in. Also, get good at excel, like really good. So pay attention in class and do extra learning on LinkedIn (add a badge to your profile) or do Wall Street prep, etc. My background and story – I was originally a Finance student at Texas State and struggling to find a finance role I was truly interested in coming out of school. To help make myself competitive and differentiate myself, I looked to add accounting as a double major but you could also help yourself by majoring/minoring in CIS, Economics, Computer Science, etc. I landed an audit internship with a large global firm (KPMG), and while I knew I was not interested in audit or accounting long term, I knew the employer was a respected name and I would absolutely learn how to be a professional and be given the opportunity to expand my skills. Any opportunity I liked I jumped on, for example, I applied and received the opportunity to do a rotation in my first internship in audit (technical accounting) and do M&A deal consulting (accounting/finance blend). That opened a bunch of future opportunities for me as I got exposure to consulting and accounting, which helped me land another accounting and consulting internships to gain more experience. Upon accepting KPMG’s full time offer, I applied and got accepted into their integrated data program, which included KPMG sending me to grad school and teaching me data analytics and analysis. I found myself quickly becoming knowledgeable about finance, accounting, and data, which is very beneficial in todays day and age. Upon leaving KPMG I had opportunities to go into data or finance, along with traditional accounting roles. From prior networking I lined up interviews in the M&A consulting space and that’s how I landed my current role. While I started in a traditional accounting path, I now do Financial Due Diligence, which involves creating an excel databook or report for Investment Banks, Private Equity firms, or Business owners detailing the accounting and finances of a business for Mergers & Acquisitions. Final Message – I’m still formulating my next move and deciding on the shape I want my career to take, whether I want to stay in Corporate, teach, or become an Entrepreneur. But I can say, by taking the previous steps I mentioned, the door is truly wide open for me to choose. I have been contacted for roles in Investment Banking, Valuation, Real Estate, Private Equity, Consulting, Data, and Accounting. It is not just one thing, but a bunch of great steps adding up, school work, networking at conferences, practice interviewing, getting internships, work experiences at a solid place, learning new skills, and developing your brand on LinkedIn and social media. I’m available for networking, questions, or general outreach! I wish all your students luck on their path and want to remind them that as they get older, they’ll realize what they wanted wasn’t always the right fit for them (work/life balance, career, etc) but work hard and challenge yourself and you’ll make a way for yourself.
Hi Dr. Yi. Hope you are doing well. I will be glad to tell you my story. It took me about 5 months post graduation to find my first post- college job through constant applying and interviewing. I was primarily searching for opportunities to be a financial analyst. I applied for a reporting analyst position at the mortgage servicer I currently work at. When I interviewed they thought I would be a good fit for an accounting position on their investor accounting team. That is now the position I have held the past 3 months and have really enjoyed. This experience has taught me the right opportunities will come with time.
Most definitely! So I gained a lot of interest in the stock market actually because of your class. Started placing trades on robinhood here and there more of trial and error and then saw a job opening at Charles Schwab due to a friends referral. Started on my journey to get me series 7, 63 and SIE. Shortly after developed leadership skills and went for my series 9 and 10 to operate in a supervisor capacity. Now because of our acquisition of TD Ameritrade got my series 3 and will be getting series 34 eventually. I owe it to you for gauging my interest in the stock market based off both classes that I took with you as the professor. If any of your students need a referral please let them know to message me.
In regards to job search, I highly recommend the students to talk with Bruce Howard or another career advisor. At the time, I had no knowledge whatsoever on how to begin my career. After speaking to Bruce and other McCoy professors, I was able to get a general idea of the timeline which helped significantly. I had Bruce help me update my resume. Depending on what type of jobs each student wants to apply to, I recommend that they read the job description and integrate a few buzzwords in their resume that are found in the job description as recruiters enter those buzzwords in the applicant database that helps narrow down their search. For me, I knew I wanted to get big 4 experience as an auditor so I tailored my resume around that specific job role. Once I was fortunate enough to get an interview to become an intern, I would look up reviews on Glassdoor and other sites to get a general idea on what kind of questions they ask applicants to better prepare myself. Full disclosure, I wasn’t sure if I could land the internship at EY so I applied to every internship on jobs4cats (or whatever the new job site name is for TSU students). I am sure there are many students out there that are scared to apply for competitive jobs but I recommend that they at least apply because you never know what can happen and I am a product of that.
I also suggest students to apply to other jobs that they may not be necessarily interested in so that they get experience with the interview process and build more confidence for the jobs that they actually want to land. My first interview, I was very shaky and was not confident. By the end of the interview process, I built more confidence and felt more comfortable
There are transferable skills in the work force that are applicable in all positions. Being coachable, analytical, curious, and able to communicate your thoughts and ideas in a concise manner will get you far in any role. I’ve learned that if you are passionate and express interest in opportunities that are available you will be given chances to obtain those opportunities and more.
I leveraged my network to secure both of my first two jobs out of college. However, both of these indirect products of my main job search. During my main job search and interviews, I was pursuing required skills for these positions. Conversations with people in my network about these skills resulted in me learning about my current position. Thankfully, the skills I was learning were relevant to the job and I got the offer
I got your message on LinkedIn. I hope you’re doing well! I hope the message below helps:
Think of your resume and career as a blank canvas; you’re the artist. People are going to have their own interpretation of what you do, so you should do whatever you want. For me that meant taking challenging roles in different industries and cities, that allowed me to learn a lot in a short amount of time.
Job searching can be a daunting task, especially if you’re searching for your first few jobs out of school. You can have a perfect interview, and still not get the role. It’s important to stay positive and persistent.
Tips:
- Updated LinkedIn page
- Updated resume: 1 page, straight to the point highlighting what you did to make the organization better. If you don’t have much experience to put down, focus on extracurricular activities and soft skills. I worked retail throughout college so my resume out of school was heavy on customer service/Microsoft/etc.
- Apply for the job even if you don’t meet all the requirements. A good attitude and willingness to learn goes a long way.
- Sometimes getting the experience is better than your pay at the moment, don’t worry the money will come.
Hi Ha-Chin, I remember taking your class. Background here, I didn’t have any finance related internships or experience coming out of college. I did do a real estate internship but wasn’t anything related to finance. I found that what got me through the door with jobs was my GPA due to not having any Internships. I had a 3.8 gpa and I really felt that it helped me find a job. Although I did get lucky with mine. I went to the Texas state career fair for all majors. I went through the list of company’s there and picked that ones I like and went up to them and asked if they have any current or future financial positions open and handed my resume. My current company was there and it just so happen they had one finance person for one position open. I talked with him and gave him my resume. Months later I got an email and got the job. It’s all about how to get one foot in the door then worry about interviewing. Everyone has a degree and a gpa but not everyone has a great personality.
Hi Dr. Yi – apologies on the delay here. I order to land my current role, I had hundreds of networking calls with IB professionals. I learned what made a good candidate, about the position, and interview tips. After learning what I didn’t know, I started studying technicals and designing my resume to be more relevant to the position. Through networking, I landed a couple of interviews and offers in Houston, Texas. Then I leveraged the exploding offer to my contacts in NYC. In advance of interviewing with Evercore I practiced mock interviews (questions like: walk me through a DCF, tell me about yourself, why IB, why Evercore, paper LBOs, and tell me how the three statements are connected). In all I got the internship and have not looked back. Long story short, network hard and make sure you do your best to understand the position you are applying for.
Hi Professor, My first position after leaving the MBA program at TSU was found through a job fair. I share this story with people I meet personally, but since you’re asking; I actually found a much better selection of employers at the University of Texas job fair than I did at the Texas State job fair. I work in technology, and there were more tech companies, startups, and tech focused positions represented at UT than there were at TSU. That was 2012, so things may have changed, but it is still something to consider. As a student in the public university system students should be aware that they can use resources at other public universities. I ended up taking less starting salary than I believe the position warranted in order to get the necessary experience in an industry I wanted to work in, but was relatively quickly awarded raises and promotions to get to a comfortable compensation level and responsibility level within the company. Since then, I stayed in that position through 2 different acquisitions. I then transitioned to another role with a company in the same industry where I had several former colleagues working, who knew my professional capabilities, work ethic, and demeanor. I was ultimately laid off from that company due to downsizing, but was able to quickly find a job at my current employer primarily through another former colleague relationship. I’ve also continued to seek out professional development opportunities and continuing education. While I don’t personally put a lot of faith in job boards, I know that there are keyword filters that will eliminate prospects who don’t have the latest certifications and experience. Keep your skills sharp and your resume updated. My best advice to a student currently thinking about careers and strategies to get started is to use the resources available to you, even if they are not the ones being offered through the status quo. Get your foot in the door first, then work on career advancement. Maintain your professional network. Relationships have been the primary reason I was able to keep my position through acquisitions and when seeking out new positions. Say yes to opportunities that can expand your comfort zone, i.e. public speaking, getting in front of customers, and learning opportunities. Do great work, be pleasant to be around, and maintain those professional relationships.
Professor Yi,
Thank you for reaching out on LinkedIn and giving me the opportunity to share my story on how I successfully secured my current and previous positions with my fellow Bobcats.
My first position with Citigroup as a Commodities Settlement Analyst on a trade shop came while I was working a part time job at HEB after I graduated in DEC14. I knew this was not what I expected to be doing out of college, but I did not prepare myself prior to graduation by applying for jobs ahead of time. However, if I had never worked at HEB I would not have met my future boss’ daughter. It was through this humble experience and time at HEB that I made that connection and she referred me to the person who would turn out to be my boss. I spent about 5 years at Citigroup learning about commodities, operational risk, trade clearing, brokerage services, and trade capture systems however it took about a year to get that position. In my initial interview January 2015 I was not selected as later on I found out they had a hiring freeze. Then in November of 2015 the same recruiter reached out to let me know the same manager wanted to interview me for another position for which I was a better fit. It was during this time that I learned perseverance, preparation, and networking can open great opportunities.
The second role over at one of the biggest trade shops in Houston, Vitol Inc. came through my knowledge and understanding of trade systems. There was a particular issue they were having in which I had experience and success with resolving while I was at Citigroup. During the interview I showed my competency over the matter and made it clear that I could help resolve their issue. It was also during this interview that I later found out that my then boss knew me prior to this interview because I regularly performed at his church. Although I had a regular job throughout this time, I always had a passion for music and would get contracted to perform. I strongly believe that it is important to find a passion outside of work that connects you with others because you never know who is watching.
My current position at Phillips 66 was attained through a staffing agency. During my time at Citigroup I made really good work relationships and maintained them even after leaving. One of those colleagues recommended a recruiter to me as I was looking for something closer to where I live. After I reached out they looked to find the best opportunity to match me with and ended up here on a 6-month contract for a special project. I took the role because I wanted to work for a large public company that was in oil and gas and felt confident in my ability to show them what I could do. Contractor jobs also pay more but they come with inherent risks. However, my supervisor just talked to me about moving me into another role and placing me on an open timeframe contract. Here I have seen that my willingness to help is appreciated, and the right supervisor/boss will do what they can to further your career.
I also wanted to share this part of the story in case there is ONE student who may be encouraged by this since Texas State holds a special place for me. I wasn’t the brightest student in all my classes. I took a few courses twice. One of them was the initial Finance Course with you and I retook it with another professor. I applied to SMIF and was denied due to my GPA. I worked two jobs while I attended college, one at Alkek and the other at the outlets so at times it was difficult for me to study or keep up with all the class curriculum. However, I think I would not appreciate where I am now had I not faced all of these situations while I was in school, but it is still important to do well in class. I hope this helps someone. Go Bobcats Go.
Hi Mr. Yi, Hope you’ve been well. I’d be more than happy to share my job search since leaving Texas state. I originally went into the independent financial advisor route after meeting a past member of the SMIF program during my time in the program. I joined their RIA and got fully licensed before starting my own book. I had some success early on but dealt with many struggles during COVID and in person meetings and ultimately decided that the business wasn’t a good fit for me at the time. The business I was in was very annuity selling heavy and I didn’t always feel like it’s motives had the clients best interests in mind. After I decided to look towards another career path I came across Fidelity and after interviewing with them felt like it was a great fit for what I was looking for. Their training has been outstanding and their resources have been even better than I expected as I’m entering the phase to study for my CFP. I truly think Fidelity is one of the best companies in the industry and one of the few that truly put the clients interests first. I also feel like my job search journey has been relatively easy and successful after Texas State mainly because of my time in the SMIF program, my association with FMA, and my time as a finance tutor in SLAC. If you need any additional information from me please let me know. I also want to note you were without a doubt one of my favorite professors during my time there. I think you were very good at pushing students to think outside of the box and always making finance an interesting subject to learn about so I thank you for that.