Better Back-up: Boutiques or other FO Jobs. (For Internships)

I'd like to get into investment banking, but obviously most candidates can't guarantee that they'll get a BB IBD internship with the current market. What is the direction to go to expand horizons if that doesn't work out. From what I understand, moving to middle and back office of a BB is the worst possible move.

There seem to be two possible directions: Try to get into S&T in the BB so that you can directly interact and network with bankers. Or look at MM and boutique banks and take whatever real I-banking experience you can get (this also has the added benefit of not requiring learning how to interview for different positions, you can focus on I-banking). Which of these would make the most sense as a safety net in case I-Banking at a BB doesn't work out?

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Best Response

I would go with MM IB. You are still getting very solid IB experience and a great learning experience, especially if you land at a good MM boutique, and your experience becomes marketable to other MM and BB IBs (not to mention the notion that you may actually like working in a MM bank). The other thing to consider is that a MM IB position may not be much easier to obtain than a BB IB position, so I think you should go full steam towards both BB and MM opportunities, not save MM opps for when/if you get turned down for BB positions.

Second, I agree with the above in the sense that you won't have opportunities to network with bankers regarding opportunities (although depending on the group, you may definitely have contact with them). But regardless of that, the job function is much different, and it is not an easy path to sell. Essentially you have to have a strong interest in S&T to break into BB S&T, especially in this market, so don't expect to walk in there, do a half-assed job (not meant as an insult, I just mean that you will be more focused on leveraging it into an IB position, than really thrive in S&T) and use it as a bridge to get into banking, because there will be many other applicants with banking experience who will seek to fill those choice slots first.

IBanker www.BankonBanking.com Articles, News, Advice and More Break Into Investment Banking

 

I think that you can have a serious interest in both, although they are quite different. They are, however, both very competitive and you can't really use one as a stepping stone to the other.

IBanker www.BankonBanking.com Articles, News, Advice and More Break Into Investment Banking

 

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