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Sorry for the duplicate thread as I see another one, but I wanted to make sure I saw the responses.
I have been in NYC for more than 10 years as I went here to go to school and have been working in the financial industry.
I want to leave NYC, but I am not sure if Boston is the best place.
I have nothing against Boston because I am a MA native. I grew up on the South Shore and went to NYC to get rid of my "small town syndrome". I grew up before the train system expanded all over the place to the outlying communities so it was not easy to make trips into Boston. My hometown is on the Kingston line.
My expertise is risk management and analysis. I have experience in market, operational and credit risk. I have tried to find a job there while I am in NYC, but have not been successful. I don't want to move back without a job and I know that is a difficult thing to do.
I am currently enrolled in UMASS-Amhert where I am completing (via distance) a Master's of Accounting degree with the intention of getting my CPA. I will have to come to campus for some seminars and there is a bus route going up there from NYC.
Any advice on what the job market is like right now? I am completing the degree as I have complimentary experience and I feel that the financial industry might wither away. It is scary when GE is winding down their GE Finance business as they feel the business might not be profitable. It seems to be getting harder and harder to make money in the industry. It seems as traders have been let go this week and I am fearing the worst.
I am comfortable with living in a share situation so I don't think housing will be an issue. I will just need to find a suitable place on Craigslist.
I have been trying to work with recruiters to help me find a position and have been up there for some interviews.
Is your family still on the South Shore? Do they have an address you can use on your resume and application? Given the distance from NYC to Boston you could easily make it up here for an interview on short noticed.
State Street (AKA Slave Ship) is always hiring, though you're definitely not going to like their salaries. Anything below AVP level would leave you slumming it up with roommates and counting every penny.
State Street doesn't have the best reputation and many top firms throw away resumes that say State Street on them so I wouldn't even bother applying there. IMO the financial services industry is still booming here. With 1/4 of the industry's workforce set to retire by 2020, there will be many opportunities for promotion once you get settled. The pay varies drastically from company to company, but I'd look at boutique, PE and VC firms and try to stay away from the big banks. As you know, a masters is pretty much a prerequesite to a 6-figure salary because everyone has one. I'd pick an MBA or MSF over a MSA though. The MSA is useless except to get your 150 hours for your CPA license. You will need a 2nd masters after your MSA to rise up the ranks here, so you might as get the right degree the first time.
State Street doesn't have the best reputation and many top firms throw away resumes that say State Street on them so I wouldn't even bother applying there. IMO the financial services industry is still booming here. With 1/4 of the industry's workforce set to retire by 2020, there will be many opportunities for promotion once you get settled. The pay varies drastically from company to company, but I'd look at boutique, PE and VC firms and try to stay away from the big banks. As you know, a masters is pretty much a prerequesite to a 6-figure salary because everyone has one. I'd pick an MBA or MSF over a MSA though. The MSA is useless except to get your 150 hours for your CPA license. You will need a 2nd masters after your MSA to rise up the ranks here, so you might as get the right degree the first time.
I don't think MSA is useless. It will give me the ability to do other things, for example teach as I will have a Masters and I should be able to get a higher salary. I went to undergrad business school at NYU Stern and think an MBA would be repetitive. I wanted to get my CPA as that will qualify me to work for myself at some point.
I didn't know state street had that reputation. I went on an interview there for a contract position. The agency told them I was coming up from NYC though and I thought she would tell them I was living there. They are not even in NYC anymore. They moved all their people to Boston. I was trying to get a job when they were in NYC so I would be able to move back with a job. How do you know that people throw resumes away? I could understand that for a small firm as small firms usually don't like people who have only worked at big companies. That is one of my problems as I have worked for big banks. Its hard to get into smaller firms unless you know someone.
My family is still on the South Shore and I have put their address on my resume. All my positions are still listed as in NYC though as I have the city and state listed.
My family doesn't have many connections with the financial firms and NYU has not been as helpful as the alumni don't respond to requests for advice.
What is an MSF? Financial Math? I would have to take a lot of math prereqs for that.
State Street (AKA Slave Ship) is always hiring, though you're definitely not going to like their salaries. Anything below AVP level would leave you slumming it up with roommates and counting every penny.
I have 10 years experience so I hope I would be at least and AVP. This industry is incredibly difficult now which is one of the reasons why I want my CPA so I can work for a non-financial firm.
I had a phone interview with Citizens Bank and one with Brown Brothers Harriman a while back. One of my relatives was sick and I had applied for some positions in Boston as I thought I would need to move back.
I can see being sick of NYC but if you want to stay in trading/finance it seems like NYC is the place to be for that. Others have mentioned fidelity, state street. I know a few people who work in wealth management but they've been there a while and have a strong reputation. Liberty mutual? There are certainly jobs here in boston that you could get but nothing like what you'd be able to get in nyc.
Sorry for the duplicate thread as I see another one, but I wanted to make sure I saw the responses.
I have been in NYC for more than 10 years as I went here to go to school and have been working in the financial industry.
I want to leave NYC, but I am not sure if Boston is the best place.
I have nothing against Boston because I am a MA native. I grew up on the South Shore and went to NYC to get rid of my "small town syndrome". I grew up before the train system expanded all over the place to the outlying communities so it was not easy to make trips into Boston. My hometown is on the Kingston line.
My expertise is risk management and analysis. I have experience in market, operational and credit risk. I have tried to find a job there while I am in NYC, but have not been successful. I don't want to move back without a job and I know that is a difficult thing to do.
I am currently enrolled in UMASS-Amhert where I am completing (via distance) a Master's of Accounting degree with the intention of getting my CPA. I will have to come to campus for some seminars and there is a bus route going up there from NYC.
Any advice on what the job market is like right now? I am completing the degree as I have complimentary experience and I feel that the financial industry might wither away. It is scary when GE is winding down their GE Finance business as they feel the business might not be profitable. It seems to be getting harder and harder to make money in the industry. It seems as traders have been let go this week and I am fearing the worst.
I am comfortable with living in a share situation so I don't think housing will be an issue. I will just need to find a suitable place on Craigslist.
I have been trying to work with recruiters to help me find a position and have been up there for some interviews.
Anyone have advice?
Well, in general, hiring in the financial industry will see an uptick over the next few months as people will have received their bonuses and be more open to transitioning. So you're looking at the right time.
Headhunters can be helpful. Even if they don't get you an interview right away, they can give you a sense of your specific niche of the market. In my experience, they always try to 'sell' you for a lower salary than you could land on your own.
In my experience, LinkedIn offers a good job search engine, Monster is still OK, but the best luck I've had is targeting specific companies, then searching career opportunities from their website directly.
State Street doesn't have the best reputation and many top firms throw away resumes that say State Street on them so I wouldn't even bother applying there. IMO the financial services industry is still booming here. With 1/4 of the industry's workforce set to retire by 2020, there will be many opportunities for promotion once you get settled. The pay varies drastically from company to company, but I'd look at boutique, PE and VC firms and try to stay away from the big banks. As you know, a masters is pretty much a prerequesite to a 6-figure salary because everyone has one. I'd pick an MBA or MSF over a MSA though. The MSA is useless except to get your 150 hours for your CPA license. You will need a 2nd masters after your MSA to rise up the ranks here, so you might as get the right degree the first time.
What is the deal with State Street? It seems like such a prestigious company from an outsider's perspective, but the more I learn about them, the more unstable that whole place seems.
I don't think MSA is useless. It will give me the ability to do other things, for example teach as I will have a Masters and I should be able to get a higher salary. I went to undergrad business school at NYU Stern and think an MBA would be repetitive. I wanted to get my CPA as that will qualify me to work for myself at some point.
I didn't know state street had that reputation. I went on an interview there for a contract position. The agency told them I was coming up from NYC though and I thought she would tell them I was living there. They are not even in NYC anymore. They moved all their people to Boston. I was trying to get a job when they were in NYC so I would be able to move back with a job. How do you know that people throw resumes away? I could understand that for a small firm as small firms usually don't like people who have only worked at big companies. That is one of my problems as I have worked for big banks. Its hard to get into smaller firms unless you know someone.
My family is still on the South Shore and I have put their address on my resume. All my positions are still listed as in NYC though as I have the city and state listed.
My family doesn't have many connections with the financial firms and NYU has not been as helpful as the alumni don't respond to requests for advice.
What is an MSF? Financial Math? I would have to take a lot of math prereqs for that.
An MBA may be repetitive, but like it or not it's also pretty much a prerequisite to a higher paying job in the industry. I'm not knocking on you for wanting to get your CPA - I'm a CPA too and think it's a great idea. I just think if you're going to spend the time earning those 30 credits to get your 150 hours, you might as well earn a MSF (Masters in Finance, 30 credits) since it's a more respectable degree or start working on your MBA since you might find that you'll need it in the future anyways. The MSA has a reputation around here as the easy way for a first-year associate at a CPA firm to get their 150 hours.
Anyone with some brains and a good work ethic can rise through the ranks the first 10 years in the industry because you're competing against mostly mediocre workers who just clock in and clock out everyday. You're around the age where everyone applying for those middle management jobs looks just like you and if you don't have all the credentials, you will be passed over for someone else with a bunch of letters after their name. I'm starting to realize this myself (I'm in my mid-30's too). You need to show career progression to get those executive level positions later in life, so you don't want to get left behind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sickofnewyorkcity
I have 10 years experience so I hope I would be at least and AVP. This industry is incredibly difficult now which is one of the reasons why I want my CPA so I can work for a non-financial firm.
I plan to work for myself after I retire from industry, hopefully around the age of 50. Being a CPA makes you an "expert" in the eyes of non-finance folks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nobodybody
What is the deal with State Street? It seems like such a prestigious company from an outsider's perspective, but the more I learn about them, the more unstable that whole place seems.
Nothing "wrong" per se, but they don't pay well and slow to promote anyone who keeps their head down and just does their work. They have way too many employees below the AVP level with 10+ years of experience still earning $60k/year. That may also be due to the fact that they will hire just about anyone with a business degree. Their cubes are filled with employees without career aspirations and once you get sucked in it's hard to get out.
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