Career progression (into IB) without internships/previous work experience.

I'm doing my best right now to get an internship, but would also like to consider my options if I don't get one.
I'll have an MSc in Finance from a pretty good university in Europe (not LSE, etc. but investment banks still recruit from there) with (hopefully) good grades.
What can someone in that situation do? I have unrelated work experience, but unfortunately nothing related to finance/banking.
I guess even boutique investment banks won't hire an analyst with no internships? What kind of work can I find in that situation and what are my prospects for getting into IB?

Thanks

 

In the same boat as you.. Most of the people I have been networking with are from boutiques or MM banks. They have said that they usually dont hire analysts without experience because they dont have the training resources that BB banks have. Few said they tried sending them elsewhere for training, but it hasnt worked out too well.

 

Hey

@helphere: Yeah I am trying to network as much as possible.

@MC 002: While that is disappointing, its not surprising. :(

So what kind of career progression is possible guys? I'm sure that you aren't forever banned from banking if you didn't do an internship or two during uni.

 
Silverback88:
I'm doing my best right now to get an internship, but would also like to consider my options if I don't get one. I'll have an MSc in Finance from a pretty good university in Europe (not LSE, etc. but investment banks still recruit from there) with (hopefully) good grades. What can someone in that situation do? I have unrelated work experience, but unfortunately nothing related to finance/banking. I guess even boutique investment banks won't hire an analyst with no internships? What kind of work can I find in that situation and what are my prospects for getting into IB?

Thanks

which MSc finance? England or continental europe? Also, I was under the impression that a good MSc finance program, especially in Europe, was good for getting a job in IB

 

having an internship helps, but it isn't a prerequisite.

what kind of job opportunities has the program given you so far? in which direction do you see most of your classmates going?

certainly the majority of your classmates don't have prior IB experience or they'd be working there rather than studying at Erasmus.

 

I haven't started the program yet (September). I recently finished my BSc and am currently looking for an internship.

I hear that relatively few people from RSM want to go into banking, and I don't know how good their career service is.

What should I do if I don't get an internship before September? Hope that an IB hires me without relevant experience?

 
Silverback88:
I haven't started the program yet (September). I recently finished my BSc and am currently looking for an internship.

I hear that relatively few people from RSM want to go into banking, and I don't know how good their career service is.

What should I do if I don't get an internship before September? Hope that an IB hires me without relevant experience?

either that or build a time machine.

i'm sure you will get a job in finance after the program. i mean, by then, you'll be more expert on the subject than anyone around short of PhDs.

to be honest, given the quant nature of a masters in finance, you will be more qualified to work as a trader/derivatives structurer or asset manager. those jobs sound just as if not more appealing than IB.

 
Best Response

Problems with an internship after school as far as bank policy goes. There is a policy that only allows you to do an internship if you are enrolled in school. If you have graduated already they would have to hire you as full compensation and the bank would rather take full compensation talent with experience. So what you would need to do is the following (start from the bottom up) which would involve getting in from the back door.

You should have planned IBD before graduating, meaning that you should have looked for an internship 2 years ago.

Like I said before NETWORK and sell yourself as a good IBD prospect....... we are only talking of the most prestigious job in the world here.

Figure it out, if you do that means you are a good fit, if not get a job in something else and fit in with the rest of the world. !! want it bad enough and talk to any stranger in an expensive suit!!!

"The higher up the mountain, the more treacherous the path" -Frank Underwood
 

Target boutiques to try to get your foot in the door. They tend to have less formal recruiting procedures so you might be able to get an in that way. Virtually no chance at BBs and EBs as they have a very structured recruiting process and most of their hires are sourced from their junior year intern class. Helps if you have a 3.5+ GPA but you will have to craft a coherent and compelling story as to why you want IB. From the info you've given out, it's not clear and it seems like you heard about IB yesterday and are applying just cause.

The easier option is to do a couple more years then get an MBA and go in as an associate.

 
Waymon3x6:

Why IB?

So I got interested in the financial world mid of my college career. I started slowly follow the markets and it was something that was very entreating to me as to why markets act in the ways they do. I knew by that point that I really don't want to do monkey coding for the rest of my life as I didn't find it very interesting as I thought it would be prior to college. Also around that time I got a part time job as a Associate PM, there I had decent amount of client exposure which I really enjoyed doing. However, Finance was still something that was at the back of my mind. Towards the end of my Senior year I found out about IB. At that point I knew I wanted to become one but being a CS major I wasn't exactly sure how to get into it and I needed a job... Anyways, I believe IB will give the opportunity to learn more about all aspects of business, finance and economics and being a client facing role where I will be able to advice companies is basically best of both worlds for me.

Obviously the exit opportunities are amazing coming out of the banking and the money is there, but for me personally learning more about the market / given sector and dive deeper into the companies, and understand their core business on a daily basis would be fascinating and something that would not get bored by.

Hours and work don't scare me and I know that I will be able to excel as Investor Banker.

 
datguy345:

why not try to move up a few rungs in consulting. get mba and then go ibd

Like I said above it is an option for me, however I believe that working on the job is much more important, and getting into IB earlier would be more beneficial. At worst case scenario I am planning on working / moving up / saving up some $$ and getting an MBA in Finance of 2017.

 

To be honest, if your goal is to earn money so you can support charities in your country there are easier ways to earn money than going into finance. You might be better off starting your own company, growing it, and selling it.

 

I think at this point you want to get an internship or a job at the best firm possible. If a boutique bank hires you, then great, that's a start. Just to clarify--what role are you looking to get into? Do you want to go into IB, PE, trading, risk, quant, etc.? I may be able to advise on the trader and quant roles. I don't know anything about IB or PE. Do a search on WSO. I think people in your same situation have asked this question many times before.

 

I'd second what was said above. Get some kind of finance internship. Join finance groups at UT. Start networking and interview prep now. Get your story down. I'd probably beef up your why finance and why banking story.

 

Thanks guys -- appreciate the replies. There's a practicum as part of the MSF program, so that's sort of an interwoven internship. Final question though, how concern should I be over advanced technical questions in interviews, seeing as I have no prior official academic experience in Finance. I've already taught myself the basics of accounting and valuation, but an advanced question would be beyond me atm.

Cheers!

 

Agreed - it's highly unlikely you will be seriously considered for IB analyst positions. Consulting is probably more realistic if you have a high GPA. If your mind is dead-set on finance, applying for MSF programs will give you the chance to go for SA programs after you graduate, and another shot at FT IB analyst recruiting.

You should start networking now also.

 

You cannot apply to SA positions for the summer of your senior year unless you are planning to graduate a semester later (a possibility you could consider). Also, I strong disagree with @7xEBITDA on his previous comment that you will unlikely to be seriously considered. even BBs won't care about past internships that much because they will teach you everything over again. Your story and branding is what's much more important.

 

Interesting - your experience has definitely been different than mine. Recent grad from East Coast target - in FT recruiting, I didn't know of anybody who didn't have some sort of previous IBD/Consulting/F500 experience who got an interview for a full-time analyst position.

In fact, most people without finance experience didn't even get SA interviews for junior summer (unless they networked). The vast majority of people I interviewed with for junior SA (probably around 80%) held finance internships their sophomore summer (BO at BB / Investment team at HF / Boutique IBD / corporate finance). For IBD that number was pretty much 100% (at least at my school).

 

Thanks to those who've already commented and fortunately I've already started networking.

To clarify, I am currently working as a Business Analyst in the Sales Division of my company. While not directly in Finance, my job requires me to create a variety of models analyzing/predicting the performance of the sales force. To me at least, there is somewhat of an overlap between this and IB. While it most certainly does not supplement direct experience in a finance related role, I believe it does at least provide a platform from which to launch a finance career in addition to my coursework.

Any thoughts on this would also be appreciated.

 

I have a family member with history degree from top ivy school working in IB. He did internships throughout college though. I would say talk to alumni and get an unpaid internship first so you have something to put on your app to LSE. After LSE you can easily get in through OCR.

 

I'm in a similar situation (target, no finance work experience but a lot of research/other work experience) and would also love to know what people think. Are things different in ER and consulting? I'm interested in those two fields in addition to S&T (and possibly M&A).

 

Your only chance is to network (at best). Think about it this way - they already have a huge pool of applicants similar to yourself w/ plenty of work experience and just as hungry, so why take a chance on someone with no value-add?

Calm down.
 

Not unrealistic, but improbable. He must have networked his nuts off / had some intense leadership positions such as captain of a team / had relevant extracurricular activities / luck.

- Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered. - The harder you work, the luckier you become. - I believe in the "Golden Rule": the man with the gold rules.
 

Cmon, not that improbable. All he needed was a decent resume, know a VP/MD to get an interview, and interview well. I had no IB experience and managed to land a job at a PE shop out of college by having a good GPA, EC's, a sport, another internship (not banking), knowing people and interviewing well.

It's not what you know, its who you know.

 

^It's very realistic. If you know someone who's important at the bank, so long as you're not a complete screw up (your gpa is below 3.0 and/or you went to a school no one has heard of), you've got a chance. Particularly at smaller banks where power is less spread out and there's a few top guys who can do WHATEVER they want.

 

I go to a non-target and I had practically no experience. One part-time summer internship that was unrelated to finance between freshman and sophomore year. 8 weeks, 20hrs/week max. I basically went on vacation every summer while my friends busted their asses at internships. I did other things, of course, but only stuff that was really interesting to me. If I had posted my resume on here, everyone would have said I should look for a job in BO.

Instead, I got a FO role at one of the top 25 AM firms. I got quite a few FO interviews at other places through networking, but I had no connections for this particular job and did no networking. It's located across the country and all I had to do was submit my resume online and go through the interview process after they contacted me. It also happened to be my top choice.

I basically did everything wrong and ended up with an amazing job. I wouldn't recommend my path to anybody though. I very well could have ended up in BO if I didn't get lucky. All my story shows is how stupid and random the whole job search process is.

 

Freshman internships are not all that important. From what I understand they are not the norm, although they help in securing the sophomore internship, which in turn could heavily influence your junior internship.

"The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer."
 

Your sophomore internship just has to be related to finance if you want to get an SA position for junior year. Lots of juniors who got SA roles have had random finance internships during their sophomore year. The soph. year finance internship just shows that you're passionate about finance and that you're competent. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "solid", but just know that you need to be exposed to the financial industry. Keep in mind though that you'd still have to network and not just rely on your experiences, no matter how good of an internship you end up getting.

In order to get your soph. internship, you don't necessarily have to have finance internships in your freshman year. It might've helped you get a really good soph. internship if you did, but it really isn't necessary. You do however need some sort of work experience on your resume in order to show that you're not lazy and that you're capable of being a competent worker and following directions. This in turn will help you get a soph internship. Again, remember to network though.

 

thanks. so if i get an internship while i study abroad, and maybe get a "really good" soph summer internship that would put me in good standing? will the research experience (i am also writing a literature review on the ACA, fwiw) and the study abroad internship be good enough? i am not quite sure what firms i should be targeting to network at since i am at a non-target (but still top 5 finance school in the us) school and have a high gpa? Meanwhile, what should I be doing to build my resume during the summer (self teaching, reading up on finance, etc)?

 

Relax. Sophomores are not expected to have finance work experience. The finance ECs will communicate your interest in finance. nst is right in that PWM positions are much easier to come by for a sophomore internship. That will give you some relevant experience to make you more marketable for S&T after your junior year.

You can put the language you're learning in the Interests section of your resume at the bottom. I don't know that you get any credit for putting something like Beginning Mandarin there, but it might be a point of interest that someone wants to talk to you about.

Investment Bank Cover Letter Example - http://bit.ly/lOjRK

Here's a link to the top advice on Gotta Mentor related to getting a job on Wall Street. (registration required, but it's free) The Best Advice for Investment Banking Job Seekers - http://bit.ly/KFHgw

Gotta Mentor www.GottaMentor.com Connect to the Advice & People You Need to Achieve Your Career Goals

Gotta Mentor Connect to the Advice & People You Need to Achieve Your Career Goals
 

Thanks for all the help. Whether people are lying or just really knew what they wanted to do, it seemed like everyone on here already has finance work experience starting after Freshman year. I have made some adjustments to my resume and will post it online for public criticism when I get the chance.

 
afroman99:

No one?

Have you tried using the search function? Or google? If you want everything handed to you, you won't get an internship in this industry.

Anyway, I have had a great day so far, so I'll help you a little bit.

Firstly, you say your name, school, year and where you have worked. You let the person respond (will probably ask what you want). At this point, you can just say why you really want to do an internship at XYZ with the XYZ department (have REALLY good reasons) and it's your passion to work in this department because of XYZ. If they are saying we are not hiring, etc. just ask them if they are in charge (they are usually not) and talk with that person. Just keep pushing until you get a definite no from the person who is in charge of hiring. Once you get that no, go on to the next company.

Secondly, look for off-cycle internships in your area as well as online. They are super competitive, but possible to get if you are in a less populated area.

Thirdly, have you contacted ALL the alumni in your area of interests as yet? If not, do it today!

 

Sorry, I didn't mean for things to be handed to me. I have searched google and WSO and found some answers, but I wanted a more specific answer. In other words, I had seen cold-call/email formats, but they usually had previous experience or a target school in the statement. I wanted to know how to give a firm a reason to hire some random kid with no experience.

Thanks for the response though, I suppose that is all I really can do. I'll start getting in touch with as many finance firms as possible.

Prospective Banker. Gentleman. Bodybuilder.
 

If you would have looked at the templates properly, then you would know that the school and experience(s) are only part of the first sentence in which you say your name, etc. The second sentence includes things such as I want to do IB in department XYZ because of ABC Look at the templates again. Change them so they fit your situation and personalize them.

 

Yeah that's the template I was using.

My question was really about the experience part; since the OCR for IB at my school isn't good at all, I was wondering how I could go about cold-calling/emailing banks if I didn't have anything going for me, other than a fairly high GPA and extra-curriculars.

Unpaid would probably be my best bet at this point (for a school-year internship at least), and once I hopefully get experience, I can start getting paid internships.

Thanks for taking the time to help me out though, I really appreciate it.

Prospective Banker. Gentleman. Bodybuilder.
 

Keep networking. Also try to set something up for the fall and hopefully you'll be able to get some new points on your resume for ft recruitment.

I had a somewhat similar situation and the fall internship helped a lot.

 

It's all about networking! You basically need to spin your experience from your private wealth management to show what qualitative or quantitative transferable skills you developed that could be applied to banking; not just the job specific tasks you performed. Work hard and make your own luck.

 

Yes, you should absolutely, unless it is completely unrelated to business, finance, accounting, management, sales, etc. I think you should always ave at least one internship or PT position on your resume, to at least show that you've worked, and that you're capable of functioning in a professional environment.

Basically, it depends on what you mean by relevant. Most business-related positions are at least, very marginally relevant - so list them. Without an example of what you mean by not relevant, it's impossible to say whether you should include at least one position on your resume. It also depends on the other aspects of your resume - if you've got a lot of leadership/ECs/club involvement, etc, you may be able to get away with it, as opposed to having very minimal ECs and projects.

IBanker www.BankonBanking.com Articles, News, Advice and More Break Into Investment Banking

 

Your best option I think would be probably boituqes. Which isn't a bad thing at all. If you excel in an internship at a boutique your junior year summer, you can defintely levearge that for a bulge bracket offer when the time for that comes.

It'll defintely show you insight into how you can change up a resume that looks like a joke into something much more solid. The first/original resume looks like a joke for a potential IB candidate, he cleans it up nicely though emphasizing the right things.

AgainstAllOdds
 

You should definitely aim for spring/fall internships (in addition to summer internships), whether paid or not. It'll give you something to put on your resume, build your list of contacts, and give you a "starter" inside look at the finance industry

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 
SirTradesaLot:
To point out the obvious, everyone in IB had no experience in IB at some point in their career.
Thanks for your reply. But is that still possible to get an internship even being out of school for 1.5 years?
 

My advice,

Make sure your story is rock solid on why you want to do investment banking, have a minor in finance/accounting and get a high GPA (3.7 and higher).

Please visit mergers and inquisitions on how you can make the switch from a non-traditional background.

 

Middlebury is a very good school, with a very good economics program. Have you ever considered double majoring in History and Economics? I think that would increase your chances, at a relatively low cost (at most, you'd have to stay an extra year).

 

I have considered the Econ track, but it's just really not my passion. The Econ program is well known, but it's nothing special. I've taken three classes in it already, and I really can't stand it. I'd consider taking the investing class they offer (Economics of Investing), but from what I understand of Analyst level IB, one really doesn't need an Econ background so much as an accounting background, which my school doesn't offer. I'd consider doing the Econ minor, or possibly even the International Studies major focusing on Economics, but I'm not sure if either of those would help. Thoughts?

 
middlebury14:
I have considered the Econ track, but it's just really not my passion. The Econ program is well known, but it's nothing special. I've taken three classes in it already, and I really can't stand it. I'd consider taking the investing class they offer (Economics of Investing), but from what I understand of Analyst level IB, one really doesn't need an Econ background so much as an accounting background, which my school doesn't offer. I'd consider doing the Econ minor, or possibly even the International Studies major focusing on Economics, but I'm not sure if either of those would help. Thoughts?

Fair enough. I pursued economics mainly because I was passionate about it, so if you hate it, then there's really no point. If I was in your shoes, I would self-study finance and accounting, but that's just me.

 

Dude, undergrad econ doesn't get interesting until you hit Upper-Div Macroeconomics. That course is ESSENTIAL if you want to understand the important stuff on WSJ. I would suggest taking that course ASAP so you can build up knowledge weekly through the WSJ. Baisc accounting courses are the same anywhere you take them. Go take them at a JC if you want it that badly.

 
humble_chinese:
Dude, undergrad econ doesn't get interesting until you hit Upper-Div Macroeconomics. That course is ESSENTIAL if you want to understand the important stuff on WSJ. I would suggest taking that course ASAP so you can build up knowledge weekly through the WSJ. Baisc accounting courses are the same anywhere you take them. Go take them at a JC if you want it that badly.

I hate to burst bubbles, but what they teach in undergrad macroeconomics is highly contested (many would even call it rubbish). I don't know why there is such a divide between what many macroeconomists believe/study, and what they teach undergrads in their macroeconomics courses.

 

I have several friends that graduated from Middlebury and there is a large presence on wallstreet given the size of the school. Alumni help out a lot, so make sure to network. There should be no problem majoring in history, but you should also minor in economics atleast - keep your grades up, and understand that LSE is a full year program, so you may be at a disadvantage to get a summer analyst position for the summer after your junior year.

 

Most of my friends had no relevant internship experience before getting SA gigs or other internships in finance or trading. Some of us (including myself) got FT offers without even having internships at all, ever (I wouldn't recommend that obviously). If you go to a good school, have good grades, have been doing something with your life, and can network okay, you should be fine.

 

How is it that different from any other competitive industry or academic institution?

Jack: They’re all former investment bankers who were laid off from that economic crisis that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have zero real world skills, but God they work hard. -30 Rock
 

Sucks that a non target kid could have like 3 solid finance internships and not even have his resume looked at while a target kid gets 10 interviews just because of the name of his school. Such is life. --->

I know admissions isn't always fair and financial aid is always an issue but generally target/non target = proxy for 4 years of high school accomplishment and grades, which should definitely trump 6-8 months of data entry

 

Did recruiting for summer analyst already pass for you? If it hasn't, then consider this route instead of the private equity internship. If it has, then start pounding pavement, and get intimate with your alumni network.

"There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat."
 

See if you like finance at the PE firm and then re-evaluate going into your senior year. Unsure why you committed to the PE firm this year and didn't try to get a BB internship. Unsure what the ^ post is talking about- boutiques and MMs hire from summer analyst classes as well. All this having been said, as a 3.8 student from Duke with a summer in PE you will at least be competitive for full time recruiting, and despite it being tougher, there are definitely spots at all the BBs to be filled.

 

Thanks for the responses thus far - much appreciated. The reason I am doing the PE job instead of trying to get a BB internship is because I am an athlete at Duke and need to be in the area for the summer due to our summer practice schedule, which rules out BB internships.

 

Why do you have to wait until graduation? Go through on-campus recruiting next fall. You will get full-time consideration at the BB level if you intern in private equity. It shouldn't hinder you at all. Make sure to network with bankers during the summer...I'm sure your fund will know plenty.

 

From my experience, I broke into IB via a regional boutique.

During the beginning of my sophmore year, here is what I had:

Near perfect GPA No extracurricular No network

So for me, I knew I had to build a network and increase my extracurricular to boost my skillset.

Luckily for me, I had joined a finance club on campus and became one of their execs on the external portfolio (get to talk to people about sponsorships). This first of all got me surrounded with students with similar objectives. We all wanted banking, trading, private equity. We helped each other out by providing each other with reading materials that will help you break into the industry. Another good thing was that the club had a fairly lengthy history so we had a nice accumulation of reading materials from as far back as 20 years ago. This helped me at least to know a bit about the industry and what skill set is needed to break in.

In addition, my campus had a portfolio management program designed to give finance students an opportunity to manage a large portfolio.The recruitment process for the portfolio management program involved writing an analyst report on a stock and building financial models. This gave me an edge during the interviews as I had some good stories to tell during my recruitment. I didn't get the gig at the portfolio management but got a gig at the investment bank.

So long story short, do some extra curricular, but make sure they're related to your field.

Hope that helps

 

You have no experience coming out of high school? Dude you're so fucked.

When a plumber from Hoboken tells you he has a good feeling about a reverse iron condor spread on the Japanese Yen, you really have no choice. If you don’t do it to him, somebody else surely will. -Eddie B.
 

I'm a huge fan of the law of large numbers, cause recruiting can be erratic. use that to your advantage and send out as many applications as you can. also, try to call a few places and get your name out there. Get involved in extracurriculars so that you have something interesting to talk about.

Landing a first internship is always a pain but everbody went through this, and it is usually a combination of lots and lots of applications, some networking, great gpa and interesting extracurriculars (doesn't even have to be leadership positions at this point) that gives you the edge for at leas one nice position for the summer. Rather a game of perseverance than of skill... At least thats what i can say ;)

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, your’re right. - Henry Ford
 

I hate to be that guy, but without prior banking experience, getting a FT offer at a BB or top MM is going to be extremely tough. BBs usually fill their one or two open spots with their accelerated superdays, which are made up of candidates from other BBs, EBs, or top MM firms. The simple fact that you have no IB experience makes you an extremely high-risk candidate.

I certainly wish you the best of luck, but am trying to put things in perspective. Keep an open mind and look at some local boutiques as well.

 

That makes sense, however it is frustrating however that some of my peers who have done IB internships at boutiques have done nothing related to valuation/modeling etc. I.e powerpoints and coffee

@"Sil" What are some steps I can take to reduce my risk? Take a Training the Street course? I ask because at the BB's i got dinged at, the alumni have told me to keep in touch for FT so I feel like I have some strong relationships to work with

 
Sil:

I hate to be that guy, but without prior banking experience, getting a FT offer at a BB or top MM is going to be extremely tough. BBs usually fill their one or two open spots with their accelerated superdays, which are made up of candidates from other BBs, EBs, or top MM firms. The simple fact that you have no IB experience makes you an extremely high-risk candidate.

I certainly wish you the best of luck, but am trying to put things in perspective. Keep an open mind and look at some local boutiques as well.

You aren't really that guy... just realistic.

To the OP:

Honestly, there is a trend of increasing competition for analyst roles. You'd be going against solid second tier analysts, top MM analysts with experience, the actual analyst programs, etc. The natural choice if you were in the hiring position is to pick the guy that can hit the ground running.

It comes down to them taking you or someone with existing experience, or even a new analyst from their program so he will already have structured training, and a prorated bonus on top of that.

Yeah its messed up. You're probably a good and hard (this is your chance for a thats what she said) worker. The competition now is just outrageous. We see higher trends of antidepressants and you wonder why.

Not saying this can't be done, but its highly unlikely to say the least. They almost always need the experience and want laterals unless its a program. If anything, don't start at a BB. You don't always just get into the olympics. You eventually get invited. Down the road, the sacrifice of a few years won't make a difference. If you're smart enough and good at what you do, you will find a way.

 

You won't start out as an analyst, you will start as associate and gain experience from there. Having a top 10 MBA should be good enough to get you in the door, then hopefully one day you'll be able to pick up your own coverage.

Don't take the CFA exams if you're already attending a top MBA program. Just take full advantage of all networking opportunities at school and go through the normal recruiting steps.

Big 4 audit experience? What...

Under my tutelage, you will grow from boys to men. From men into gladiators. And from gladiators into SWANSONS.
 

There is a great/extensive network of armed forces individuals on the street. Your best bet would be to leverage any connections you can make through that and whichever b-school you attend.

Try to find an internship once you separate and are in the process of finding a b-school also.

[quote=patternfinder]Of course, I would just buy in scales. [/quote] See my WSO Blog | my AMA
 

Post a new thread with this or a similar title "Military -> MBA -> ER" and you'll grab the attention of all the military guys. The military network is extremely powerful. You did your duty, now open yourself to the benefits: you've earned it.

Get busy living
 
UFOinsider:
Post a new thread with this or a similar title "Military -> MBA -> ER" and you'll grab the attention of all the military guys. The military network is extremely powerful. You did your duty, now open yourself to the benefits: you've earned it.

^^^^ Absolutely.

[quote=patternfinder]Of course, I would just buy in scales. [/quote] See my WSO Blog | my AMA
 

Only "common" if you did accounting specifically in the industry that your covering in ER and have a CA/CPA. Otherwise, no one cares.

CFA is generally expected once you start but if you can manage a few levels before you interview (without sacrificing networking, grades, etc) its worth it. I've hired people over others solely based on the fact that they have a level or 2 of the CFA exams done (no one wants to teach you basic finance/accounting).

 
Donkishot:
All I know is CFA is waste of ur time if u don't have any experience. First try to work on ur networking and internship...

This couldn't be farther from the truth. Military aside, even with a top 10 MBA you will likely need to take the CFA exams at some point. The days of ER promotions to a Senior Analyst without one are pretty much over. You will certainly be competing with applicants who have both, even for junior level positions. It is not a bad idea to get level 1 out of the way like many people (try) do while still in their undergrad. The same principles will apply - - It will show that you have an interest specifically in finance and, given the level of difficulty, it will show a certainly level of competency.

Most ER shops I've come across do not look at applicants who are not at least signed up for level 1. There are just too many who are CFAs or are pretty close. And many have an MBA.

 

Go to a Top 10 B school and network, don't worry about internships after separation or anything like that.

If you're an academy grad and/were in a combat position, you'll have no problems with finding a position during your MBA.

enjoy your free time after separation and enjoy the breather because B-school will be an adjustment and then it's off to work again.

 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 
Banker88:
Any opportunity you'll find will have to be through a connection anyway. We can't help you.

The forum is one way to network when you cant meet relevant people in the field

Unfortunately, I don't have anything available either, sorry.

 

I heard DB is looking for most groups...also, I heard BAML may be looking as well (contact there told me to give him my resume so he could forward it as groups were considering hiring)...Jefferies m&a just got done hiring a few people but may still be looking...nothing happening at goldman

 

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