Transitioning from Consulting to Investment Banking
IB recruiting for summer internships was pushed up quite a bit this year and most top banks and boutiques have filled up the majority of their positions. I think it might be more sensible to recruit for consulting now and take a shot at IB next year for full-time positions now that I'm aware of the IB timeline (I learned the hard way). If I intern at a consulting firm this year, will I be able to transition to IB next year? I know this is uncommon, but is that because it's unpopular or just really difficult?
Good luck, consulting firms tend to hire a way smaller interns than investment banks....I would say go and try to find an internship in the boutique bank and network your way in FT.
I think it's uncommon/difficult for the reasons stated above by HappyPistachios: consultants hire fewer interns than banks do.
If you can get a consulting internship, it should be easy enough to get interviews for banking next year, but you should look at boutique banking internships in addition to consulting.
1-year Big 4 Consultant to IB? (Originally Posted: 05/10/2017)
Hey guys so I'm pretty new to the industry in general (lack of research on my part) although I have an undergraduate degree in Finance.
What are the types of ways once can break into investment banking from being a consultant with the Big 4? The type of work I'm doing is not in transaction advisory and it isn't related to M&A or valuations either. Looking to brush up my skills on financial modeling and accounting because that's really where my interests lie.
Looking for any tips/advice as to how to get where I'm going. I know it's an uphill battle but all advice is welcome
Which service line are you from exactly?
I was an intern at a Big4 in their consulting practice and got on a valuation project so I'd have a relevant topic on my resume. In the end it worked so I'd highly recommend switching over as soon as you can.
If you're in tax, you have ZERO chance to make the jump as is. Need to get out ASAP and move to a different group - like transaction advisory. Anything.
I'm pretty glad we can all agree I need to make the jump and as soon as possible.
I'm trying to network my way into TAS or find something, anything if I can network my way there.
What I'm also starting to do is tailor the resume the right way, starting to network with my peers for any contacts they may have in investment banking and will be sending the resume out soon to job postings.
But, I want to do more as I know that won't be enough for this type of jump. Do you guys think cold calling boutiques would get me anywhere as etx suggested? What other things should I be doing? What other things can help increase my chances
Possible to transfer from Big 4 M&A consulting to IB? (Originally Posted: 10/23/2017)
Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone had made the jump from Big 4 M&A consulting to BB-IB? (M&A) Or if it's even possible to do this in the US?
As to why? Well I spent a bit of time in a Corp-Fi division in the B4 previously and realized I actually preferred the work I was doing more on the valuations/modelling than what i'm doing on the consulting side. E.g. majority is Post-merger-integration work.
Any feedback,thoughts or general advice is appreciated.
Best, Jax
Hi ahuformula15171, yes, I'm a bot, but I'm also good looking. Hopefully, these threads help you:
More suggestions...
Hope that helps.
Deloitte Consulting Sophomore to IBD junior? (Originally Posted: 03/05/2013)
Hey guys, I'm a sophomore at a target who recently got an offer in the Deloitte financial services strategy and operations group. My ultimate goal is to get into BB IBD for my junior year. Just wondering how does this internship look to recruiter at BBs next year?
Thanks for all the help guys.
Almost any work experience as a sophomore will make you stand out let alone a great name like Deloitte. Should set you up quite well. Make sure you document all projects you worked on during the summer so you can remember them and talk about it during your interviews next year.
You're in an excellent position.
Basically one of the best programs you can get into as a sophomore - you're in a great place. Congrats!
Thanks guys. Was just worried since this isn't the typical route of boutique IB sophomore - junior BB.
MBB Sophomore Summer – questionable for Junior Summer BB/EB IBD? (Originally Posted: 09/26/2017)
I'm currently a sophomore at a target in the northeast and I have the opportunity to pursue a sophomore summer internship at a European MBB office. I was wondering how that might reflect on recruitment for junior summer IBD – would they question my commitment to finance if I had MBB on my resume? If so, how big of a potential roadblock could this be, especially considering European offices don't usually give return offers for interns? For reference, I've already completed internships in PE and HF.
Don't think it's an obstacle as long as you spin your story correctly. During interviews and networking you can say something along the lines of "After spending a summer doing MBB consulting I realized I'm more interested in finance-oriented work, maybe something similar to my previous PE experience. That's why I'm currently exploring IB opportunities, etc, etc." If you do actual meaningful work over the summer and are able to discuss your experiences cogently, then you would demonstrate that you're both diligent and sharp, which is what bankers are ultimately looking for in interviews.
Consulting (no finance experience) > MBA > IB - Is CBS a good choice? (Originally Posted: 12/13/2016)
I am looking to transition from consulting (mostly ops and tech) to investment banking by attending a top 10 school. Given that I have no finance background (other than a B.S. in Finance), I question whether Columbia Business School would be the right choice. CBS places a large amount of its class into banking roles, but I wonder whether I am at a disadvantage given that I will be competing for these jobs with students who have finance/transaction experience.
I heard from a friend that someone who wants to break into finance without actual experience should aim at schools such as Cornell, Darden, Fuqua, etc. Supposedly these schools tend to have less ex-finance professionals, therefore, making the recruiting slightly less competitive for someone like myself.
Any thoughts?
Your friend doesn't know what he's talking about. Consultants do very well. I can, off the top of my head, tell you I know CBS people who did consulting before school who ended up at each of GS/MS/EVR/Lazard/CS/Barclays. And CBS people in general do better than the schools you listed, so that's much more of a consideration than whether the school has a large amount of finance people or not.
You'll do fine. Columbia will give you every opportunity to get an IB job in NYC, regardless of your background.
(Ditto for Wharton and Booth.)
Management consulting to investment banking? (Originally Posted: 01/01/2017)
I am currently working in management consulting and I am looking to move to investment banking. Has anyone on here make the switch or have any good resources?
I did it, just networked my way in.
Going from consulting to IB/PE/HF? (Originally Posted: 01/13/2013)
Hey guys,
I'm a first-year consultant (started in the fall) at a "second tier" consulting firm from a top school with a strong background. Since I've started my job I've been on a cool case that's given me a very strong business background, but I'm finding that I enjoy more of the financial analysis I've been doing rather than the soft-consulting-type-BS work.
In addition to this, my next goal is to land a gig where I can develop skills as an investor. Given these facts, what should I be doing to maximize my chances of landing a role in PE as my next job? Should I look to transfer to a top-tier IB or can I make it to PE from what most consider to be a 2nd-tier consulting firm? At what point should I begin looking for exit opportunities? If going IB is a better route, should I start looking for a job starting at the end of this summer?
Thanks for any input.
Does your consulting firm do any PE work? If so try to get as much exposure as possible to that. Unsure what you are considering second tier, if you could elaborate a bit.
Network hard is all I can say. If you don't find any luck then yes, go to IB.
We have a consulting guy at our shop but he was MBB and HBS. I don't think we'd look at anyone else with a consulting background and it will be harder pre-MBA.
Sorry, by second-tier I am referring to a firm that is one level below MBB as perceived by most in terms of prestige, work, and exit opps. Any advice on how to approach networking, and at what point should I be looking to move to IB? Should I do my full 2 years consulting or should I be thinking of making a move before then?
there's a difference between second tier shops.... places like LEK and parthenon do a good amount of PE DD work.
This is what I meant when I asked the question- 2nd tier as in Accenture or 2nd tier like a Parthenon or other smaller shop that does PE work and places well into PE.
Consulting internship into BB/EB IBD junior internship (Originally Posted: 12/28/2016)
Hello, I am a soph at a target and am going to intern at top 5 management consulting for my sophomore summer. I want to get into investment banking and have some experience with PWM and Asset Management, and was wondering how I would be looked at in the junior year EB/BB iB recruiting process.
3.9 GPA, 2350 SAT, and Target with strong leadership/EC/Research
Am I at a disadvantage doing consulting for my sophomore summer, even at a top firm?
Honestly, you'll probably have stronger work experience than 95% of the other people applying. You clearly have the stats to pass initial resume screens, and most of the summer analysts that I knew at bulge brackets/elite boutiques did random things for their sophomore summers (think internships at tiny no-name firms).
Thank you so much for the help!
You also just asked whether this was good enough for MBB FT... make up your mind fellow
Consulting to IB without an MBA? (Originally Posted: 03/22/2017)
Hi Guys,
As the title states, I am curious if it is possible to go from consulting to Investment Banking without an MBA? I am interested just because, no real reason except for keeping the idea in my back pocket. Any thoughts?
.
Even if you have BSc in finance?
Much tougher to transition to IB with an MFin and I would recommend against it if your true goal is IBD. And very tough to transfer directly from consulting to IB, unless to a boutique or some MM firms. Would need a more transactional type of role in consulting or MBB.
Switching from IT Consulting to Investment Banking (Originally Posted: 03/03/2014)
I'm a first year consultant in a big tech consulting firm and really want to switch to banking. I have an ivy degree in finance and had a summer internship in a boutique TMT bank before joining the consulting firm. I also did a middle market private equity intern back in school.
When I'm preparing interviews, the following questions are bothering me a lot.
1) How can I spin my tech consulting experience into sounding relevant to banking? What skills/experience are transferable?
2) Why do I want to do banking now? Especially given that I did a banking intern before.
People may think I'm daydreaming but I really want to gather ideas and advice from you guys and have a try. I would really appreciate everyone's input. Thanks!!!
Not to be a dick, but your grammar really needs some work. So if you speak the way you write, I would suggest working on that - because a lot of banking is pitchbook storyboarding and CIM writing (re: writing up summary points for profiles, taking a crack at the exec. summary, general pitchbook dialogue, etc) and an easy way to piss off your senior analyst or associate is leaving them with a sloppy writeup to clean up.
I don't know anything about tech consulting, so I will just propose a couple of questions for you so to help you discover an answer. In tech consulting do you do any quantitative analysis? Build any models to solve problems? Is there an implementation element (maybe you can talk about how you like to be involved in a deal from start to finish)?
If there are few areas of overlap in terms of skill sets between the two, one other way to demonstrate your interest is if you've enrolled in financial modeling training courses.
Finally... given this is a public forum, you may want to change your username to something more anonymous vs. using your gmail email which has some elements of your name in the handle.
Breaking into IB from consulting (Originally Posted: 09/21/2016)
Hi Guys,
I'm new to the site so not sure if I'm posting in the right place but here goes.
I recently graduated from the University of Denver, a private school in CO. I graduated from the business school with a marketing major and finance minor with pretty bad grades. My major GPA might actually be around 3.0 but I'm not totally sure. I had a lot of extra curricular stuff and a summer internship at a small events triggered research firm in Denver which gave me some good exposure.
Again, I was pretty undecided on what I wanted to do with my life until recently which is why I was stupid enough to change to a marketing major from finance. I'm currently set on being in IB, reading all the books I can, learning LBO and other types of modeling, and trying to do anything I can to set myself apart.
I am now working at a small management consulting firm and want to make my transition as soon as possible. Do you guys think I have a shot at getting into a BB bank or even MM with my bad grades and wrong major? Anything specific I could do to set myself apart? Do I need to leverage the connections I made in college as an intern?
Any advice is appreciated since I'm very determined but I also want to be realistic.
Thanks
Your best bet would be go back to a top business school.
He went to a mediocre college, earned mediocre grades and only graduated recently. How would he be a candidate for a top business school?
I'm trying to do a similar thing to you, OP. I'm just networking and trying to get referrals.
ask yourself why you want to do IB ... if it's for the wrong reasons , you will never break in... if it's for the right reasons, going BB or MM shouldn't really matter.
Regional "no name" M&A shop should be your first step .. they are everywhere .. not sure what type of consulting you do, but if your firm has an industry focus, research small M&A shops that have similar industry expertise.
stay there a year or two and maybe lateral to a MM ... forget about BB.. You need to take climb the later one rung at a time...
One analyst who used to work at my MM went to DU but had much higher grades than you do and had previous boutique IB exp. So yeah best bet would be to go to a boutique IB first.
Restructuring Consultant to IB? (Originally Posted: 11/15/2017)
Any thoughts on the jump from Restructuring Consulting firms (think FTI Consulting) to Restructuring Group at Banks (HL, Evercore, Lazard)? From what I've read, the work that these consulting firms do are very similar to restructuring groups at banks, but not 100% sure
Hey ahuformula15171, I'm here because nobody responded to this thread after a few days...maybe one of these resources will help you:
More suggestions...
I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.
Big 4 CF vs MBB - which is a better route to investment banking job (Originally Posted: 09/04/2015)
Hey everyone,
I am a fresh graduate with these offers: - Big 4 corporate finance - MBB Business Analyst
My ultimate goal is to break into investment banking and I would really appreciate your insight on whether starting a career in big 4 cf or MBB would be a better route to IB ?
Thanks
Do MBB. You'll get a ton more respect, and will be able to network your way into IB.
Thank you for your advice!!
I would love to hear more opinions as well
MBB hands down.
Why IB from MBB? Unless your ego says you must do IB, PE/VC loves MBB
There is pretty much 0 advantage of going into Big 4 over MBB if your goal is IB. People are extremely impressed with MBB, the first word that comes into most peoples mind when they see Big 4 on a resume is "accountant".
MBB hands down.
From non-target to masters in management to boutique consulting to IB (Originally Posted: 10/12/2015)
After a lot of struggling I made it to the promised land. I'll be joining a super-regional bank's capital market arm as an associate. I first came to WSO as a clueless undergrad that was at the epitome of a non-target. I did my masters, networked hard and got a job at a consulting firm then parlayed that to IB, it only took about five years, but I'm glad to have finally gotten where I wanted to be.
Congrats dude!
Hard work payed after all. Congratulations :)
How did you make the transition from boutique consulting to IB? Are you focusing on the same industry group at both places?
I broke in the old fashioned way, networking. I kept in touch with alums and kept following up. A position opened up, I had two interviews and then got the job. The boutique did a fair amount of strategy related to M&A, pricing and the like. I highlighted that experience.
As to the focus, I went from biotech/life sciences/pharma to a very unrelated area, which is at the intersection of munis and project finance.
any chance you'd be up for doing an ama related to this? let me know!
Congratulations man!
IT Consulting --> MBA --> BB IBD? (Originally Posted: 03/09/2016)
I recently received an offer for an IT Consulting position with a boutique firm in NYC offering implementation and risk consulting for commodities trading floors.
I was wondering -- if I were to accept this position, would it look bad on B school applications when it came time for me to apply? Or would it make a negligible difference?
I am intending to study hard for the GMAT and score high as well as take part in philanthropic extra-curriculars such as junior achievement and habitat for humanity.
In a nutshell, is it possible to do IT Consulting for 3-4 years, attend a quality MBA program (top 15-20), and then enter IBD at a BB as an associate? Or will I run into problems getting accepted into solid programs because IT Consulting isn't held in as high regard as strategy/management consulting?
Thanks!
No you will be completely fine. Do well on the GMAT and you will have no problem getting into a top 10 MBA. IT Consulting is fine and is by no way bad work experience.
Good to hear, anyone else?
bump
I'm also curious about this subject as I've been getting interviews in IT consulting.
IT consulting is a good career choice and quite lucrative as well. Getting into a top MBA prog shouldnt be too hard if you have a good gmat score and have shown some type of career progression in the 3-4years you've been working.
Boutique IT consulting -> Top 15-20 MBA. Probably possible. I have a technology background and I got into a pretty decent MBA too so I can see that happening.
However, keep in mind the OP's ultimate goal is to go into BB IB. IMO that is a little harder to come back from a top 15-20 background with no relevant finance background.
One possible route is to go boutique IT consulting -> well-known IT consulting (Big 4) -> Top 10 MBA and then lateral from there. Either that or network your ass off into a MO at a BB then MBA
Should I give up an IB FT offer for the opportunity to recruit FT for MBB? (Originally Posted: 08/27/2016)
Think HYPS with engineering degree 3.6+ and believe MC is a better fit. Do you think it is worth the risk?
Just recruit and renege if you get it
In terms of cost-benefit analysis, I would compare the personal cost of joblessness to the cost of reneging. You reject IB offer, don't get MBB, now what? You're screwed. Let's say you accept the IB offer though, get an MBB offer, then reneg.. who cares? Sure, you burn a bridge and will slightly hurt your chances of getting an IB job for the next couple of years, but that doesn't even matter because you'll be doing consulting anyway.
Networking Advice- Big 4 consulting to IB (Originally Posted: 02/08/2018)
Hello Fellow Monkeys,
So a little background about myself- graduated from a non-target school back in May- finance major w slightly below 3.5 GPA. I'm in risk advisory for a big 4. Long story short- I am not a fan at all. Thought it was going to be more than auditing IT controls. Now its time to start networking my way out. At my firm, I was put on a supply chain consulting project and was doing manager level work as a first year. Always knew I wanted to do finance, and now after having great reviews on my first project- I can leverage that into work ethic and other stuff.
So as far as you all may know- big 4's have an Investment Banking arm. As I am in the New York Office, it will be easy to meet up with people- so location is not an issue. So my question to you all is... when networking within the firm- would it be outlandish to ask (granted after building a relationship w the banker) if I can shadow an analyst a few days a week after I end work on my current project? Hours are 9-5 on my current project so I was thinking of possibly shadowing from 5- 8,9 a few days a week.
Please give me your thoughts. All will be appreciated!
fud_box, way too quiet in here. What about these resources:
No promises, but thought I'd mention a few relevant users that work in the industry: TechSupportLevel1 bstfrndstabnfrnt treyp525
Hope that helps.
Lateral pre-MBA from consulting to ib (Originally Posted: 05/31/2007)
I am wondering if anyone has examples or thoughts of a possible lateral from M/B/B analyst w/ 2 years exp to an IB (specifically lev fin) analyst program.
Would you be expected to already have hard skills relative to finance (ie: modeling, valuation, excel mastery) or would you be brought along like a campus-hire analyst?
Recognize could go from consulting to MBA to associate at i-bank, but would like to hear about this option, as well...
Appreciate it!
What level of position you're aiming for? Analyst 2 is granted of course, but as for Analyst 3, you have to be very well prepared, as your rivals are Ibankers from smaller banks/boutiques with more relevant experience.
Networking for IBD through a management consulting (Originally Posted: 10/12/2013)
The father of a kid I knew in high school is a director at an MBB office in my hometown. I'm speaking with him some time next week. Would it be appropriate to say, "In addition to mgmt consulting, I'm also interested in IBD and was wondering if you knew anybody at [insert BB banks here] who could help me out?" or something along those lines?
no
definitely not
Transferring out of Consulting into IB or AM (Originally Posted: 01/03/2017)
Hey WSO,
Long time lurker and first time poster. Just wanted to start off by thanking everyone who is a part of this community for all the invaluable advice they provide on a daily basis. For people trying to break into banking or Asset Management, this website is the gold standard for industry specific advice and I am really appreciative to have found you guys.
With that being said, I find myself wanting a change in a careers after being out of undergrad for ~2.5 years.
I graduated from a Top 10 IB / Finance school with a degree in Economics with a 3.4 (3.6 major). However, this was from their Arts + Sciences and not their business school where the large majority of recruitment happens. This is a New York based institution so a large majority of my classmates have ended up in a banking or asset management role out of college. Moreover, all of my internships during my college career were related to quant based research in market sizing and consumer analysis.
Out of college, I ended up doing strategy for a Entertainment Technology Startup for a year, Analysis Consulting for a mid-sized European Venture Capital Firm with about ~1B AUM for a year, and now have currently been doing more market sizing / consumer analysis for a boutique consulting firm with F100 companies.
However with all that being said, I am still finding it quite difficult to break into Banking / Finance by just applying through the regular channels (Linkedin, Career Page, Through My University etc;). I am now re-focusing my efforts towards to networking as heavily as possible through my alumni channel(s) as well as close friends that I have within the industry.
I have a few questions about what steps I can take to improve my chances aside from what I've outlined above:
Is it better to take my GMAT or attempt to get CFA certified?
Should I attempt to find a front office position at a boutique firm, or back office at a larger / more established institution?
Are there summer analyst programs that I can do without being in undergrad / enrolled for MBA?
Thanks so much in advance for any help or insight you might be able to provide.
these topics are well covered here - try the WSO search function. I would advise narrowing it down to either IB or AM. Casting a wide net can get tricky and make you seem unfocused.
Keep networking and be sure to be solid on your technicals i.e. financial accounting, valuation methodology etc. There is nothing worse than networking your ass off only to goober it up and burn bridges by not being prepared (I learned the hard way).
Agreed with everything here, just a few more thoughts:
Is it still possible to start over? from MBB to finance (Originally Posted: 06/20/2013)
I joined a top consulting firm after graduating last year. Now its been a year and I do not like consulting very much. I have been doing completely unrelated projects, and going forward I would like to have a little bit more focus. Plus I want to learn more about finance.
Is it possible for me to switch to banking/equity research now with 1 year experience? I know people will look at my resume and have questions like "why is this kid jumping around" and "does he really know what he wants" etc. Just hoping to get your advice on whether it is possible, and what is the best way to do it ..
All comments appreciated
People have done it
Yes certainly possible, discussed on WSO quite a bit. Also pls note that if you get on nice (corporate finance-related) projects at MBB, the work actually gets very interesting.
I just made the switch into RE IB from consulting after about one year - felt the same way with regards to unrelated projects and lack of interest. Best thing to do is spin your current job as a positive learning experience and try to illustrate to the interviewer that you are trying to seek out what your passionate about. PM if you want any advice.
i think you should hang in there for a year and stay for at least 2 years to avoid questions from future recruiters. in the next 1 year, talk to partners who have focus in the finance industry and try to get staffed on projects that you are interested in. all the best!
It's possible but I would wait another year and go to a good bschool and then change your field to finance.
Its definitely possible, and apparently happens a lot more than I gave it credit for. I actually just had a friend leave MBB after 1 year to do IB. He wanted to focus purely on finance, and said he wasn't getting that in consulting.
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