Finance degree questions. Some insight?
 

Sorry mods if this should be in employment resources in vls please move it.

Just wondering is there really a difference in landing a job whether you get your degree from ubc or say Douglas college? Will employers choose the guy with the degree from ubc over the guy that graduated from douglas college?

I mean with the degree program at Douglas, the academic probation is very low and you only need a gpa of 2.2 to enter it. Whereas the program at ubc requires a minimum of 3.5.
So is there a difference? It's the same courses except cheaper and smaller class rooms right?
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i know many jobs will take BCIT grad over university grad anytime..

But if you have university degree along with bcit.. you are set !!!

Is it a problem to land a job with a degree from a "lesser institution"? No. But keep in mind that the best possible jobs are going to go to the best possible applicants. And many of those people probably came from the best possible school, whichever that may be for your industry. It's certainly not necessary to go to UBC or Yale or Oxford. But it sure is nice. My best advice is if you have the grades, the money and the will to do it, go right to the top of the list.

^^this guy's basically got it.

I am sorry to break it to you, but if you are going for Finance, school DOES makes a difference, especially in the lower mainland.

^ +1 for accounting and finance it matters. Much higher chance of getting good grades --> much easier schooling --> much harder to get a job in these industries

for other business degrees, you either need a certification right after school, or for something like marketing, it's not so much where you got the degree and unique skills you bring to the table over the other candidates.

You got UBC, Yale, Oxford - not to learn, but to make contacts within your industry.


But honestly, its all about who you know. If you are one of those people who go out to networking events at UBC even though you are a Douglas grad, you will have a chance as long as you make a good impression on them. They will be like "this kid came out of his way to ubc to make this networking event" shows that you are willing to do whatever it takes to get what you want.

don't worry about competing with a guy that has a Harvard degree ... chances are they're applying for a job in a much bigger market than Vancouver, and likely to make more money than you anyways.

Listen, if you're want to go to Bloor St., you're going to have to come from a top school. Not only that, you need a high gpa >3.5.

But say, if you want to work commercial banking at your local bank branch, it won't matter as much.

i've seen this topic come up in employment forum already but is DAP program worth it? and is it hard to get in?

Which school you graduated from may not be so crucial for other industires, but it DOES matter for finance..

UBC's DAP is a good program for networking, I've had friends who go to UBC Finance and others went to BCIT. Generally the UBC ones are quicker to get hired and the company is better, but that doesnt mean theres no chance for BCIT. DAP is an expensive program so you gotta do your own calculation whether its worth it,

^ whats stopping anyone from following the UBC Dap finance club website for networking events, and going to those?

you can meet the same people the DAP kids meet - its all about first impression from that point on. Also, not like every DAP kid is going to know you came from a different school.

I didn't know you needed a 3.5 GPA to work at Louis Vutton, Chanel or HR.

depends on where you look and what you're looking for, but generally speaking:

BC: douglas college will be ok (as long as you're not applying to CIBC world markets or something of that calibre)
Rest of Canada and USA: UBC is definitely ok, and SFU is marginally ok, anything less probably won't be considered.
Asia and elsewhere: unfortunately UBC only.

FYI Goldman Sachs only recruits for back office from UBC. Yes, no UBC fresh grad is good enough for them. A lot of the smarter finance students end up working in Vancouver and Toronto, for CIBC World Markets, RBC Capital Markets, Scotia Capital, Morgan Stanley in New York, etc etc.

Most importantly, however, is if you already know someone that works in there! its your ticket to success!!

good luck bro!

i don't think the last part is correct. breaking into IB from van is effing hard... even for UBC students because most recruits are taken from the east coast and from ivey and mcgill and such... for the ubc grads, for banks it's pretty much recruit like 2 - 3 each. You're right for SFU is pretty impossible to get into Goldman and such... but even if you KNOW someone, you still need the competence and know your shit inside and out before you can break in

True. For our local universities, UBC is almost the only school where investment banks will give you their time of day for interviews. I've talked to a Director from one of the big 5 banks and although he said that they look at UBC/SFU in the same light, that's a lie. Most of the ibankers in Vancouver are UBC grads, and given their developed finance program, ibanks in Vancouver favour them during recruiting season. However, that's not to say that it is literally impossible if you are from SFU, because a few good friends of mine just got hired. Keep in mind though, this is investment banking specific.

at the end of the day, its not what you know, its WHO you know.

hey chiggs, are you in the ib route as well? i'm sure you would know a.t. from sfu then who was one of the few who broke in.

Yup. If anyone deserved to make it, it was A.T (you know him?). I gave up on the IB route in the last year of my BBA...not the lifestyle for me. I graduated in Dec and just started in commercial banking so we'll see how that goes. ASG111 you still in school or graduate? pm me if you want.

but going back to what tiger_handheld mentioned, it is true that it has lots to do with who you know rather what you know. That being said though, if you don't know anyone, it does pay to go to a more recognized school so that you can meet someone at networking events.

pm'ed you.

they do registration at entrance to the networking events and won't allow entry if you're not registered through dap