How to position yourself to get a FO Quant job from MFE

[RKG]

Hi,
I am going to be attending one of the good MFE programs but I am still worried about how to position myself to get a good Quant job ideally in structuring or PM. My concern is as someone with very limited experience what can I do to stand out? I was thinking the following things would be important, can someone let me know if I have it right:
1) How I describe school Projects on Resume and know them inside out
2) Get good grades in MFE
3) Read interview books
4) Follow the markets

Which of the things above are most necessary to position myself well, and am I missing any?
Thanks!

 

[IntoDarkness]

1) should be networking with alum

 

[IntoDarkness]

i mean, like do it now

 

[RKG]

How do you recommend going about networking? Do I just hit them up on linkedin, what do I ask?

 

[cl_nyc]

Email them if there is an alumni database (it doesn't even have to be of your program, it could be from a different dept of your university), or hit them up on LinkedIn. 1-2 sentence introduction of yourself and your professional interests. Ask for a 20min call to better understand what they do. In the call, ask what they would do in your position to get to where they are, or something similar. You can close the call by expressing interest in their firm and asking if they could refer any internships or entry-level job openings to you.

It's a numbers game, email 10 and maybe 6 will respond and do the call. Do 30 of these maybe 15-20 will respond and maybe a handful have internship programs they could refer you to internally. Do enough of these and you may find some firms with decent internal job openings.

You can also follow up (if you think you had a pleasant conversation earlier) in a few months requesting another quick call. If you made some progress and found an internship, you can still follow up just to update them on your progress and ask for some advice on what they would do in the internship to increase odds of a return offer -- I think most alumni are invested in your success since there is a "mentorship" mentality after taking a 20min call. Don't be shy, but also don't be aggressive...some places, particularly PMs, are under PnL pressure and just may not have any regular openings, or a younger alumni may not be able to make things happen.