Career Services

  What kind of help will I get with placement?

Students in the MSF program receive individual guidance with their resume, cover letter, job search, and interviewing skills. Students may participate in on-campus recruiting and join the College of Business Career Fairs held in both the fall and spring semesters. Additionally, students actively seeking employment may include their resume in a resume book. Resume books are created based on area of interest (asset management, corporate finance, etc.) and are distributed to recruiters, faculty, program contacts, and corporate partners.

Students also have access to cutting edge Career Services programs including exclusive career workshops, Consulting Forums, Investment Banking Forums, and countless presentations from prestigious financial firms throughout the United States.

The 2007/2008 class completed the first Career Development Series offered exclusively to MSF students that included customized career workshops on resume writing, interviewing skills, and successfully working a career fair. This series also included presentations by executives at Goldman Sachs, Houlihan Lokey, and Competitive Power Ventures.

  What are some of the jobs that MSF graduates are doing today?

Students join our MSF program to further their current finance career or to change to a career in finance. Our graduates have found great career opportunities in the job market. Incomplete list of job titles held by MSF graduates

  Which employers come to campus to recruit?

Many reputable firms come to the U of I campus to recruit MSF students. These recruiters attend job fairs, hold company presentations, and schedule interviews. List of on-campus recruiters seeking to interview MSF's.

  What is the 2007 MSF graduate placement rate?

For US citizens and permanent residents, 70% of students actively seeking employment accepted positions in the United States within 3 months of graduation. By 6 months after graduation, 100% accepted employment. By 3 months after graduation, 56% of the MSF students actively seeking employment (including international students) accepted positions in the US or abroad. By 6 months after graduation, 80% of the MSF students actively seeking employment (including international students) accepted positions in the US or abroad.

  What is the average starting salary for MSF graduates?

Salaries for positions vary greatly based on the industry, country of employment, and work experiences of the individual prior to admission to the program. These factors make it difficult to report a fair salary figure. For those graduates working in the United States, an average salary of $63,000 was reported excluding bonus and incentive compensation, which in some cases makes up the majority of annual compensation.

  How do MSF graduates find their jobs?

MSF graduates find their jobs through a variety of tools including networking, on-campus recruitment, jobs postings, headhunters, and individual contacts.

  What will I need to do in order to participate in Career Services?

To ensure that students are ready to compete for career opportunities during on-campus recruitment in September, intensive focus is placed on improving students' job search skills during the summer. Therefore, students who wish to participate in Career Services are required to prepare a resume prior to arriving on campus for new-student orientation in June. All incoming students will receive a resume guide with detailed instructions on preparing an MSF program-approved resume in the mail one month prior to new-student orientation.