advice from the wise folks
So I'm in somewhat of a sticky situation. Up until recently I was deadset on going to law school and becoming a lawyer. Due to some personal reasons that i no longer want to pursue that road and have recently become very interested in investment banking. The bad news is that I am going into my senior year with no relevant internship experience whatsoever and my undergraduate major is political science (although I have an econ minor for what thats worth). The good news (using this term loosely) is that I have a 3.6+ GPA (although once, again in psci), go to a semi-target, and have a 1500+ SAT score (can i still milk that?). Given that I'm so late to the ballgame, what's my best option to break in to ibanking?
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say screw experience, and apply for full time jobs next year anyway, maybe to smaller regional boutiques (from the SF area so I wouldn't mind being back there) and hope for a miracle. although from what i've heard getting in this way is going to be pretty much impossible.
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apply for summer analyst internships as a senior. Ive heard differing things about this. some say that some firms will take post graduate interns and the others say summer analysts are only for those that are still pursuing graduation
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Try to apply to some relevant masters programs and go into internship recruiting saying that I still technically have a year until graduation (although once again this might be somewhat hard because of my quant-light background, also since i really want to go to business school i don't want to have an additional year of costs).
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put my plans on hold for a few years, go for jobs that will take me, do well, go to business school and try again from there (What kind of jobs are good for getting into a top business school AND being able to easily transition to ibanking when i get there?)
Honestly, 4 looks like the most realistic route by far, but the reason I am posting this is because you guys know far more than I do. Any advice is appreciated, also don't be afraid to say that I'm screwed. Realistic advice is better than wishful thinking.
Thanks
Network your ass off. As for which option, I'll leave that to those who are qualified to give an opinion.
didnt actually read those options (laziness i suppose), but i was in a similar situation. went to a semi-target, very similar gpa, had a internship in law the summer before my senior year (also interested in law.. after 2 separate internships, realized its boring as hell... took me 2 internships to figure that out) and got just worked my butt off to get a FT.. yes, i put up with a lot of rejection, but eventually found exactly what i was looking for (good bank in nyc in the group i wanted, lev fin). and while i networked for a ton of jobs i applied/interviewed for, the one i ultimately took was through ZERO connections. you can easily swing your [former] interest in law towards finance in an interview. just gotta plan out your attack ahead of time (dont go into interviews with no explanation on how your skills translate over, why you dont want law and now want IB, etc.). oh, and arguably most importantly, good luck! yes, coming from a semi or non target, luck does play a bit of a factor. and even if you dont get something in the fall, believe me, there are always jobs being posted throughout the year (including late spring and even summer). those jobs may not be BB, but there are some legit boutiques recruiting year round.
im actually in the exact same boat as we speak
top 20 non-target, great corporate law internship, came back and decided id rather be on the other side of the desk, took an overloaded extra year and overloaded summer classes to add a finance major, which meant no time for internship. graduated now, still searching for opps. turned down some ft offers b/c i wanna see where the IBD gamble will take me first
being proactive is the name of the game now. do independent research, bankify your resume and network like hell. i did financial modeling training that im sure many will tell you is useless, but can at the very least show youre serious about the switch.
ive been cold calling a lot and interviews do eventually come your way. its tough, but if you want it enough and dont need the money immediately, there's a way in. im pretty advanced in the off-cycle selection process of some boutiques. some firms wont even give you a second look though.
dont kid yourself, a lot of it will be luck. but you gotta put yourself out there for the chance to even get lucky.
ps, be a specialist. choose an industry/group you wanna be in and research the hell out of it. off-cycle hires are usually for specific immediate needs, and if you show really specialized knowledge in a niche during an interview it not only makes you stand out, but you also offset the "this guy's no banker" feel some might get from you. there are a lot of would-be off-cycle recruits out there who have the finance internships, etc. youre better off trying to be perfect for a smaller subset of positions that might pop up rather than casting a wide net as a generalist and being lumped into the same pool as the other more traditionally-qualified dudes. its high-risk high-reward now, and you're small stack. so you gotta go all-in in every way possible.
at least, thats my strategy
pps about the specific options, i've been doing 1 and 2 myself. some firms have talked to me about maybe opening up a non-summer FT internship anyway, which will enhance your resume and get you great networking opps for the fall recruiting cycle, wherein you can leverage your maturity later on against the analyst class below you. preare for it to possibly be a long road.
From a good school, with a good GPA it's definitely possible to get some type of banking job. There are history and art majors from Harvard and Princeton that get jobs at Goldman and JP Morgan. UG major isn't too much an issue for the larger banks because they have a full 6 week training program that helps teach the job to you. It might be harder to get into a boutique bank since they normally don't shell out the $ for a full-on training class so they want their hires to be ready to go when they start.
I suppose you could register for the first CFA exam next June - that would certainly cover most of the useful topics - but it might be too difficult without any experience in finance/economics/accounting (not trying to be mean - it's just really expensive and the pass/fail curve is pretty high)
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