Engineer to Finance

@pranav, FYI you could also “star” conversations you wanna follow on the top right, near the title of this thread.

Hi @bearsfan2690 – I also work in the Semiconductor Industry, looking to move into equity research. I work as a business analyst and have a postgraduate in Investment Analysis. From my experience, however, investment houses often desire people from diverse backgrounds; you have the benefit of having an intimate working knowledge of an industry – something analysts spend a career trying to achieve.

Be careful not to pigeonhole yourself as an expert on Industry X though as you will only limit your applications. Better to talk about how you have an appreciation of the economics of these industries, as this is a transferable skill.

Also, you could try applying to Joel Greenblatts Value Investors Club – admission is very selective and limited to only 250 members. Its very difficult to gain membership but if you have enough time its worth a go, it would demonstrate your analytic abilities. I think you can win $5k for the top recommendation of the week as well!

I think you’re on track @bearsfan2690. Your pitch about leveraging your industry knowledge in the sector-based equity research is spot on, and one of the ways you can differentiate yourselves from other candidates and bring relevance of your current experience to your target role.

I wrote a piece about career switching recently too, I hope it helps as it details some of my experiences doing this as well 🙂

oh btw I have to rope in one of our frequent forum members @vincentt – he’s currently in IT and recently passed Level 2 too, famed for all the excellent questions he asks in the forum 😉 He’s a great role model for you to say that it can be done! Level 2 is quite a steep learning curve even for those who have done finance, but he did it fine!

i am in a similar situation, except for the clearing L1 part. posting here to track this thread…

Hi @bearsfan2690, welcome to 300HC. There are quite a few engineers and people from non-finance background here like you, so no worries.

Taking the CFA is a good first step to transition. What part of finance are you looking for in terms of a job? The next step would be to tailor your CV for that sort of finance role. We have lots of materials on the website, but before I recommend anything specific it helps to have a better idea of your goals 🙂

@altins, @kthomasjoseph are also candidates from non-finance background, you’re not alone!

@sophie, great thanks, that’s one tiny star 😀