Feb 28, 2016
Trending Content - Management Consulting Forum
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Overall Employee Satisfaction
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Cornerstone Research 99.5%
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Bain & Company 99.0%
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Boston Consulting Group 98.4%
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McKinsey and Co 97.9%
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Oliver Wyman 97.4%
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June 2026 Consulting
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Bain & Company 99.5%
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Boston Consulting Group 99.0%
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McKinsey and Co 98.4%
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Oliver Wyman 97.9%
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LEK Consulting 97.4%
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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
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From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship
“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”
Specifically, BB M&A, or industry group banking.
It is considered unusual to lateral directly to BB - typically people at MBB can land VC/PE and those are preferable so few people go after BB. The few people I know that wanted to get to a BB all did so, either directly or by going to business school first and then transitioning.
Thanks a lot for the info. My feeling is that IBD lateral hire is very tough (Strong cycle, rare open positions show up in the middle). Share some ideas how MBB people make it without going to bschool?
I went from a boutique consultancy to the IB arm of a regional/super regional bank think Regions, PNC. The whole process took a couple of months, all told about four months from when I started thinking about making the move over to finance from consulting. I then reached out to alumni. I knew I only wanted product groups (or HC coverage). Got a lot of traction with middle market shops, but was geographically restricted in my search so only a handful of BBs even had offices where I was looking.
For what its worth, I had a college prof. work at McKinsey for two years before going over to GS.
Thanks for the feedback.
Just look at LinkedIn, there are several examples of people that went from MBB or tier 2 consulting firms to tier 1 or tier 2 investment banks; just text them a message and ask for how they did it. Some took the MBA or Master in Finance route (more common in Europe than in US) or applied directly.
From McK to BB after 1 year (Originally Posted: 06/07/2008)
I was just thinking: if you do one year full-time at McK/BCG/Bain and then apply for BB IBD, do you stand a chance of being classified as a 2nd year Analyst? Or will they just say that your consulting experience is not relevant and you have to start as a 1st year?
Anyone ever switched to IBD from M/B/B after one year?
Thanks for the feedback.
would you do that?
just go to a good b-school after 2 years and then come in as an associate.
personally, i don't think this happens often. the reverse, almost certainly does. personally know of 2 people, one from Citi london, the other from Morgan Stanley ny who left ibd for m/b/b. we had a couple of lateral hires from bb ibd who started last summer with the interns. and we're right below MBB (think mow/monitor/parthenon/Booz Allen/lek).
I would sincerely doubt you would get placed as a 2nd year analyst.
You would probably start as first. Depends on the bank, actually. My bank does not give "credit" readily for other things. For example, one of our 3rd year analysts started one year in DCM, left the firm to go to some company to do corporate M&A (like a Shell or Exxon or something), and then came back. He was only given 2nd year analyst status.
There are so many impediments to getting 1 to 1 credit for other work exp. One is bank ego; e.g. Merrill Lynch is not going to give you analyst credit if you have work exp that they consider "inferior", whether it be corporate M&A, a "shittier" bank, MBB consulting, etc. Another is your recruiter is likely to attempt to sell you harder by saying "this guy will give up a year" etc. and you will never know this trade was made. Another is analysts in the group you will be joining getting pissed that some asshole is coming in as a 2nd/3rd year, depending on the culture/politics of the place.
Of course some things that alter the equation would be if the bank is desperate for qualified people, if you are dealing personally with an MD with hiring power, if they can get you "on the cheap" (any number of ways), etc. It's really a case by case basis but most of the time I would be pessimistic.
This same principle holds for consulting firms, PE firms, HFs, etc. More unstructured places where there aren't "analyst classes" per se like VC firms, very small finance places, etc. are more likely to be flexible.
Thanks for the comment. I should have added that what I had in mind particularly was that I would be classified as 2nd year analyst and then be eligible for associate promotion after 1-2 more years, but get paid like a 1st year. I wouldn't mind the lower pay in that year if I could get promoted to associate more quickly. Do you think that's realistic at a BB?
Highly doubtful. Most BB's are not that flexible with accelerating associate promotions since all the programs are highly structured. My bank allows you to come in as a senior analyst (equiv to 2nd year analyst) if you have a masters degree.
that most analyst programs are 3 years anyway. Your contract is for 2. You get a 3rd year offer where you become a "junior" associate. In the middle of your third year, you get an offer to become an associate (or if you suck, nothing).
Ok, I see. And how would the constellation 1 year MBB - 1 year IBD work for PE placement? Would it be useful to have both consulting and banking experience but only 1 year of each?
I wonder how top PE funds would evaluate such a background.
i know it was stated above, but whyyyyyyyyyy?
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