Jealous ramblings and such from no degree scose

Right... I got into accounting at 19 so didn't go tps uni.... financial constraints, young and dumb etc

Now various people I know are walking into and switching jobs for a **** take in places like deutsche and BNY in trading and asset management. They have 21 bus and fin from former polys and although 1 has a masters from same.

I speak yo these people and I'm probably on am equal footing in terms of knowledge which I find shocking.

I'm gonna finish ACCA next year but my CV gets binned when I apply for entry level stuff where these guys have offers coming out of their ar5es.

Am I just never gonna get a job unless I get a degree?

scose-no-doubt said:

Am I just never gonna get a job unless I get a degree?

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Most of the big Investment Banks (and accounting firms) have pretty strict policies around new hires requiring degrees (especially for Grad level jobs). Your application won't even get past the automatic filtering system if you don't have the required qualifications (often including A-Levels to a decent standard)

I know it doesn't seem fair, but that's just the way it is

Good luck

Gay isn't it!! Happens in accy too. I'm spend hours correcting work from ACAs too!

basically, its gonna be difficult...from experience this is what i've found. I've heard some IBs haven't done too well this year and some are reli scrabbling around...despite this out of my 10 apps (mainly Tier 1 banks, combination of trading and research) I only got an interview with Goldman. This is despite being on course for a first at a fairly reputable uni (top Russell Group i would say). However, I am mainly interested in AM (so the offer was pointless nonetheless). But likewise in AM I got rejected basically everywhere here and the offers I got are useless to me.
So what I found is...for trading, some sort of math skills are important, don't ask me why cos i don't ****ing get it but thats the way its going. in banking or AM, there is a brutal combo of either MA or going to the right uni in the tier 1 places. however, in something like AM there are opportunities on the peripheries or perhaps in something like investment consulting. i wouldn't try going in through operations or anything crazy...altho you wud probablly still need a degree. i've heard of accountants moving into asset management tho...

It's frustrating as ****. I've trained up red brick grad who didn't know their ar5e from their elbow and I'm not good enough for trainee analyst? Even tried to sweeten the deal for the PWM side of AM by talking up the HNWs in my portfolio that are ripe for the picking lol. Tried everything bar selling my ar5e!

You can get into places without a degree (I know a guy without a degree, or even A levels, and everyone else he works with have PHDS and some have 2). The min requirements they put on job applications are all BS from what I've seen.

1-Bartering will just make you look desperate. No means no ;-)
2-If you're desperate, apply for anything which looks vaguely interesting, it's quite easy to move around in firms from place to place.
3-You may have to get a degree, if they really want one, it's quite possible it's because they deem people who go to uni to have a quality completely unrelated to intelligence or anything.
4- Touch up your CV/covering letter, it's amazing what you can do with a liberal sprinkling of bullsh*t.
5- Lie?

But most importantly:

Life's not fair and the world doesn't owe you a living. Happy Christmas!

Hotch said:

But most importantly:

Life's not fair and the world doesn't owe you a living. Happy Christmas!

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Yeah I know but seeing how I seem to get none of the luck I feel that the world at least owes me the odd opportunity to get drunk and ramble, hence the thread.

Happy Kwanza.

scose-no-doubt said:

I'm gonna finish ACCA next year but my CV gets binned when I apply for entry level stuff where these guys have offers coming out of their ar5es.

Am I just never gonna get a job unless I get a degree?

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Hi s-n-d,
1. How confident are you that your CV gets binned for the reasons you think?
2. Is your CV a basic template downloaded from the interweb? If your answer to this question is 'yes' - you need to change it.
3. If it's 'no', who designed it? There's two parts to a CV: content, i.e. what you do and don't say about yourself and, secondly, the graphics / presentation. As a rule of thumb, someone who can advise you on the former will be pants at the latter - and visa versa.
4. Who proof read it and are they suitably qualified to do so? No offense s-n-d, but if it reads like your posts on here, you won't get a job picking brussel sprouts at Christmas - let alone the sort of job you're applying for!
5. How did you address the obvious objection that you're aware of - i.e. your relative lack of qualifications compared to other competing candidates?
6. Following on from 5., what USP did you provide? Ideally, this would be one(s) that better qualified candidates are unlikely to be able to provide.
7. When you followed up your application(s) to find out why you weren't successful - what were you told and what have you done to address the problem?

These are the sorts of things you need to think about if you're to overcome this barrier, IMO.
Tim.

What's wrong with the way my posts are written?

scose-no-doubt said:

What's wrong with the way my posts are written?

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3 words: spilling, punctuation and grammar.

Please don't take offense - it doesn't matter one jot on here (unless you mention your T2W membership and username in your CV). We all make mistakes - me included - when posting to forums like this. So, I'm not having a dig at you. The point is that your CV has to be absolutely flawless. Now, how about addressing the other points?
Tim.

Eh now Tim my spg isn't bad when put in effort. Granted its taken a nose dive since I started on the HTC but that's harsh. I'm not one of the loosers

Try the back door.

You gotta know a guy that knows a guy>>>>

They like people that speak less, write less, do less and act stone cold.

The less on your CV the better, bait them with minimal headlines on your CV, don't lie & don't apply for rookie roles, let them call you in to find out more, and thats where you seal the deal.

Lol.

I've got a better chance of pi55ing out a scripture than landing a job that way. Disarrano is lovely.

scose-no-doubt said:

Eh now Tim my spg isn't bad when put in effort. Granted its taken a nose dive since I started on the HTC but that's harsh. I'm not one of the loosers

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lol

timsk said:

3 words: spilling, punctuation and grammar.

Please don't take offense - it doesn't matter one jot on here (unless you mention your T2W membership and username in your CV). We all make mistakes - me included - when posting to forums like this. So, I'm not having a dig at you. The point is that your CV has to be absolutely flawless. Now, how about addressing the other points?
Tim.

Click to expand...

F.ck it lad I give up and admit defeat for now. I need more ammo.

This years winner of The Apprentice left school with no qualifications, no university degree and she ended up working as the head of some department in a Japanese bank (or something along those lines).

If you have the genuine drive and determination to succeed then chances are you will accomplish your goals. These characteristics in a person aren't taught at any university or professional course.

The singer in the bar I'm in is a fuc.ing fine and can SIIIIING. I love her. Drinks are too expensive though. Timsk teh gay

All well and good pi but you need the breaks.

Get yourself a mentor !,...

Degrees are only important and give you a competitive edge when you are fresh out of education. A person with a degree has a shorter road to walk for a senior position. A person without a degree has a longer journey which typically requires shovelling sh!t. The rocky road could be shortened though several strategies:

1) Sucking every c0(k that can better your career. Call it the bosses pet, call it the office idiot. It works and everyone knows someone doing it.

2) killing the competition through ruthless tactics to make yourself look like a rock star while everyone else is sh!t. This involves stealing ideas, setting others up to fail so that they can save the day. The super hero, the person everyone pretends to admire because they too sh!t scared to be next.

3) pretend to be number 2's best mate and ride the wave. This requires regular ego massaging followed by the occasional c0(k sucking. Number 2 cant do without his sidekick and drags you along. If you are smart enough, you will take out an insurance policy. This will serve to keep you in a job in case number 2 turns on his own dog. The insurance policy can also be used to steal number 2's job.

4) make up for lost time. While your colleagues enjoy life you are studying your a55 off. This certainly is a good option although difficult to sustain. The benefit is acquiring meaningful skills instead of the forgetful crap handed out at universities. At the end of the day, your skills can present a more attractive option for employers than a degree that has been forgotten. People with degrees tend to avoid further studies and this presents opportunity.

5) bull5h!t all the way. To pull this off you need b@lls of titanium and the gift of the gab. You could also promise to suck and swallow in an attempt to become number 1 or 3. I know a guy who invented 2 years of his life on his cv. He arranged all the supporting documents and even responded to references. He still works there and has enjoyed a couple of promotions.

For someone in your position you would need to have a proven record of employment in the field. You could also spend the next 2 years updating your skills although, without experience, you have to compete with grads for those entry level jobs. Lets face it that isn't going to happen.