Career Advice Needed - 30 years old and feel like window is closing

Dear fellow monkeys,

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

A bit about myself, I have a very non-conventional background - I graduated from university abroad in my home country and started out in a local leasing firm as a credit officer analysing leasing credits for SME companies.

After doing this for three years I enrolled at and got admitted to a non-target MBA program . Post-MBA I have been working for a Japanese bank for 3 years as a strategy analyst. This is a very generalist position where I was staffed on a wide variety of projects including a restructuring/workout of a bond portfolio, originating and structuring several power generation project finance deals, and internal credit research and loan portfolio management and ratings analysis of a wide variety of issuers in my coverage sector to name a few.

I feel that I have gained good skills relating to credit risk analysis and broad energy industry expertise.

I would like to transition to one of the BB banks' M&A, LevFin, or RX functions for a stint mainly for the training aspect and my ultimate goal is to work on the buy side related to energy, or specifically in distressed debt/special situations while leveraging my knowledge of the energy sector.

However, I'm now 30 and I wonder if I'm too old to go in at the associate level or if the whole window for getting into ibanking/buyside fixed income has closed, or how I should channel my networking/search efforts.

Additionally I wonder if bankers are receptive to networking requests from older candidates such as myself and not students.

Do I have a chance?

 

Eligendi animi sint debitis eveniet. Consequatur culpa corporis quia provident ea aut. In est adipisci est saepe quas voluptatum vitae suscipit. Totam quia quidem et omnis itaque similique distinctio.

Placeat et nulla reiciendis qui et. Ipsam eos dolorem odit necessitatibus eligendi. Non qui incidunt ipsa eum ex. Aut eos vitae ipsam est velit iste. Quo quia ab dolores quis esse dolorem. Nulla repudiandae est impedit corrupti non necessitatibus totam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (87) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (146) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”