Medical Student Trying to Break into IB - Have Meeting with a Managing Director at an Elite Boutique
Hello all,Background:I am currently a medical student on a research year post M2, but have come to the conclusion that I will not be completing this degree and plan to go into finance.My undergraduate degree was from an SEC state school which is obviously a non target with a 3.8 GPA in Biology. MCAT - 511 (85th percentile) and Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (subsection of the MCAT) - 129 (94th percentile) not sure if this is relevant. I'm Indian (Asian) M 24.Meeting and Advise:I was advised to cold email alumni and others in medicine who work on wallstreet. I was fortunate enough that an MD (medical doctor) who is also an MD (managing director) at an elite boutique investment bank replied to my cold email about advise on a career shift/pivot. We are coordinating time currently for a zoom/phone call.Questions I have:1) What should I do to prepare for this meeting??2) I don't know how to ask him on how I could interview at his firm or if he could send my resume those in charge of recruiting/hiring. I hear this is more or less how people get hired at most IB firms and most applications through the website never get looked at so a referral like this is how most analyst get hired. How should I go about this without blatantly asking him?3) Given stats and how well this meeting may go - how likely are my odds of landing an interview with this firm? I understand that this question is vague and depends on many factors but any insight would help ease my anxiety of a career shift.4) If anyone has questions/tips/pointers that I can ask during my meeting that would help me stand out or get valuable information please let me know. Thanks in advance!
Can you give more detail on why you want to switch to banking? What do you know about banking currently? What do you think the job is? What is your top 3 motivators for switching? What did you like and not like about medical school?
Accidentally replied to another comment with this answer my b. But please reference below.
Yeah why the switch?
Whatever your reasoning for the switch is, it’s probably pretty in line with MD^2.
Is the coverage group that he’s MD for related to healthcare? Moving to healthcare investment banking you’d definitely have a better story.
“I love medicine but I’d rather be on the transaction side of exciting developments blah blah blah”. I know someone who’s done that, but from a research role not med school.
Yes he is in healthcare IBD
Yes let me elaborate. A bit more of my background - I am a first generation Indian. To my parents and I would imagine many other Asian parents it’s either doctor or failure. I always did well in school, but my parents kept pushing me towards going into medicine (Bio undergrad). It was something that I COULD do, but that never meant that I SHOULD do it. Always told my family that I may switch to an undergrad in finance, but never grew the courage to tell them that I’m doing it no questions asked. I have a few friends who work or did work on Wallstreet and I’m more interested in their job/profession than I am in my own career pursuits.
Medicine is a great field, but it wasnt something I grew to love and my days in the OR have been boring with doing the same procedures. I understand that the work initially won’t require much critical thinking, but more senior people in IB or even PE seem to have very stimulating work. I’ve always enjoyed thinking critically and viewing all aspects of a situation to evaluate problems and solutions. From what I hear from peers who have worked in IB, I think I would greatly enjoy the work especially down the road.
I’m a bit worried about my odds of breaking into IB without any relevant internships or finance background. I’m currently self learning basic skills I’ve read that are needed for the role.
Just say: "I love money"
Is there anyway you can brush up on technical questions beforehand (BIWS 400 Basics) and be familiar with 1 or 2 recent deals (do not bring them up, only talk about them if the MD asks you if you're following any transactions)? Also brush up on your story and try to create a 90 second elevator pitch. If you can make a good impression on "Tell me about yourself/why IB?" - the rest of chat will go smoother than it would if you somehow stumble on those answers.
If you're able to show clear interest and give thoughtful questions, you can get a lot of traction that way. This is an uncommon transition but does happen. Most docs probably use a MBA to get into IB though. There is one alumni from my business school whose a VP/Director at a top BB HC group and was an anesthesiology residency dropout.
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