About to graduate from Ivy (H), no job lined up
I was talking to someone from my school's alumni network, and he told me how, since I am a senior right now, what I should do is to prep for IB interviews like a job, and then network to try to find a job. After landing my first job at wherever, I can make a lateral to elsewhere better.
I don't have any directly business-related activities on my resume (I do chemistry research all throughout undergrad; my GPA is solid and I will have a bachelor's and master's in chem), but the alumni says that I don't need to. I just need to be creative about my story.
What I am wonder is... if I spend my spring semester (last semester of college) prepping for IB, what if I don't end up getting a job then? I will be unemployed post-grad; would this reflect negatively to people reading my resume?
I am just trying to weigh my chances. I am eager to provide more info if needed.
Edit: Minor in Econ
FWIW I know someone who broke into IB last minute (June after graduation) when an 10 MDs at a BB got poached by a smaller bank trying to grow their IB practice - it started his career.
You can do both - prep for IB interviews if something like this were to occur again and also look for non-IB jobs and plan to reneg if you get the IB job.
I see. Yea, it's just going to be a tradeoff. I can either spend all my time prepping for IB and hope I can be ready for interviews around June or all my time securing a meh job and then study on the side when I have free time, but I know the "optimal" thing is to do both. Thanks for your comment. If you have any other insights to share, I would greatly appreciate it.
TBH, IB interviews aren't that hard to prep for. The material is well known, it's a lot of behavioral stuff. If you can do a chem undergrad and masters at an Ivy, you can probably grind out most IB prep in a few weeks. Networking would be more important, but tbh you'd probably also benefit from networking both within and outside of IB. If you network with bankers and fail at IB, it still might benefit you if you went for something like biotech ER, which fits your background and would benefit from networking.
Unless you're going for a highly technical role somewhere, you really don't need as much interview prep as many people try to imply. You have a technical undergrad, so many firms will probably try to assess how smart you are rather than just asking finance questions.
I see. I'm in my last semester, and trying to balance recruiting, applying, interview prep, networking is taking a decent chunk of time I would like to have reserved for interview prep.
So, yes, it's probably not a crazy amount of prep, I just feel like being in school right now, it's tough.
I have wondered if I should find a job (retail, any job that'd take me; I also began doing some consulting prep, which I know is different from IB but it's what I started out doing after figuring out I did not want to continue doing research), and then study for IB on weekends/free time. Maybe I can then apply to IB after a year or two of doing that?
The harvard alumni I spoke with recommended I just devote my entire time to just IB recruiting. This is like putting all my eggs in a basket, and while I have done it before, I just want to make sure I don't shoot myself in the foot by having a gap in my resume and having to explain that I didn't work a job because I was "IB prepping."
if you can share any thoughts on this, I would greatly appreciate it.
Given your background, I think your alum is right that a big part of this is treating prep like a job and getting your story + technicals to a point where you don’t look like a total career tourist.
On the prep side, what’s helped me is not just reading guides but actually forcing myself to talk through answers live. For that I’ve been using things like:
The specific route doesn’t matter as much as getting a lot of reps saying your non‑traditional story out loud under pressure and handling basic technicals smoothly.
Hey, thank you for your comment. Do you think it matters what job I get after grad, so long as I get a job (and then study in my free time?).
I was doing consulting prep for a few days as of a week ago, until I spoke with the alum, and he told me I could break in, despite not having any directly-business related experience at all.
as long as your job is not shilling an ai study tool like the guy you're responding to you should be fine
Quasi quia id aut molestias iusto consequatur sit. Veniam perferendis sed et voluptatem ea ex. Accusantium a iusto enim reiciendis consequatur ullam fugit. Aut totam tenetur blanditiis pariatur necessitatibus quaerat molestiae repellendus. Mollitia officiis illum neque aut amet dolorum quam.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...