Hey guys, I wasn't really sure where else to post this. I was wondering if any of you guys in the financial industry in Houston might have a job opening or know of a job opening at the moment. My cousin recently graduated from U.Chicago and had a cuppa tea with Merrill Lynch until December. I'm trying to help him find another position and was wondering if anyone on here could offer any leads. The job market as we all know is crap right now and I figured I should ask around the BBS. Thanks y'all.
Primerica is doing a lot of hiring right now. Their set up to help people get out of debt and save for retirement....stuff like that.
I don't live in Houston, but I can tell you that your cousin should look outside of the financial services/i-banking sector right now. Maybe try to catch on with a small to mid-cap E&P firm in a corporate finance/strat planning role.
Thanks guys. Slandballa, he's looking for a job in Houston or Chicago. JamesC, Baqui and Mr. Clutch, thanks for the info and advice. I'll relay it to him.
Don't work in the Finance industry, but majored in it at Univ. of Houston and remember alot of the national and local companies that have finance operations here and recruited at U of H for both grad and undergrad. Feel free to use that as a gauge of their selectivity. Firstly, I think all remaining "white shoe" I-banks and big-4 accounting firms might still have offices here due to all of the Energy HQs. JP Morgan Chase has the biggest commercial banking operation and may still have a full I-banking presence down here that they used to recruit for at all the Texas universities. As mentioned, the big energy companies all have oil and particularly gas trading operations down here. A lot of investment banks also started buying local energy trading firms either sweeping up post-Enron carnage or capitalizing on high energy prices over the last two-three years. Use this list of the largest natural gas marketers/traders to find out where the most Houston-based energy-trading opportunities might be. Sternhill Partners - Venture capital firm based in Houston. Fayez Sarofim - Pretty well-known asset manager who's firm is based in Houston. Donovan & Watkins - Houston area finance staffing firm; always had some pretty good gigs on their website. AccountPros - Got me two leads very quickly when I was in college and just graduated, very hard to imagine they wouldn't get your friend one as well. AIM Funds - Based in Houston; Univ of Houston's Business school is named after AIM's founder, CT Bauer. Van Kampen - I believe their big field office is in Houston. Stanford Financial - Based in Houston. Houlian Lokey Howard Zukin - Second tier (?) I-bank with a Houston office. Howard Frazier Barker Elliot - I interned there while in school. They're a Houston business valuation firm/small market I-bank that recruited year-round interns, Analysts and Associates at all the Texas colleges every year when I was in school. They're headquartered in Houston, but they've built a branch office in Dallas since I left. I know one intern from there that went to Goldman Private Client (in Houston), one that went to Petersen Consulting Group, and an analyst, who was also a UT and LSE alum, that went to Wasserstein Perella (now Dresdner Kleinwort). Simmons & Co Intl - There are a lot of energy consulting and investment banks in Houston; this is just the one I think might be the best known. (Note: I'm pretty sure all remaining "white-shoe" firms have a presence in Houston as either I-bankers or energy trading firms.) Various Energy industry publishers - Platts (field-office, Gas Daily, et al), Plunkett Research (always recruited business majors at U of H), Hart Energy (Houston-based, Oil and Gas Investor) Gulf Star Group - I know a couple of Howard Frazier analysts went here for presumably different types of opportunities. I believe they're more energy-based.
hey i attend UH right now, am a freshman starting my 2nd semester in a couple days, and am also majoring in finance. if you have any advice, anything i should do, please let me know. any suggestions on what to do to get experience wit jobs, to build on my resume, or if anyone here has any hookups or anythin for internships let me know please! thanks!
The MOST IMPORTANT THING is to keep your GPA above 3.5. If it's below 3.0, YOU WILL NOT GET SELECTED for a single finance interview from anyone, anywhere for anything, EVER. The second most important thing is to realize that Finance is the hardest business major in which to get a salaried job right after college. Be willing to look at entry level business jobs in any field: Marketing, Accounting, et al. Finance internships won't be available to you until Summer after your Junior year; you might get a teller's job at a bank or a Cust. Serv. job at AIM Funds or something, just to have some initial finance experience. Get an online subscription to Wall Street Journal, Barron's and the Economist right now. Go to U of H's library website and find out if they have access to Platt's Gas Daily, also read Oil & Gas Journal online. Buy the Vault Career Guide to Investment Banking, VCG to Asset Management, and VCG to Energy Jobs. Intermediate Acctg I and II - Take these courses and do VERY WELL as a MINIMUM QUALIFICATION for entry-level commercial lending opportunities as a "Credit Analyst." If you pass these classes, you should also take "Financial Statement Analysis." "Commercial Banking" should still be a degree requirement, but if it isn't take that as well. Accounting Info Systems - Take this or some other MIS class that will teach you how to do Excel Macros. Options & Futures - Absolute necessity for any trading jobs, take Rabinovitch if he's still there, best professor and a Hall & Oates fan to boot. I imagine your key job areas, in order of availability and realism, for a Finance Degree are: 1-tie) Commercial Banking - Loan Officer 1-tie) Large Corporation (Energy or otherwise) - Financial Analyst, Treasury Analyst or Staff Accountant 3) Energy Company - Energy (Gas or Power) Trader - Be willing to take a Gas Scheduling position, preferably with a Energy Marketing company rather than a pipeline, as a stepping stone to a trading gig). 4) Mutual Fund/Asset Manager - Research Assistant/Analyst 5) State and Public Pension or Retirement Funds - Research Assistant/Analyst 6) Local "Boutique" Investment Bank - Analyst, these jobs are few and far between; and they tend to recruit Rice, SMU and Texas for these jobs first, so please keep your GPA as high as humanly possible. They're actually just as likely, or more likely in some cases, to take an Econ, Poli Sci or History major from a Rice or SMU as they would a Finance major from U of H; so make yourself as competitive as possible. 7) Major Investment Bank (with local office) - These are the most competitive jobs in your major, very few opportunities and everyone wants them. I interviewed for an internship with Chase Global Banking back in '00; the experience was fun, but I knew not to expect anything. 8) Major Investment Bank (NYC) - This is where most of the I-Banking jobs would be; you would be competing with Ivy Leaguers with top-level GPAs for these jobs, probably a waste of time without a 4.0. You will see a lot of postings and get some unsolicited inquiries from First Investors, Ameriprise, Primerica, NW Mutual Life, New York Life and other life insurance companies. If any of them tell you they have accounting or financial analyst jobs, THEY ARE LYING. STAY AWAY FROM ALL OF THEM unless you want to do commission-based sales where you might even have to pay for your training up front. (*Small Exception: a UH Bauer grad I knew from '02 was a successfull Allstate agent for a few years; I assume she combined that entrepreneurial experience with her presumably great GPA and got into Columbia Business, where I believe she just got her MBA last year.*) The only insurance company I know of that actually pays a non-commission salary for its salespeople is Liberty Mutual.
wow thank you so much man, i really appreciate it do you think i should take accounting honors and stuff, bc i was gonna take it this semester but i was gonna wait to take it honors in the fall.. should i take as many honors business classes as i can is what im asking basically
There wasn't any honors curriculum at the Business school when I was there ('97 - '02). Unless you get some extra points in your GPA like you would in high school, I don't see any reason to risk the extra difficulty. The HR Assistant who goes through the 500 - 1,000 resumes to pre-select candidates for a position is only going to look at overall GPA and a relevant major, not honors or AP. If you're really curious about what you're missing in those courses, pay someone for a copy of the syllabus and read the books on your own time.
One more company for the OP, ferrari77: Vaughan Nelson - They're another well-regarded local Institutional Asset Manager; they do a lot of big institutional trust work, so probably worth talking to depending on your friend's academic pedigree. One of their guys spoke to our Finance Association at U of H once; no one expected a job, but it was a very informative talk about trust and asset management.
I just graduated from UH (2008) with a dual degree in Finance and Accounting and was in the Honors College too. You do NOT get extra points in your GPA (like you would in high school) with honors courses, but I never saw any "extra difficulty" that came along with those classes. As a matter of fact, I found them easier. The smaller classes made it easier for student-teacher interaction and it always SEEMED like the teacher graded easier/more lenient because we were honors students. Anyone who has had Kretlow, Gardner, Newman.. may know what I am talking about and agree with me. I partially agree with pouhe when he says that companies look for overall GPA and relevant majors, not honors or AP. But, if the decision comes down to two candidates... both of which had the same GPA and credentials, except one graduated in Honors and one didn't... who would you be more likely to pick? I would probably lean towards picking the Honors student.. and that's where you may have a little advantage. It certainly doesn't hurt...
You're giving contradictory messages. On the one hand your saying that the Honors classes were easier; which means they're not better. Isn't it likely they have a higher caliber of student going in, which means harder or longer tests, more challenging side projects or a smaller curve? Are there any specific restrictions against dropping or taking incompletes? If they're not more difficult, as you originally asserted, than why would they be more prestigious to a recruiter or final interviewer? Does the recruiter give the U of H grad with Honors coursework varying advantages or disadvantages over the A & M, Baylor, St. Thomas, Texas Tech or Sam Houston State grads, because each of those colleges may or may not have Honors Business Programs? Despite the fact that, via AACSB, undergraduate Business coursework is some of the most nationally standardized curricula in academia, and therefore fairly similar between two separate schools: let alone two separate "tiers" in the same exact college? Does the Manager or future colleague who likely didn't have Honors curriculum during his own education care? I think there are a few too many other variables in the recruiting and interviewing process to give this a whole lot of thought, especially when you undercut the "prestige" of the Honors Program in your first paragraph.
If you want to get a job in I-banking, start networking your ass off by exploring all family/friend/alumni connections. It is virtually the only way you can get into a well respected firm without going to a top tier university.
