Banker getting dinged from consulting interviews
Going on 4 years of IB at a BB in NY (Barc, BofA, Citi tier). Decided I wanted more strategic exposure so applied to MBB and a bunch of tiers 2 (OW, Kearney etc). Had my resume looked at by a bunch of consultant and they all told me it was great. Strong undergrad, good deal experience. Dinged everywhere w/ no interviews... Everyone told me I was a lock for interviews so to just focus on casing and fit so I neglected the networking which was my mistake (I did network with a few folk from each firm but didn't ask for referrals etc). I can always try again later so it's not a big deal but I was under the impression they respected bankers - at least that's what all the people I networked with told me. Guess the ladies in HR definitely don't... This would have been for an experienced hire role... But yeah definitely interesting I couldn't even get an interview with IB on my CV. Is this due to the market? Any advice for the next time I apply? FYI I am non-diversity.
Those who said banking gives you unlimited exit opps lied. Outside of finance that's not the case. A lot of people don't think we have the skillset to transition to strategy, ops, industry etc. Maybe in a better economy you can.
Sadly facts. Complete facade that IB opens doors… utter BS
It should though... The people in banking work way harder and are usually smarter than in other industries but recruiters are too dense to see that... Give a serious ex banker 6 months and he'll ramp up and outperform other employees in a lot of cases. They'd rather plug in some random guy from Deloitte because he has xp. Very very short sighted.
At the junior level raw talent should trump a few years of xp.
I wonder if that’s the full story. I feel like it’s more about risk aversion. ‘Why would someone in IB willingly downgrade themselves in meaningful salary for another industry? It must be that this guy is getting fired or doesn’t want to grind anymore or some other issue. Or maybe he’s not serious about this role…’
This is a good take to be honest. A lot of people are puzzled why I am even trying to make this switch which is annoying. But I suppose at least giving me a chance to explain it in a r1 interview wouldn't kill them. If they don't find the story compelling they can ding me then...
"FYI I am non-diversity." Ding.
Depends on the role you were applying for. If it was an experienced level where they expected you to plug in right away and lead juniors then they probably thought it would be lower risk to just bring in a lateral hire who’s done the same thing elsewhere.
Saying that I do think banking experience is looked on favourably (eg modelling, sector specialism if you’re in IG) so as other contributors have said might just be a function of the market. If you’re set on getting broader experience you could try the internal strategy/CorpDev team at your bank. Usually a mix of ex consultants and bankers and you can play your existing firm knowledge
I don’t see exit options getting better till like 2027 once companies pick back up in hiring and interest rates get lower then we can maybe talk about it but for now it’s not gonna look great
With AI it could never go back to what it once was.
AI isn’t even gonna take the industry over. It’s might cut a few jobs but still it’s not like private equity firms even higher that many associates or tech companies hire a lot of business people. Plus we’re in 2025 yet not as many jobs are being taken over as they once said were.
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