Advice for career?

[strikeblue]

I'm currently about to enter the final semester of electrical engineering at the University of Waterloo, and I have considered entering a masters' program for something finance related since last year, since I am not really keen on entering a career in EE any more. I would like to consider a masters of finance, economics, or financial economics at york or UT, since MMF is probably completely out of reach at this time.

My average ranges greatly from low 60s to high 90s (with one 55), averaging out to have a cumulative average of around 75. My core courses average at around low 70s. This is attributed to having to take mandatory circuitry courses that I am not interested in learning. I don't think this reflects well on my real potential, but I am not sure how to proceed to prove to admissions that I am capable. My average is actually pretty normal/average for my class/program, but in the real world they don't look very nice. However, the worst should be over as I am free to take completely circuit free courses, so I have decided to select more probability and programming to finish degree requirements.

I have had internships at a consulting company, a pension fund, and middle office at a bank, but none of the work has really been worth bragging about despite the pretty titles. I'm looking for advice on what I should do at this point, and how my position is terms of a career.

Thanks!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

You have to know what you want to do as a career when you ask for advice on education/next step. You have a few internships so you should know what you like/hate the most about them.

 

[strikeblue]

Since my internship at the quant team, I've wanted to be a quant. My programming is decent enough for the position, although it is not like amazon or google dev level. At my time there, I was mostly deciphering code and not doing any kind of analysis. My grades appear to meet the minimum requirements for a program like UT MMF, but realistically I don't think I am competitive enough to have a chance especially against those with a 3.9/4 GPA. I suppose for now, I'm ok with something more qualitative in the industry, but I'm not really sure what steps to be taking.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Those with 3.9/4 GPA may not have the relevance work experience as you so it's always a trade off. You need to look at your strength and weakness and use them to your advantage.
Look for programs that will provide the training required for the roles that you aim for. Not all MFE programs are equal.

 

[strikeblue]

I have been looking at my options like applying for jobs or going for masters to see if it would help me reach a position like that. I don't feel that my internships have prepared me for a full time position at all, and without any finance background I feel it would be difficult to land interviews. Where do I even start? Sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but I think it would be more stupid to not even try asking.