B4 Advisory to Corporate Banking

Looking for some advice because I feel stuck.

I’m 25 from a super non-target, currently in Big 4 financial advisory. My work is almost entirely around the accounting side of debt/equity transactions, refinancings, restructurings, and derivatives/hedging instruments. Not traditional audit.

In interviews, I pitch it as already understanding how financing transactions are structured, how to read credit agreements, and having worked on the accounting implications of these deals. I explain that I want to move upstream into underwriting and credit, where I’d actually be evaluating and helping structure the transactions instead of accounting for them after the fact.

I’m getting little interviews, but when I do get called, it feels like as soon as interviewers hear “accounting,” they’re turned off because I don’t already have credit experience. Then I get the generic rejection.

I don’t understand how you’re supposed to get banking experience if nobody is willing to hire someone without it.

Has anyone here successfully made this transition? Am I marketing my background the wrong way, targeting the wrong roles, or is Big 4 accounting just a much tougher sell than I thought?