Analyst. The only associate hiring that gets done without an MBA is lateral IB analysts with 2 or 3 years experience.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

Analyst role unless fairly recognizable PE/HF/ prior Ib experience... Or you get incredibly lucky with a senior guy pulling a LOT of strings.

Masters in finance and tier 3+ (research, real M&A at real large company with transaction) would maybe get you there. Corporate banking doesn't have transactional experience so based on desc. above generally would not interview for associate IB.

 
Best Response
WallStreetPlayboys:
Analyst role unless fairly recognizable PE/HF/ prior Ib experience... Or you get incredibly lucky with a senior guy pulling a LOT of strings.

Masters in finance and tier 3+ (research, real M&A at real large company with transaction) would maybe get you there. Corporate banking doesn't have transactional experience so based on desc. above generally would not interview for associate IB.

What about OPS to IBD? Impossible? Do you know anybody who has ever made this transition?

P.S. - I know ops is highly frowned upon especially on this forum and is very disregarded as a "finance" position in the industry, but i'm just curious.

 

OPS to IBD straight is damn near impossible (always exceptions so people don't attempt to troll this comment)

But basically you want to "tier up". Mentioned before but already published a "map" on how to jump around.

Personally know 2 people who got in through back office roles, will ask the other writers some time in the future.

  1. Back office (1yr)--> Asset Management (1 year) --> small research shop met through Asset management job --> shop got bought out by large bank --> now was in a solid research platform --> drops to lower level IBD associate (niche role hard path)

  2. Corp banking (1 yr) --> friend of friend finds him a small Investor relations gig --> lucks out his boss got fired and so he gets a semi promote --> company is taken out by large name brand public company --> spins resume to say he knows about the "M&A process" which he did --> IBD associate sector specific.

The longer you are not in a tier 3+ the thicker that wall becomes to crack so keep jumping towards the tier you want. Will try to find some other exceptions but just remember this, not just for wall St. but life in general...

"Time is not your friend"

 

I think the headhunter is a little off base. First, I think it's unlikely you'll be able to come in as an associate. Even if you'd started as an IB analyst, it would typically take three years to become an associate. While you do have an MA in Econ/Finance, it's not an MBA and you only have two years of non-IB work experience. Second, his point about the skillset isn't really valid. As an associate, you'd still gain most of the same skills as you would an analyst. The only ones you miss out on are the most mundane tasks that aren't really important for your career.

My point is that while there is no benefit to aiming low, it may be difficult to make an argument that you should be an associate. I would angle to come in as a 2nd or 3rd year analyst (I did something similar and know others who did as well). Also, with off-cycle recruiting, the timing can work out in your favor, since they like to keep all analysts on the same schedule. For example, if you started in the spring, they might have you technically come in as a first year, but you would become a second year in June with those who started the previous summer.

 

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