…mmmmm…perhaps you don’t want to go to the EASIEST place to land a job.  The better place to apply is where you have a greatest probability of success.  Along those lines, I would apply to the better-known firms and ask each of them during the interview process, what the firm does to improve the odds of new reps being successful (while assuring them that you’re willing to work hard and do your part).

  Getting a job is relatively easy...particularly when you compare that to actually keeping the job and being successful in this industry.  If it were easy to do this job, it wouldn't pay a six or seven-figure income.

“I just wondering where to go for the best odds of landing a job.”

  Perhaps McDonald's is hiring....   Honestly, the ones previosly listed are going to be the "easiest" to get  a "job" at.    But looking for the "easiest" is not going to get you very far in this business. Good Luck!

dabears:

I’m not looking for an “easy” road or “easy” work.  I just want to get in somewhere, anywhere, and start a career as a stockbroker (no college degree) and I wanted to know which firm that my chances of getting in would be the highest. 

  Ameriprise.   Or change your focus to an insurance company.

The degree is only a set back if you believe it to be. I am new to this business and like you don’t have a degree but had some sales experience. My first interview was with Merrill and did not go very well, the branch manager was arrogant as if I wasn’t even worthy of his time and I was a p*ssy and acted like one. Needless to say this was my first impression of this industry and not a very good one at that.

  It was a little discouraging but I then interviewed at a couple of wirehouses and a couple of insurance companies. Both wirehouses turned me down after multiple interviews but the insurance companies were ready to hire me on the spot.   I also interviewed at Ameriprise and Edward Jones both of which extended offers that I declined almost immediately.   After going to all of these interviews I was now seasoned enough to reattempt interviewing at a wirehouse and was givin an offer within 5 minutes of walking through the door. I refrain from disclosing which one to protect my anonimity but it wasn't  because this particular wirehouse was easier than the others to get hired at, it was because I walked through the door like John F**king Wayne and wasn't taking no for an answer.   The degree is a funny thing, some branch managers can't get past it and others are smart enough to realize that it is an asset but by no means a prediction of success. We have many trainees in my branch that have degrees from the some of top schools in the country and they're a bunch of lazy, whiny bitches. I work circles around all of them, yes all of them!  The rejection I faced prior to being finally hired was good for me and is similar to the rejection that you will regularly face in this career. So when one company turns you down embrace it, learn from it and move on. I made so many mistakes in my first few interviews but leaned from each and everyone of them.   If I was to do it all over again I would do it in this order.   First interview with Ameriprise, Edward Jones, Primerica. (You will gain some interview experience and you will get use to the kind of questions that you will be frequently asked.) Almost all of them will extend offers to you but do not accept, at least not right away.   After you have interviewed with them start interviewing with New York Life, Metlife, Mass Mutual and some other Insurance names.  They will tell you how great you are and how successful you're going to be and you'll actually start to believe it.(Important that you are armed with this confidence for the wirehouses if you don't have the degree)   Next you will interview with the wirehouses, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Smith Barney and so on. These interviews will be tougher but you will be to. Study this website day and night and learn as much as you can about what the job entails. You are a cold calling/cold walking ASSET GATHERER and thats it(and be sure to mention that in the interviews). You are not a portfolio manager or a stock picker. No time for any of that nonsense, you will have a telephone glued to your head for the next five years.Tell the Branch Managers that you are a prospecting machine. This is sure to warm them up.   If after reading the info on this site you would still like to be a Financial Advisor (not a stockbroker!) send me a PM and I will send you the Business Plan templates for both UBS and Morgan Stanley. It will help get you prepared. Don't let anyone tell you that you NEED a degree, YOU CAN DO IT!      

aurum79xau:

how the hell do you get an offer 5 minutes after walking in the door?! I doubt it even if you think you are John Wayne

  You got me, I made up the story to pad my enormous ego.

GET A DEGREE

  who the hell wants to put their money with someone who can't even sweat college?!

[quote=aurum79xau]GET A DEGREE

  who the hell wants to put their money with someone who can't even sweat college?![/quote]   I sure wouldn't put my money with someone who can't capitalize the first word of a sentence.

[quote=apex01][quote=aurum79xau]GET A DEGREE

  who the hell wants to put their money with someone who can't even sweat college?![/quote]   I sure wouldn't put my money with someone who can't capitalize the first word of a sentence. [/quote]   I agree, I wish I could take out a short position on his career. What a piker!