Find your path.
Build your next step.

Start with two kinds of work you want to try. Use the five-question reflection to find starting points, read a junior’s workday in each guide, and try one small project. Then bring what you enjoyed—and what you did not—to a career-coaching conversation. The quiz suggests experiments; it does not decide your career.

Some structured recruiting deadlines may have passed, but there is no single deadline for starting a career. Work backward from your graduation date and the eligibility of actual openings. Include direct-entry roles, smaller employers and adjacent paths. Choose your current stage in My plan, then ask a coach which recruiting routes are still realistic for you.

Compare the actual work: banking supports transactions; investing evaluates where to commit capital; consulting addresses client problems; corporate finance plans and analyzes a business from inside it. Titles overlap, so read the responsibilities. Try a valuation, an investment memo, a consulting case or a forecast, then compare which questions you wanted to keep working on.

Choose one community connected to work you want to explore. Consider Investment Banking Club for banking, Real Estate Association for CRE, SCU Accounting Association for accounting, or Santa Clara Strategy for consulting preparation. Finance Association offers broader exploration. Check each group’s current eligibility and recruitment, attend an event, and find one way to contribute.

The Real Estate Institute (REI) connects academic study, career preparation and industry, including the real estate minor and Career Accelerator Program. The Real Estate Association (REA) is the student organization, with peer connections and technical preparation. Use both. Check current program details with REI and current joining or event information through REA’s channels.

No. Santa Clara Investment Fund is a student-managed investment fund with its own selection process. The Investment Club and Finance Association are separate organizations. Check each group’s current process. You can still develop an investment thesis, seek feedback and attend eligible events while exploring a fund application.

No. Passing the exam is one part of licensure; education, supervised experience and the license application also matter. A new California pathway begins January 1, 2027, alongside a legacy pathway available through December 31, 2028. Some implementing details remain subject to final regulations. Map your coursework and intended application date with an accounting adviser using the CBA’s current guidance.

CFA study is relevant to investment analysis and portfolio management, and can support research, hedge-fund, wealth and some banking or private-market work. It is not a universal hiring requirement. Level I is one milestone: the charter requires all three exam levels, Practical Skills Modules, qualifying experience and membership. Compare the curriculum with your target role before committing time and money.

CPA is an accounting license; CFA focuses on investment analysis and portfolio management; CFP certification focuses on personal financial planning; FRM focuses on financial risk management. The work can overlap, but the requirements and purposes differ. Start with your target role, compare its actual job requirements with each program, and choose a next step you can use. You do not need to collect all four.

You can take the SIE without firm sponsorship if you are at least 18. Passing it does not authorize securities work. Representative-level exams such as Series 7 or 79 require association with a sponsoring firm and depend on the duties of the role. Ask the employer’s compliance team which exams and registrations apply; the exams are not interchangeable.

Learn property cash flow and underwriting in Excel first, then match software to the role. ARGUS Enterprise is relevant to lease-level cash-flow modeling; CoStar supports property and market research. ARGUS Software Certification validates software knowledge and does not replace a brokerage or appraisal license. Ask REI and the Library about current access before purchasing training or a subscription.

Do not assume another degree is the next step. Start with the requirements of the work you want. Compare what a program teaches, its recruiting access, experience expectations, cost and time away from paid work. An MBA, specialized master’s, JD, DBA and PhD serve different purposes; a JD or doctorate is not a master’s degree. The catalog explains the distinctions and timing.

Start with a task, then learn the tool that helps you do it. Excel and accounting support many finance paths; SQL or Python may matter more for analytics; ARGUS may matter for CRE underwriting. Each career’s Skills & software tab separates what to learn first, what to build next and what depends on the employer, with practice tasks and training links.

No. They are identified employer advertisements and program examples, with location, pay basis and entry requirements attached. Broad SCU graduate outcomes are separate. The ranking excludes disclosures that cannot fairly be treated as comparable local graduate pay. Some listings are historical or closed; use them as evidence of a specific advertised offer range, not proof of an open job or your expected salary.

Some CRE programs advertise $100,000 or more in base salary; that is not an REI graduate average. The reviewed Big Four sources do not establish a Bay Area new-graduate average above $100,000. Several are broad disclosure bands, and one lacks a verified pay figure. For either field, check office, practice, cohort, base pay and variable compensation separately.

Compare recurring base pay separately from variable or one-time compensation. A target bonus or commission is not guaranteed; a signing bonus is usually one-time and can have repayment conditions. Equity has vesting and valuation risk. Carry is a potential share of investment profits and may never pay out. Ask for written terms, benefits and expected work demands before comparing offers.

The planner includes spending, retirement contributions and other saving goals, then estimates the gross wages needed under its stated tax assumptions. The reference budget shows those commitments together. The timeline separately tests your entered income, goal dates and available assets. A high required wage is a prompt to explore tradeoffs, not a career salary prediction or mortgage approval.

The employer-coverage default counts the employee premium contribution, with separate editable allowances for medical spending and other insurance. Coverage adjusts with the modeled household, and two earners can compare separate plans. These are planning assumptions based on a local survey, not your employer’s benefits. Use the actual benefits summary when you have an offer; retirement healthcare is modeled separately.

Choose a small question and show how you answered it. Include the data source, assumptions, calculations, recommendation and an important limitation. Use public or synthetic data and label the work as an independent project. A model you can explain and revise is more useful in a conversation than an elaborate template you cannot defend. Each career guide includes a suggested project.

Start with one specific learning question. Use a club event or Bronco Exchange to find someone doing work you want to understand, then send a short, personalized request for a conversation. Ask about their work and preparation, respect their time and follow up with a thank-you. Bring a project or observation to discuss; a first conversation does not need to be a referral request.

Follow the employer’s actual calendar and eligibility rules. Different industries and firms recruit at different times; some structured programs open well before the work starts. Keep a tracker with the role, location, graduation window, deadline, source link and next action. Use Handshake and the employer’s careers page, and check dates again before applying.

Build a next attempt around evidence and feedback. Complete a focused project, seek a campus or community role with real responsibilities, and ask a career coach to review your search strategy. Keep looking for suitable openings while strengthening a skill employers request. Describe coursework, volunteering and independent projects accurately; do not relabel a simulation as employment.

Separate career preparation from authorization to work. Review job eligibility and employer policies, then coordinate timing and authorization questions with SCU’s International Students and Scholars team. This guide cannot determine your eligibility for a particular job, internship or form of self-employment. Start that conversation before committing to work, including a role described as unpaid.

There is no single requirement across all of these roles. Some employers and campus programs set GPA or degree criteria; others assess a broader mix of skills and experience. Read the specific requirements, apply where you qualify, and build evidence you can explain. Regulated paths such as accounting can also require particular coursework, so check the relevant rules rather than assuming a major title is enough.

Use it to practice, question assumptions and improve a draft while keeping responsibility for the result. Verify sources and calculations, protect confidential information, and follow the assignment or employer’s rules. Do not invent experience or submit work you cannot explain. In a project, be ready to describe what the tool produced, what you checked and what you changed.