Do yourself a favor and check out Raymond James.  Great management, great equity research and you can go independent and still be an employee.  Very happy here. 

Great training  (in Florida too!!!!!)

Best of luck.

[quote=joe-newb]

Hello,

I was targeting the sell side of the investment banking firms and didnt get an offer.

[/quote]
Keep trying.  They LOVE persistence.  No joke.  Keep hounding them and hounding them.

[quote=joe-newb]
So I looked into the broker side and lo and behold everyone in town is trying to hire me.

[/quote]
That's because they are all eager to get someone--anyone--in the door who has a greater than 20% chance of succeeding.

[quote=joe-newb]

Any sage advise to me before my interviews?

[/quote]

Sure.  Make sure you lick your lips a lot and jingle-jangle the keys in your pants pockets during the interview.  Nothing says "I'm your man" like a friendly game of pocket pool.  Batting your eyelashes is a good way to leave a lasting impression, too.  ;)

[quote=joe-newb]
All the big guys and a bunch of no-name firms are here, and my first interview is with smith barney tommorow. Which firms have the best payout/ training. I heard its best to start with a big firm - is that true?

[/quote]
No, it is absolutely NOT true.  It is best to start wherever you feel the most comfortable (and perhaps where you can get some accounts from retiring colleagues--nothing wrong with easy money).  Sure, as you are starting out a name-brand MAY have some cachet, or it may not (scandals, fraud, look up Merrill Lynch for details).  Any $2 million producer at a hardly-heard-of regional will tell you that it is he himself who is important--that the name of the firm he works for means nothing.  And he is right.

[quote=joe-newb]

I just got my MBA and did an internship at a mutual fund which got me interested in the markets.

[/quote]
You, sir, should be applying at hedge funds!  Well, if your concentration is in Finance, at least.  And maybe if your concentration isn't in Finance as well.

A few years at a good hedge fund and you'll be knocking back $500k easy.

[quote=joe-newb]
Before school I opened a few businesses ran IT departments and was an excellent door to door vacuum salesman. My personal network is much stronger in Texas than Massachusetts. Will that be a proble?

[/quote]
Personal networks are always a big plus.  But not a necessity. 

You don't mention anything about the "businesses" you've opened, but an entreprenuerial spirit is a definite plus.  However, if you are so successful at starting businesses, why are you looking for jobs as a broker?

You've definitely got some good qualifications.  Good luck to you sir!

[quote=inquisitive] Personal networks are always a big plus.  But not a necessity. 

You don't mention anything about the "businesses" you've opened, but an entreprenuerial spirit is a definite plus.  However, if you are so successful at starting businesses, why are you looking for jobs as a broker?

You've definitely got some good qualifications.  Good luck to you sir!
[/quote]

I do have other options, but I am looking for a challenge.

The two businesses I opened are still running 5 and 10 years later. The first sells vacuums door to door and is run by my brother. He has @ 100 salesppl pounding the pavement for him, while he gives motivational speaches on how you can make it etc. I am not interested in this option. The second sells computer hardware to the  small biz market which is flawed for a few reasons including - small businesses are cheap - I should have been selling to large biz, and the margins on computer hardware continue to collapse.

I know several ppl going to hedge funds in an analyst or programmer role. I am interested in sales. Will they let someone with almost no experience in the financial markets pitch their prospects?

My other option is to go into software sales where the money is just as good as the financial markets. I am going to decide based upon who I will be working with.