Career switch from ER with MBA in London

Hi thanks for checking my questions. I have been working for almost 3 years now and I am seriously thinking about a way forward and I know it is unlikely to be on the sell side. I am working in ER at a BB in London but has always been interested in IB and want to find a way to break into that. 

I’m considering taking on a MBA but not sure if it will work out. Here are my thoughts: 

1) it is a wise decision with current economic climate (although by the time I intern it would be 2022) considering headcounts 

2) IBs in London seem to be cutting MBA associate hires, is it very hard to get in with a MBA from local schools?

3) How do MBA candidates with ER background compare to other MBA candidates from previous Corp Fin/ consulting background?

Really appreciate any advice on this!

10 Comments
 
Pan European Monkey

just some food for thouhgt - are you at a BB? if so why don't you try to transfer internally? Happens frequently or at least I've seen it happen.

I am definitely trying that way as well. But the problem is the sector I cover seems to be quite stable on the IB side as I haven’t seen they had any openings in the last 18 months.

 

Well from my experience I’ve seen quite a lot of people move within the bank. When it comes to recruiting you just need to find a recruiter that believes in you and can put you in-front of the right people then from there it’s on you to demonstrate the passion and technical ability needed for IB.

As for the MBA, you can try to get into a 1-year MBA like Oxford and then pivot from there.

 

Thank you for your reply! I’m currently trying to recruit externally as internally there was hiring freeze for almost all front office positions. Hopefully the market can get better in the new year.

I am actually also interested in corporate development and currently considering LBS MBA. The only problem is the high cost to do it. From your experience do you think if it’s worth it?

 

LBS is worth it. It’s one of the best business school in the world!

I’ve had friends who had gone to LBS and were able to pivot in their desired careers.

 

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