Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Who is in Banking?

Well, it is almost time to start thinking about my *gasp* post college future. I am a Finance major here at school and I think I have finally found my niche. I am currently on my last co-op (we do 3, 6 month internships called co-ops) working for a community bank. I am working as a credit analyst in their commercial lending department. So far, I have learned a lot, although their is a ceiling due to the size of the loans that we work with. Unfortunately, I also learned about bank mergers. A week after I started, it was announced we would merge with a larger, regional bank. The closing date is about 4 months into my internship, but luckily, I will be able finish up and gain different experience working for a much larger bank.

Anyway, here is my dilema. I am not sure what to do once I graduate. I graduate in June 2005, so I have a while to go. I have already determined that I will not continue to live in Philadelphia unless I have a solid job offer here and no offers anywhere else.

I have been thinking of the Big 5 banking areas, and for some reason Atlanta keeps sticking out in my mind. I am going down in March to visit my family who lives in that area to get a good feel for the city. I visited over the summer for a day, as a part of my roadtrip. It was nowhere near enough time to gain a good idea of the city.

New York is another option, but very expensive. I would have to live in NJ most likely and commute which is not too bad, but I am not sure about NY.

I have been considering moving back to the D.C. area, but a. it is not a big banking area (or so I think) and b. I think I need to try more places before settling back to the area in which I grew up.

Also, I am not sure what I want to do. I am enjoying credit, but I think that I would like to eventually become a loan officer. I like the human interaction that is provided as a loan officer vs the more office oriented credit officer/underwriter.

Lastly, when is a good time to start applying for jobs? I was considering the Fall of 2004 but was not sure if that was too early.

Anyway, sorry this is so long, any advice is helpful. Thanks in advance.

Yes the do. We have a good system which is used for finding our co-ops which has a section designated to graduating Seniors. I am just worried that there will be nothing in the areas that I like on there. Ugh, I do not want to think about this yet. I enjoy being in school

Originally posted by frenchblueC2:

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Originally posted by Dweezel:

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Lastly, when is a good time to start applying for jobs? I was considering the Fall of 2004 but was not sure if that was too early.

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Unfortunately I can't contribute any advice to the beginning of your post.
To this though, I ask you, does your college have a career placement department?
My college had one called the Career Development Center.
They worked with many many companies to help place students not only in internships but careers after graduation.
They helped me put together my resume and told me the appropriate time to start applying with firms suited to my major.
They even had sign ups for certain companies that did on campus interviews.
If you have one, check into there. It's a great resource for helping you decide.

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Do you enjoy sales? Alot of "Loan Officer" positions are based on sales nowadays... You may have a shot at a base salary +commission, but these are mainly commission positions. There are sales goals that must be met. If you are lucky enough to get a position in an area that hasn't been saturated w/ the type of lending you are interested in, you can make a pretty good buck. Areas can tend to "dry-up" w/ all the marketing & telemarketing going on currently...
If you are looking into Mortgage lending, get in tight w/ your local realtors....schmooze, schmooze, schmooze

The best advice for anyone getting into banking is: BECOME AN AVID GOLFER ... I cannot stress this enough, all education aside, golfing will be one of your strongest tools