u/Ho_lala

I’m graduating this year and honestly feeling a bit lost about breaking into finance in Australia as an international student.

I wanted to ask for some genuine advice from people already working in the industry.

A bit about me:

I’m currently preparing for CFA Level 1 (August sitting) and I genuinely love finance. Especially equity research, portfolio management and risk management. I’m the type of person who studies way beyond the syllabus because I actually enjoy understanding concepts deeply, not just memorising for exams.

The weird thing is my GPA doesn’t really reflect that.

For most of university, I struggled badly with consistency. I’d delay or completely ignore easier assignments, not because I didn’t care, but because my brain just wouldn’t engage until things became high pressure. Then suddenly I’d pull HDs in difficult assessments just to save the unit and end up averaging a Credit or Pass overall (around 4-5 GPA on a 7 scale).

Ironically, the harder and more technical the unit was, especially finance units in my final year, the better I performed.

I always felt something was off because I knew I was capable of much more. Recently I got diagnosed with severe ADHD, and for the first time my whole academic pattern actually made sense. I realised my grades were less about intelligence or work ethic and more about struggling with executive dysfunction and consistency.

I know a lot of employers look at GPA first, which worries me because I genuinely don’t think it reflects my actual ability or potential.

One thing I can confidently say though is that I work extremely hard when I’m engaged. I’ve spent countless nights studying textbooks, research papers and online material just because I wanted deeper understanding of topics discussed in class. I was usually one of the most engaged students during finance tutorials and discussions.

My biggest challenge now is getting that first opportunity.

As an international student, most graduate programs seem to require citizenship/PR or very high grades, and I currently don’t have direct finance industry experience.

So I wanted to ask:

1. What’s the best way for someone in my position to break into finance in Australia?
   Would smaller firms, boutique research firms, internships, networking, cold emailing etc. be the better route?

2. How much does GPA actually matter after the first role?

3. Would CFA Level 1 help compensate for weaker grades when applying for entry-level finance roles?

4. Long term, I’m considering CFA + FRM and probably a Masters in Finance/Banking or Economics. Does that path make sense for the areas I’m interested in?

Would really appreciate honest advice from people already in the industry, especially anyone who had a non-traditional path or struggled academically despite being capable.

Thanks guys.

I’m graduating this year and honestly feeling a bit lost about breaking into finance in Australia as an international student.

I wanted to ask for some genuine advice from people already working in the industry.

A bit about me:

I’m currently preparing for CFA Level 1 (August sitting) and I genuinely love finance. Especially equity research, portfolio management and risk management. I’m the type of person who studies way beyond the syllabus because I actually enjoy understanding concepts deeply, not just memorising for exams.

The weird thing is my GPA doesn’t really reflect that.

For most of university, I struggled badly with consistency. I’d delay or completely ignore easier assignments, not because I didn’t care, but because my brain just wouldn’t engage until things became high pressure. Then suddenly I’d pull HDs in difficult assessments just to save the unit and end up averaging a Credit or Pass overall (around 4-5 GPA on a 7 scale).

Ironically, the harder and more technical the unit was, especially finance units in my final year, the better I performed.

I always felt something was off because I knew I was capable of much more. Recently I got diagnosed with severe ADHD, and for the first time my whole academic pattern actually made sense. I realised my grades were less about intelligence or work ethic and more about struggling with executive dysfunction and consistency.

I know a lot of employers look at GPA first, which worries me because I genuinely don’t think it reflects my actual ability or potential.

One thing I can confidently say though is that I work extremely hard when I’m engaged. I’ve spent countless nights studying textbooks, research papers and online material just because I wanted deeper understanding of topics discussed in class. I was usually one of the most engaged students during finance tutorials and discussions.

My biggest challenge now is getting that first opportunity.

As an international student, most graduate programs seem to require citizenship/PR or very high grades, and I currently don’t have direct finance industry experience.

So I wanted to ask:

1. What’s the best way for someone in my position to break into finance in Australia?
   Would smaller firms, boutique research firms, internships, networking, cold emailing etc. be the better route?

2. How much does GPA actually matter after the first role?

3. Would CFA Level 1 help compensate for weaker grades when applying for entry-level finance roles?

4. Long term, I’m considering CFA + FRM and probably a Masters in Finance/Banking or Economics. Does that path make sense for the areas I’m interested in?

Would really appreciate honest advice from people already in the industry, especially anyone who had a non-traditional path or struggled academically despite being capable.

Thanks guys.