Recent graduate interning at a Big 4 in Audit - how can I move to IB?

Thanks for the advice. Thinking about getting the WSO Interview Prep since it'll help with networking, but haven't decided since it seems more for those targeting SA positions or students in general.

I'm definitely going to make time regardless of the hours I'm currently working. I'll do working a lot more in IB so it'll just be practice for me.

I went to FIU and the internship is in the Miami office. I'm going to reach out to the TS employees in New York to see if there's any possibilities for me to do something this summer. If I get something in New York, this would allow me to network better with IB employees and can meet for coffee if all goes well. One step at a time though. Thanks for the suggestion.

If I said No would that stop you from trying? Valuation work for 2 summers in a row is great experience, and better than what I had. It is possible, but maybe BB or EB options are not on the table. Apply to a broad range of banks when the time comes and see where that gets you. Did you try and get an IBD internship for the 2018 summer and couldn't, hence why you are returning to Big4? Not judgemental, just trying to understand where you're coming from.

spending two summers at big 4 valuation puts you in a really good position. It would be a lot harder if you were talking about spending your junior summer doing big 4, but you definitely have a shot at interviewing at top BBs or EBs. A lot of candidates spend their sophomore summer at a small no-name investment bank and end up at EBs and BBs. I would argue that big 4 valuation is better than a no-name place. Just know that you should start thinking about having a reason to transition to IB instead of staying in valuation (i'm sure you have already).

And networking is largely going to determine what interviews you get, especially since you're a non-target. But there are very few kids from non-targets or even targets who have such strong internship experience their freshman and sophomore year, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

While I'm in ER, given my Big4 origins, I might have some insight. Make what you will of it.

1. You're a working man now, experience goes up top.

2. Too much wasted space under the educational heading as it is. You could do something like: B.S. in Political Science; Major GPA, 3.7x; Deans' List (Fall 2014, Spring 2015) all in one line. Or something to that effect, regardless, cut down on the space usage

3. While some people like seeing what coursework you took, my personal opinion is that it's not all that relevant now that you're working. Regardless, condense it somehow.

4. For the experience section, the biggest problem is the weird typo at the end of the last bullet for the big4 section (where it just cuts off at 'and') - if you think i'm being a dick, you'd be shocked at some of the BS reasons that have caused resumes to go into the trash. Given that you're not from Harvard or something, you'll be held to a much higher scrutiny regardless of how unfair that is.

5. Second (but not by a lot) is that nothing in those bullets tells me anything useful. It says what you do (auditing), but they're looking to hire a banker, not an auditor. You'll need to focus on results, so something to the effect of: Supported lead partner in auditing a F500 company and uncovered xyz problem which increased firm billables by $xx. Or something like: Managed a team of xx associates across xx engagements, while increasing internal efficiency by xx%, saving the firm $xx. Now a problem with this is you're still pretty green and if you go too far, nobody will believe you. But at bottom, you need to demonstrate to whichever bank it is you are applying to that you can either (1) make them money or (2) save them money.

5b. As a corollary to this, you could organize it as such;

Big4 -----dublin staff------March 16-present - two to three bullet points on 'what' you do (so similar to what you have now) -Selected Project Experience - [ descriptive name of project (i.e. Supported lead partner in business development efforts] 2-3 sub bullet points describing what you did and trying to quantify the benefit to the firm (i.e. new clients, more money, less costs, etc) - rinse and repeat for two to three subheadings of project experience with 2-3 sub bullet points for each demonstrating the 'VALUE' you can add to the firm [emphasis added].

6. For both the Intern bit and Research bit, I'd pare down the amount of stuff you have there. I acknowledge that you haven't been at Big4 long, but you need your hypothetical future employer to focus on that as it appears to be the most relevant (not sure what exactly you were doing for the other stuff). But I'd try to keep it more succinct, limit each to 2 bullet points at most given that you want them to focus on your more relevant experience.

7. The club activities and stuff is fine if you have room left over, if my recommendations from 5b take up too much room, ax these.

8. I'd probably be a bit more specific with your Other Skills. Specifically, you need to include something about financial modelling (if you don't know it, learn it. or you'll have a snowball's chance in hell). Likewise, I don't see the value of knowing Aura in the context of investment banking. You're applying to be an IBD analyst, not another auditor gig. Leave it if you like, but I think it's worthless. If you can familiarize yourself with Factset, Bloomberg, Eikon, SNL Financial, etc, you'll appear incrementally more valuable. To that end, you'd need to have a friend who has access to these and can show you the ropes.

Memo: Lotus Notes? I know which big4 you work out now. Outlook is so much better isn't it?

Regardless, best of luck and as always, respond or PM if you have any questions. Cheers!

Hey, I'm from Dublin, currently studying in uni aiming for IBD next summer. I have been networking extensively with UCD/Trinity Guys in IBD in LDN and I know of at least 5 guys who have made the transition from big 4 to London IBD. It's not ideal but certainly attainable. However I would see if it's possible to try and transfer to the CF team, which can surprisingly be quite competitive. As well as this there are actually some pretty solid shops in Dublin which you could try that would give you the opportunity to move over to LDN IB at a later stage. Guggenheim have FO IBD credit team here. KKR have two debt funds Avoca & Activate. Cardinal Capital is a PE fund that is a JV with Carlyle. Broad haven-(Sankaty Advisers) is a Bain Capital Fund. Investec/Davy are also decent spots. BTW the CV template is horrid. Feel free to pm me and I'll send you on mine.

You should be reaching out to anyone you know at a bank right now for informational interviews and getting your story down pat. Once you got that together, update your resume and get those technicals together. You should be able to at least get an offer from a boutique.

I've seen success stories on here about big 4 sa --> ib ft, a search may bring them out but I don't know what they're named (hopefully logically named and easy to find). Short answer is it can't hurt you (esp. Given your current situation) but obviously an ib internship of some sort would be better