Long Luong · 2 min read · Research Resources

PhD in Finance Timeline

From the first year to the job market

From the first year to the job market

The target of Finance PhD programs is to place a student in a good academic job. The academic job market for finance rookies usually starts in September and ends in April of the following year. There are two key meetings: the Financial Management Association (FMA) and the American Finance Association (AFA) meetings.

SepOctNovDecJanFebApplicationInterviewFlyoutsApplicationInterviewFlyoutsFMAAFAFinance Rookie Market
SepOctNovDecJanFebApplicationInterviewFlyoutsApplicationInterviewFlyoutsFMAAFAFinance Rookie Market

Note: The above timeline is based on the information in Butler and Crack (2022)

Info

The basic timeline for a student joining the PhD program in the Fall of 2026 and planning to graduate in 5 years looks like this:

2026-Jan2026-Jul2027-Jan2027-Jul2028-Jan2028-Jul2029-Jan2029-Jul2030-Jan2030-Jul2031-JanCourse WorkLiterature Review PaperCourse WorkQualifying ExamYear 2 PaperYear 3 PaperYear 4 PaperJMP IdeaJMP DraftJMP Brown BagPractice & Improve JMPJob HuntYear 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5PhD in Finance Timeline
2026-Jan2026-Jul2027-Jan2027-Jul2028-Jan2028-Jul2029-Jan2029-Jul2030-Jan2030-Jul2031-JanCourse WorkLiterature Review PaperCourse WorkQualifying ExamYear 2 PaperYear 3 PaperYear 4 PaperJMP IdeaJMP DraftJMP Brown BagPractice & Improve JMPJob HuntYear 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5PhD in Finance Timeline

Note: This is a target timeline. Nowadays, it’s common for a PhD in Finance to take more than five years to complete before entering the job market.

I will update this series with more detailed information and checklist for each year.

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