boutique firm experience
Hi all,
I have only done internships at small firms so far, and the experience has been great, very hands-on and having close contact with senior people in the firm. How does that differ in BB firms? Besides the prestige factor, wouldn't it make more sense to start off at a reputable boutique bank, closing probably more number of deals(mid-market ones), and working closer to senior bankers? I know many people may try to dismiss that option focusing on the "prestige" factor, but I am hoping to hear experiences of people who actually worked in BBs or boutiques.
Thanks
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My take
I don't have experience working in IB at either level, but I have interned at a small PE and a little larger VC and have had exposure to numerous previous IBankers. Essentially most people enter IB as a means to get a better job in the future, i.e. exit opps. In all actuality, you can think of IB as 2 extra years of school. Most people go to college to get a certain job, the same thing (or so it would appear) with IB.
With that said, the actual knowledge you need to function in IB will be learned at any firm, so closing more deals is probably more of a bragging right then anything as well as the exposure to senior level people. The prestige factor takes affect when people apply for exit opps. Most IBers have similar experience and have the same skill sets, so its all about setting yourself apart from the other candidates. The prestige from many BBs will almost certainly get your resume looked at. People know that getting positions at BBs is terribly difficult so they can safely assume that you will know your stuff.
Two of the guys I worked with at my internship both came from 2 years of IB background. One, the senior analyst was the only analyst at his IB firm, so he CLOSED 16 deals (10 "real" deals, 6 "not real" deals) in his two year stint, where as the associate worked for a well known IB firm (think upper MM) but only closed 1 deal in his 2 years and was working on another when he left to go to the VC firm.
Its all relative. If you want to work in the MM in the future, then working boutiques and MM firms is fine, but its more likely that you can move down (BB to MM) then up (MM to BB) even though it is possible.