Breaking Back Into Finance: How to Resurrect a Career in Fund Management When You’re Stuck in a Dead-End Job

Imagine networking like an insurance agent with 4 kids and a crack addiction in order to make the fabled move from the back office to the front office.

Then, imagine the recession coming soon after and having to work ridiculously long hours every day, knowing full well that your division is no longer profitable but that your two superiors have fat, guaranteed bonuses in their contract.

And now, imagine getting laid off a few months later.

It’s enough to make a grown man cry – sort of like developing a receding hairline in your early twenties.

In this article, you’ll hear how our interviewee went through all this, landed up in an insipid, uninspiring government job and then somehow rose from the ashes to become a portfolio manager at a top fund management company.

Here’s what you’ll learn about his journey, and how you can do the same:

• How to network your way from the back office to the front office.
• What recruiting is like in fund management.
• What to expect in interviews and how fund management interviews differ from interviews in S&T.
• The challenges of getting a second chance in finance.

From Visa-Less Foreigner in the UK to the FICC Trading Desk at a Top Bulge Bracket Bank: How to Make the Leap

It’s already tough enough to break into finance coming from any background, but what about when you’re a foreigner, you don’t have a work visa, and your school is unknown?

Oh, and you’re set on going to a bulge bracket bank.

As Aleksey Vayner might say, “Impossible is Nothing” – a bad idea for his infamous video resume, but a good idea for our interviewee here, who was smart enough to apply the sentiment, but not the execution, to his recruiting efforts.

Here’s how he made the leap from visa-less foreigner and non-target student to sales & trading at a bulge bracket bank, and how you can do the same – plus:

• The top challenges you’ll face as a foreigner breaking into finance inLondon – and how to overcome them.
• Whether or not there’s a glass ceiling in finance if you’re not from the country.
• What to expect in Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodities (FICC) recruiting and how to prepare for interview questions.
• A day in the life of a FICC junior trader.

Let’s dive right in:

Breaking Into Investment Funds in Eastern Europe: How to Get Screwed on Your Bonus and Then Leave for Ethical Reasons

Ah, Eastern Europe.

Just hearing about the region might suddenly give you visions of super-cheap, capitalism-friendly countries where finance is still a booming industry and the place to be.

But the actual story – from recruiting to bonuses to deals to exit opportunities – is very different from what you’ve read about in the news.

You’ve already heard from a reader who studied and worked in Poland and then moved to London – so this time around we’ll speak with someone who did the opposite and decided to stay in his home country.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• Just how easy – or difficult? – it is to get hired in Eastern Europe.
• What the finance industry is like in Eastern Europe and how deals and technical work differ.
• Why you might get screwed on your bonus, especially if you work at a less-than-ethical fund.
• How smaller firms there think about compensation, work hours, and client service “differently.”