Need advice for my decision

[kaoticfury]

i am in finance major from U of washington. i am going to graduate in march 2006. However, i do not have confidence to find a job....my current finance major GPA is 3.6, but overall GPA is 3.3, i have done 3 internships: 1 finance advisory internship, 2 marketing internships.

i am not sure how competitive i am....i have been to 3 interview with some big companies, but i did not even get into 2nd interview....kind of disappointed.

i could also extend my school and graduate in June, i want to find more finance related internships....but i dont know if it is worth staying another 3 months....my friends told me i should look for a job...not to do more internship...some of them got a job and they did not even have internship experience..

any suggestiona? should i stay 1 more quarter to improve my overall GPA and get more internships? or just go look for a job, my background is good enough?

By the way..i am gonna take CFA LEVEL 1 test in June, does it help for job hunting?

thank you and happy 2006

[blueangel]

I am not in the finance field, so I can only give you general career advice.

It sounds to me as if your problem isn't so much with lack of experience or bad grades, but with poor self-confidence. Rather than extending school, I would invest in a Dale Carnege course. It will do wonders to help you learn how to sell yourself. The course is expensive, but a great investment in your future. At the very least, read some of his books.

I would also read everything you can get your hands on regarding job interviewing. It might also be a good idea to call up some of your contacts you made on your internships (you DID make contacts, didn't you?!!) and ask them for advice. They may be able to provide you with some good leads, or even an introduction. A lot of business is about "who" you know rather than "what you know."

Go out on interviews. Even if you don't get the job, you'll be "practicing."

You might want to call up some of the people you didn't get the job from and ask them for some constructive criticism. Ask them point blank what you could have done to improve in the interview. Find out where people perceive you as weak. Remember, there is a difference between how people perceive you and how you really are.

Practice interviewing with your friends. The more you do it, the more at ease you'll feel.

You need to start believing in yourself. If you don't, how can you expect a potential employer to believe in you enough to hire you?

[Honeykiss1974]

The cost/time of staying in school isn't going to improve your GPA that much. It just sounds like you need to build your confidence and interviewing skills.

Head over to your Career Placement (or whatever it's called on campus) office and see what resources they offer. My alma mater offered mock interviews and they would video tape them so you could see what items you needed to work on.

How was you performance during your internships? Call them and let them know that you are in the market for a position. Get in contact with alumni that works in your field of interest. Are you active in any local business orgs? Check with them too.

NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK as much as you can!

Good luck!

[Rudey]

The CFA would help you a lot both in the short-term and the long-term.

-Rudey

[kaoticfury]

thank you for all your input

i think i am feeling better now, i am reading some interview books and websites..hoping that they would be useful for my job hunting.