Recently, I have been seeing a number of posts on undergrads starting out with back office type jobs and seeing what you can do to advance yourself to the client facing side of the business. What follows below is strictly for those who have been able to score only BO/MO roles at BBs who eventually want to be in FO positions.
Having worked five years at a BB in a BO/MO role, I have seen several ways that people break into front office roles. Networking within the unit that you support. It is quite possible to break into a front office role of the unit that you are directly supporting. There have been people that I have seen break through to work on the business side after working in the BO. Although this is rare, it is possible, it requires being a top support analyst who has a good relationship with the desk, is usually able to break in after spending at least two years in the support role. Most people with this approach will most likely fail during any interview process, but I have seen enough successful cases to say that with the proper preparation, it is possible.
The one caveat to this, is that the role you move up to will be something that directly relates to the department you came from. The most common case that I have seen is that support analysts that take care of trade flow, would be able to score a position on the trading desk as a junior trader that is responsible for booking the trades in the internal systems (as they already know them very well). These people usually have a chance of learning to trade and have that be part of their role as they progress.
For those that want more analytical roles, as I have heard from talking to industry professionals, the Business School route is the way to go. If you are able to get into a top 10 Business School, the options upon graduation are endless if you are prepared to let your next employer know why you are the best option as a new hire. Although, as I am in the first stages of this route, I do not have any success stories that I can relate to here, but going to a top B-School I feel very confident that I will be a capable interviewer for the firms that I want to work for when time comes.
I know that coming out of a state school in the Midwest that a BO role in a satellite BB office is often the best choice you have. Do not be afraid to take it if you are willing to research and develop a plan that will catapult you forward to where you want to be. Learn all that you can, work hard so that you have good references that can help you in a B-School application or an app for the next job, but make sure that you have your final goal in mind at all times and just do everything you can to get closer to it.
