Industry Specifics

Starting next week, I will be working in the financial industry! My job will not be high-paying (at $33K/yr) and my position is a very entry-level one. It is designed for someone without any true work experience (though I have had 4 summer internships at a highly-regarded financial firm) and for someone who wants to get their foot in the door. As posted below, I was very disappointed in the salary offer, which they would not budge on after I attempted to negotiate. However, today I have learned a few pieces of information that make me feel much better to even have a job in the industry:

1. My father, who has worked in the financial industry for 20+ years, told me that his department at his firm is hiring a summer intern. One of the candidates has a Finance degree from a well-known (but not top-tier) university on the West Coast. He was planning on graduating this past spring (like I just did!), but he cannot get into the industry and thus has decided to stay on in school for one more semester. He had an internship lined up with a large investment bank, but they canceled the internship noting "economic downturn." He then found an internship with a large financial institution, which also canceled on him a month later. Now the young man is remaining in college for another semester, until December, so he does not have to be unemployed.

2. A good friend of mine who lives in NYC offered to help me with my job hunt. I passed my resume along to him and today touched base to catch up and thank him, but letting him know that I had accepted an offer. He told me that 6 of the 9 friends in the financial industry to whom he passed my resume along to had been laid-off. And to my knowledge, they all had been working in the industry for at least 2 to 3 years!

Unfortunately, those seem to be the cards that life is handing out at the moment. Good luck to all those who are still trying to find a job. Especially in finance! I am counting my blessings.