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My feeling on this, and please correct me if I am wrong, that having actual experience in this field (whether it is a large bank or smaller one) will help me out in the long run.



You're right on target.

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Usually it is low end jobs to help you get your foot in the door at large companies. My last job at ING was working with financial controls for their annuities. It sucked.



You're absolutely right. Just because its a big name company does not mean they have good jobs or even good experience for you. Some of the worst jobs I've ever seen were with big name companies. The only thing they really had to offer was the cache of working for a well known company.

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I am an analytical person but I also like dealing with people, which was the reason I chose a finance degree over accounting in the first place.



I'm the same way. I need to interact with people and I thrive on responsibility. Sitting in a cubicle everyday crunching numbers is exactly what I do NOT want to do.

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I think I may have misrepresented the bank a little bit. While it is definitely a smaller bank, it funds commercial projects in the Philadelphia Metro area.



That's no cool - no worries. Just try not to get latched on to the Philadelphia area too much. It can be a much tougher job market there for finance jobs. Its unfortunate, but the best job opportunities in the industry are in 1) New York, 2) Chicago, 3) Los Angeles, 4) Atlanta, and 5) Dallas. If you're prepared to move to any of these cities at some point, it will open up a whole bunch more opportunity for you than if you stay in Philly.

'96 Contour SE, 130k, traded 6/19/03 for: '03 Infiniti G35 Coupe , Diamond Graphite '02 Corvette Z06, Electron Blue Pic