GS/JPM/MS Summer IBD to MBB chances?

Will be doing a GS/JPM/MS IBD SA next year but am still keeping my career options open and considering management consulting at MBB for FT if possible. Any thoughts or advice on this and how difficult it may be to make the switch for FT if I don't enjoy the internship as much as expected?

8 Comments
 

Can confirm that it’s 100% doable. On average you should stand a better chance, though obviously MBB is very competitive. Just prepare a good story for why consulting>IBD and start to prep for case studies. MBB tends to care a bit more about grades from my experience (UK), so keep that in mind.

On a side note, I think you may underestimate how much your mentality will change once you start the SA role and become obsessed with getting an offer.

 
Best Response

I was in the same situation and started networking with MBB representatives even before my IBD SA started to ask for suggestions on how to make the switch. But once the summer starts you become close friends with the other interns/analysts and really excited about the prospect of getting a FT offer. It would take a lot for you to detach yourself from it all and spend 100 hours preparing for MBB interviews—when you instead could relax and enjoy senior year with a “dream job” in your pocket.

But sure, it’s always possible that you’ll hate the job/firm/people, in which case, yes, you have a good shot at switching to MBB.

 

This is right on the money.

Definitely put in some legwork with networking and cases before th summer. You don’t need to be a casing wiz but get the general idea down so that you don’t have to spend your saturdays on cases while you’re putting 80 hours in the office. About 5 weeks into my IB internship i knew I wanted to switch, at which point I reached out to my networking contacts and went full spread ahead with consulting (I didn’t put the case prep time in ahead of time).

 

You'll get the interview.

There's a "right" answer in terms of "why" you are attempting the switch.

When you do cases, it's then up to you, though there will be a few biases: they will expect you to be very fluent with what goes into an income statement, with M&A being one of the ways of growing a business, and in general comfortable with numbers. They will also not be surprised if you're quite good at analyzing a problem, but struggle a bit more with creative recommendations.

But overall you'll be in a good position to get an interview.

The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
 

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