What is the best way to get a job in investment banking or asset management in London (for me)?
A few things about me and my background: I'm 26, currently working in major European city at a commercial bank in investment baking (in structured finance more specifically). I'm from Eastern Europe and I have a double MSc in Finance and Management from my home country (=not from a target school). Passed CFA lvl 2 and working towards a C1 language exam in my 3rd language. I have 1 intership in M&A and 1 in Equity Capital Markets and a full-time position of 1 year in structured finance.
Right now I'm feeling a bit stuck at my current job for a couple of reasons:
- I work 40 hours on paper but I can do everything I have to in 20 (trying to utilize the other 20 for studying) and I feel like at my age it would be more beneficial for my career to do something which requires more effort.
- Since the bank where I work at is not an investment bank, we don't get enough support from higher levels, which makes it difficult to do business.
- I think I could earn more money elsewhere (currretly I get around 65k with bonus).
- My boss is quite annoying and difficult to work with because he lacks social skills.
- At the same time, I enjoy what I am doing, I find structured finance very interesting and I get a lot of responsibility (I imagine way more than I would get in my first years in London).
About 2 years ago when I only had an M&A intersnship and just graduated I applied for some internships in London but always got rejected and didn't even get an interview. Since then I have not tried it.
So my questions would be: is my experience enough to land a job in London in IB (front office) or Asset Management? If not, what else should I do to achieve it? Another degree from a target school (I have an interest towards data science)?
And one question what ultimately I have to answer but I am happy to receive any advice: is it worth it to give up a chill job with a decent salary in a city where I already have some friends to move to London and work my ass off?
1/ It’s possible, but may have to wait some time as the current market for M&A is terrible. Give it 6-10 months to pick-up…
2/ Target masters is a good idea, my personal suggestion is go to to US and get if you are going to do it
3/ money vs WLB is a perennial question, ideal answer is exposure and learning’s (hence money) in early stage of career and then leverage it to get into a more relatively chill position
Maybe it was not clear - I don’t want to work in M&A. I would rather work in structured finance or asset management (leveraged credit possibly).
What would you suggest to look for in the US? There aren’t many masters there and I don’t think an MBA would be very useful since I already have an MSc in management.
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