I have had what some might call a "different" path to breaking into IB, so I figured it would be valuable to some to see a lateral into IB from an unconventional path.
Background: Non-target, 3.3 GPA, Finance major. Three PWM internships.
Throughout university, I was always interested in IB, but always wrote myself off because I didn't have a perfect GPA, didn't want to deal with the hours, and was honestly too lazy to actually put effort into recruiting. In addition to finance, I love fitness, so I figured I'd try my hand at that and see where it went.
First Job: After graduation, all my friends rushed off to their big bank jobs, and I moved back home and after getting my PT certification, started training at a local gym. Having a background in finance, I was always looking for ways to separate myself from the time = money equation. There's only so many hours in the day and eventually my schedule was full, and my salary was capped.
Startup: After working at the gym for a while, I decided to go out on my own and start an online fitness company that would allow me to achieve economies of scale. The timing was perfect, because COVID had just started, so online fitness exploded. I worked my ass off and managed to build a pretty nice little business for myself, but simultaneously started to lose my passion for fitness. A lot of being a trainer is being a therapist, and frankly, I didn't care enough about my clients as I should have, which lead to imposter syndrome of not serving them to my full need. I was also working 80-100 hours a week, so I decided that banking wouldn't be too difficult of an adjustment.
IB: During my PWM internships, I cold-called. A lot. 300 dials a day. So I applied my cold-calling prowess to IB recruitment while studying my ass off for months on end to re-up on all the finance/industry/market knowledge I had since forgotten since university. After a few months of cold-calling, networking, coffee chats, interviews, rejections (so many goddamn rejections), I finally managed to land a role in an MM shop on the M&A team. I absolutely love the work (for the most part), and can definitely see myself doing this for the long term (although I'm currently on the hunt for a lateral to a larger shop). My passion for fitness didn't fully burn out thankfully, and I can still sneak in a lift most days.
That's my story, and if it helps even one person, then I'd say this was a success.
AMA.
TL;DR - Non-target finance major --> Personal Trainer --> Starting my own PT business --> IB
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huge, definitely be proud!
With your cold-calling strategy, how many interviews did you get?
I got into 4 different interview processes before finding a gig. Honestly it really didn't take long to get the interviews rolling, but I obviously I bombed the first few due to lack of preparation and not knowing what to expect.
It should be noted that I also got plenty of "you're GPA isn't good enough," and one "you're not smart enough for this role."
What's your SBD 1RM?
Haha I figured this would come up.
When I was a PT - 265/335/440 BSD
Now - 235/315/395 BSD
At some point I'd like to get back into powerlifts but the combination of getting older and the IB life have taken their toll.
Good lifts man. Is the deadlift sumo or conventional?
Sumo. I pulled conventional until I herniated a disc in my back unfortunately.
How common is this? Been told I have good DL form but still worry about it as my back is often sore the next day.
Also nice BSD #s, Im about ~100 below you but gunning for the 1k club :)
Appreciate the in-depth commentary.
I typically due BB deadlifts, with arms just beyond shoulder width apart. I typically do 8 sets of 3-8 reps. First three sets are warmups and then usually five sets of high weight.
Sometimes it feels sore, sometimes it borders on pain.
Im 6'1" so getting low is definitely the tough part. I am good at keeping my back straight but my bigger issue is the initial lift off is all legs, and that my back doesnt start to move upward until the tail end of the lift.
Gonna DL tomorrow and try to focus on using my back more while making sure it is adequately stretched beforehand.
I want to keep using the BB over the hexagonal bar until I break into the 1,000 lb club, at which point Ill likely stop deadlifting.
Thank you again for the advice.
Not very tbh. It happened back in highschool when I was still ego lifting like a mf. As lame as it sounds, perfecting your form will pay massive dividends in how quick you can move up in weight, as well as preventing stupid injuries (like me).
1k club has always been my goal. I'm trying my best to get back there, but it's a long road haha.
Congrats! I’m curious how you managed to make it to a FT offer with a 3.3 gpa from a non target. I have a very similar profile to yours and feel that I get brushed off because of my GPA. Did you leave your GPA off your resume? How did you spin it in calls and interviews? Appreciate the help
I kept my GPA on the resume, but tried to avoid the inevitable questions as much as possible. In terms of spinning it, I always mention how I worked all through university (not a good excuse), as well as started to plan for building my own business post-graduation. Mostly I was just completely honest about the whole thing, emphasizing that before I could go full-tilt into the finance life, I needed to try out a few different things first.
I never wanted to sit at my desk wondering "what if..."
That whole “what if” idea is a pretty solid spin I would say. Do you think I should address it even if the interviewers don’t bring it up? EX: asking at the end of an interview “is there anything in my resume or something that came up during our conversation that instills doubt in my capabilities to excel in this role”. Thanks again for the advice
lmao are you me? I got my PT license during law school and worked at a gym for a year (and hated it, people never ever follow the plan you make for them, they always come up with some bs excuse. Instead of coming in 3 times a week they come in 2 times a month "because no time". Got old like really fast) and later started my own out door boot camp company (not smart, very hard to scale). Basically burned out too and lost the passion for fitness somewhat. Then went back into law but now planning my escape to something else again. And also enjoying training again, which is nice.
Don't know about you but I personally now kinda moved away from pure bodybuilding type of training and am doing basically 50/50 endurance and bb each week.
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