IB - MBA Associate, still a chance?

11y

Yikes - it's late. The small amount of FT recruiting happening at my school wrapped up in October. If you are at a top 10 you can probably find something at smaller firm, but unlikely to happen at a BB. Time to start cold-emailing like it's your job.

EU-IB-MBA

Senior Monkey

11y

Boothorbust:
Yikes - it's late. The small amount of FT recruiting happening at my school wrapped up in October. If you are at a top 10 you can probably find something at smaller firm, but unlikely to happen at a BB. Time to start cold-emailing like it's your job.

yeah... been there, done that- is FT MBA recruiting completely dead on street this year or is it just me, or my school? looking at a number of different B-plans now...

Substitution Effect Definition Economics

11y

EU-IB-MBA:
Boothorbust:
Yikes - it's late. The small amount of FT recruiting happening at my school wrapped up in October. If you are at a top 10 you can probably find something at smaller firm, but unlikely to happen at a BB. Time to start cold-emailing like it's your job.

yeah... been there, done that- is FT MBA recruiting completely dead on street this year or is it just me, or my school? looking at a number of different B-plans now...

I think its pretty dead across the street. Everything I've seen and heard as indicated that everyone is hiring exclusively from their summer associate class. A few random spots opened up very early as some kids didn't take or didn't earn their offers, but those were few and far between. What's your plan-B? I'd look into internal M&A/Corp Dev at a pretty acquisitive company (e.g., GE, P&G, Google)

11y

EU-IB-MBA:
Boothorbust:
Yikes - it's late. The small amount of FT recruiting happening at my school wrapped up in October. If you are at a top 10 you can probably find something at smaller firm, but unlikely to happen at a BB. Time to start cold-emailing like it's your job.

yeah... been there, done that- is FT MBA recruiting completely dead on street this year or is it just me, or my school? looking at a number of different B-plans now...

2 replies

i hate audit

King Kong

11y

EU-IB-MBA:
Boothorbust:
Yikes - it's late. The small amount of FT recruiting happening at my school wrapped up in October. If you are at a top 10 you can probably find something at smaller firm, but unlikely to happen at a BB. Time to start cold-emailing like it's your job.

yeah... been there, done that- is FT MBA recruiting completely dead on street this year or is it just me, or my school? looking at a number of different B-plans now...

as someone who is hoping to get an MBA to pursue ibanking, this is pretty scary. so if you wouldnt mind sharing, what exactly happened? were you late with everything and kind of missed out on normal campus recruiting or is it just really that bad out there? did you get any interviews during OCR? seems like you had a very solid summer internship, what happened with that firm?

Authored by: Certified Corporate Strategy Professional - ManagerCertified Corporate Strategy Pro

1 reply

mhurricane

Gorilla

11y

There are regional banks still hiring Associates and Analysts, not sure if that is what you are looking for, though.

The difference between successful people and others is largely a habit - a controlled habit of doing every task better, faster and more efficiently.

IvyGrad

King Kong

11y

Just curious, where do those MBA folks end up in case they fail to land at IBD or consulting? If the answer is PWM or sales, I somehow doubt MBA is worth taking out 200k in debt, on top of forgoing 2 years of income at your previous job. People talk about corp dev/ corp strategy, but those roles don't seem to be plentiful and many times hire ppl with consulting/ banking experience.

Or, at the least, MBA seems like a very risky bet to me, even a top 10 program.

https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/resources/skills/trading-investing/currency-option

11y

IvyGrad:
Just curious, where do those MBA folks end up in case they fail to land at IBD or consulting? If the answer is PWM or sales, I somehow doubt MBA is worth taking out 200k in debt, on top of forgoing 2 years of income at your previous job. People talk about corp dev/ corp strategy, but those roles don't seem to be plentiful and many times hire ppl with consulting/ banking experience.
Or, at the least, MBA seems like a very risky bet to me, even a top 10 program.

I think if you are at a top 10 and dead set on IB or consulting, you will get there somehow. It might not be MBB or GS/MS/JPM, but there are still enough spots that you can find something.

It is a risk though. No one is telling you you have 100% certainty of landing a gig that makes the numbers work out b-school. I think the vast majority of people at top 10 programs are driven and intelligent enough that they do end up finding something worthwhile, but I'm sure there are a handful every year for whom it does not work out. Such is life.

EU-IB-MBA

Senior Monkey

11y

Well said. If you work hard, and do your homework, a top 10 school will get you "that" job that will pay off your debt and get you on a well founded career track. IB, consulting, S&T. Whatever you're looking for.

I could not land an IB gig for full time, but I cant' say I'm complaining- I'm amazed to see how valuable my school's name /education is even in the eyes of employers/BBs overseas (talking about jobs in the markets).

IvyGrad

King Kong

11y

Boothorbust:
IvyGrad:
Just curious, where do those MBA folks end up in case they fail to land at IBD or consulting? If the answer is PWM or sales, I somehow doubt MBA is worth taking out 200k in debt, on top of forgoing 2 years of income at your previous job. People talk about corp dev/ corp strategy, but those roles don't seem to be plentiful and many times hire ppl with consulting/ banking experience.
Or, at the least, MBA seems like a very risky bet to me, even a top 10 program.
I think if you are at a top 10 and dead set on IB or consulting, you will get there somehow. It might not be MBB or GS/MS/JPM, but there are still enough spots that you can find something.
It is a risk though. No one is telling you you have 100% certainty of landing a gig that makes the numbers work out b-school. I think the vast majority of people at top 10 programs are driven and intelligent enough that they do end up finding something worthwhile, but I'm sure there are a handful every year for whom it does not work out. Such is life.

I hear from several of my friends at different M7 MBA programs that going to a top MBA gets you a first round for consulting, but you still need to absolutely nail all the cases to get an offer. I just talked to my friend at Columbia MBA. He mentioned that while there is a decent number going to MBB consulting, that figure is misleading due to 1) many going to MBB were sponsored from MBB and were guaranteed a spot at MBB before MBA program to begin with, 2) many others that end up at MBB don't end up at U.S. offices, but random international offices, such as Asia. (I heard most international students can't snag U.S. offer, so they end up going back to their country) Hence, the implication that someone should take the career survey statistics that MBA programs throw out with a huge grain of salt.

For banking, my MBA friends mentioned that getting that first round interview is more difficult, especially those coming from non-finance backgrounds pre-MBA. They emphasized the utter importance of "schmoozing skills" with bankers/ info session recruiters, etc necessary to land a banking interview, since so many at MBA programs want banking gigs for limited slots. My friend at Columbia MBA actually went on to tell me that unless you are networking your pants off and have decent schmoozing skills, the odds are stacked against you to land a banking offer.

It sounds like top 10 MBA isn't the golden ticket to top business jobs, as this board likes to portray it to be. Outside of consulting and banking, I don't think top 10 MBA luster is quite that strong with most of employers. (Again, corp strategy/ dev roles don't hire fresh MBA's; they hire ppl with banking/ consulting experience, etc)

I am considering throwing apps to MBA programs within 2-3 years, but not sure if I will actually go. My employer won't sponsor MBA, so I would be paying for it all on my dime. I am somewhat interested in making the jump into IBD post MBA, but I am not sure if the costs justify the risks involved. I work at non-MBB consulting firm and make good salary, so in my case I am not sure MBA is worth the risks and opportunity costs involved.

11y

Best Response

IvyGrad:

For banking, my MBA friends mentioned that getting that first round interview is more difficult, especially those coming from non-finance backgrounds pre-MBA. They emphasized the utter importance of "schmoozing skills" with bankers/ info session recruiters, etc necessary to land a banking interview, since so many at MBA programs want banking gigs for limited slots. My friend at Columbia MBA actually went on to tell me that unless you are networking your pants off and have decent schmoozing skills, the odds are stacked against you to land a banking offer.

This is wildly overstated. Yes, you have to network and attend recruiting events, conduct informationals, etc, but I would hardly describe it is "networking your pants off." You have to get to know people and talk with bankers over drinks - if that doesn't come somewhat natural to you or makes you super uncomfortable, then maybe banking is not the best gig for you. The job is, ultimately at a senior level, about generating business and talking a good game. The 'schmoozing' you speak of is really just designed to weed out the weirdos and the awkwards; you don't have to be the smoothest guy in the room to land an interview.

Bottom line is, if you go to a top 10 school, are a relatively normal human being who can socialize, and work a little bit on networking, you will land an interview. What happens from there is 100% up to you.

1 reply

abacab

Almost Human

11y

My experience is more in line with IvyGrad. Most of us (non NYC Top 10 program) were in NYC twice a week for informational in November. If you go to any bank lobby on Friday in Nov-Dec, you will see MBA students from all over the country show up for informational interviews. There is lot more legwork than just going to the regular corporate events on campus. Not being a core finance school, our interview lists are smaller.

To give an estimate, if 100 people showed up in presentation/networking, only 20 are in interview lists. And to not be the other 80% serious legwork and schmoozing was required. Much of it was a lot of luck too. You could catch someone on a bad day, and game over for that one bank. Was told NYU and Columbia have it worse due to the proximity (higher expectation).

Good thing about consulting is they don't make you go to their offices, but regular touch points over phone are needed and you still need to rock the cases.

Authored by: Certified Investment Banking Professional - DirectorCertified Investment Banking Pro

lifeofpurpose

King Kong

11y

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