25 year old new analysts???...and other non-traditional guys

During my brief stint at a BB, we had two analysts who didn't come straight from undergrad. One started at a boutique doing IB for a year and a half and came over while the other was in S&T for a bigger shop (for I think about a year or two also). Both turned out to be the best analysts that we had, but had to start off as first year analysts.

The oldest analyst I was aware of was 30 years old. He didnt last long unfortunately, but proves that as long as you can play the recruiting game, you can come from a pretty non-traditional background.

I spent less than a year on the buyside before jumping to IB. Not that crazy, I know, but pretty non-traditional if you ask me.

I personally know of a few. Not a big deal. Just a drop in the bucket in the long-run, and they typically are more mature (obviously) than their 22-year-old peers. It depends on what the analyst was doing before, but wouldn't you rather be a 25 year-old analyst than have no banking experience at all?

When you network with people and go for interviews just make sure to give them a darn good reason why you want to make the switch to banking and why it took you so long to decide this.

I was curious about this as well. I just graduated from undergrad and will begin working FT as an IB analyst at a very small boutique (as in 5 other people in the IBD and I'm the only analyst). I would like to get involved in October at my schools recruitment and get into one of the five Canadian banks (I'm Canadian). How much more difficult is it for someone from a small boutique to transition into one of the bigger banks? I would think that as someone with a year experience I should have a leg up on the undergrads who have zero experience, no?

I'm set to graduate from undergrad at 24/25. Will this be an issue? I look fairly young and obviously I certainly wouldn't advertise my age... edit: for S&T rather than M&A

(for the record: i started out doing some dud Arts degree and got horrible grades, realized i wanted to be a trader, did another year of my Arts degree getting great grades to transfer schools, started a 4 year degree from scratch at 21 turning 22)

I know of a buddy of mine (we are the same age) who spent 4 years in the Navy before going to school and now works at a BB. I have a similar story, except I did my time in the Army and have no job at this point, lol...he graduated from a much better school...so I don't think the Army vs Navy thing is a factor.

Hopefully something will come up but I am certainly having my doubts at this point. Overall, my age is definitely making me nervous, as I am 27 now, and don't look to be starting a full time gig this year, which likely puts me at 28 when I would get to start, assuming something comes up between now and then. I know when I interviewed at a BB, a couple interviewers brought up my age with one really harping on it asking how I would feel about someone younger than me telling me what to do, etc. Kind of pissed me off because I felt it could have been a deciding factor for him and it left me with a bad feeling. I understand that age plays a factor into somethings in life, but you are asking a person who was in charge of 30+ year old people when he was 20 how it would work, etc.

Anyways, this is a very interesting topic for me. I am struggling with the decision to just do a Masters in Finance at a no name state school just to delay my job search and get my GPA up a bit more because I can't find a relevant position in finance. I really think my military experience was great, but as I have suffered through this downturn in the job market, I question it's relevance and worth long term. Optimally, at this point, I would like to find a job for a couple years that would position me well for b-school, whether that is finance or something else and then doing IB or PE after getting my MBA.

So, to the OP's original point, getting in after an MBA might be the best option for non-traditional people, especially with the current economic position. Generally, there are just too many qualified applicants that fit the mold at this point and being older, or non-traditional, is just one more reason to get your resume pushed to the bottom of the pile. Now this is not to say it is impossible, its not, but its going to be really difficult and ultimately where your network is going to come into play.

As for my buddy, he is a rockstar at work, getting good deal exposure and putting in serious hours (even for a BB IB). He is definitely tiring of his group/IB and would like to move to a firm with fewer hours or to the buyside. The reason I point that all out is because another factor in older IB candidates tends to be the probability they are in serious relationships and are likely to be less mobile and more likely not to want to keep the late hours for the foreseeable future. My buddy is a good example. He said he spent a total of 8 hours all of Easter week (I know he worked til 3 am on Saturday and all day Sunday) with his wife. He knew what he was getting into when he signed up, but what he didn't realize was the strain it was going to put on his marriage. Obviously IB is not conducive to relationships because of the massive amount of hours. Some of my interviewers have asked me about whether I was in a relationship in an effort to gauge my ability to put up with the demanding schedule (or they were hitting on me...creepy).

Best of luck to any and all non-traditional hires. I know the tough road you face or have faced.

Regards

In banking you will find tons of Mormons who start much later due to their quest or whatever they call it. They usually are married and have kids as well. I have found that they are usually some of the most respected and intelligent analysts I have met. Don't let age bother you. No one cares if you do good work.

To papajohns, age is not a big deal. In my group we have a 2nd year associate who is older than a director, a 3rd year associate who is younger than the 1st years, MDs who are young, VPs who are old, etc. Just keep it low key and play with your appearance a bit to adjust your age.

To cphbravo, good luck with your job search. In your situation, I believe that getting a MBA would make the best use out of your military experience and bridge the transition into civilian life. If you were in the Army for 4 years, I think that may be enough experience to qualify for good programs. Maybe you could do a year of something altruistic/nonprofit for extra points. A MSF, particularly at a no-name school would buy time without adding anything. You should try sending Alex Chu an email and ask for his opinion, he is very sharp and honest.

Youll find europe that a lot probably start a lot later than straight out of undergrad as it is the norm to do a masters and also to take some years of for travel/break etc.

Is it possible to get an offer post MBA as an associate if you do not have any banking experience? It would make more sense to be an analyst, however an MBA would be overqualified for an analyst role, correct?

i did 2 yrs of mandatory army service in Asia. PM me if you're interested