Can I leverage my industry experience for IB?
Hello Monkeys,
This is my first post on WSO.
I will be trying to break into IB in London next year. Briefly my profile:
-25 year old form Eastern Europe (non-EU), will be attending a non-target MSc Finance in the UK (places about 3-4 people in FO roles in IB per year, others in Big4 Corp Fin) -Hold a bachelor's degree from a leading hotel management b school in Switzerland -Internship experience in the industry -Subsequent Big4 TAS internship experience
I definitely have an uphill struggle ahead of me, but I am good at networking and I am very determined. So, could I somehow play my specific industry knowledge (and experience) to my advantage? Could it be seen as an advantage for industry groups that cover retail, hospitality and leisure?
Perhaps, the gist of what Im asking is: do bankers care at all about specific industry experience?
Thanks a lot!
bump
Nobody has an idea?
How much does having previous non-IB experience in an industry matter when recruiting for same industry groups at banks? (Originally Posted: 08/30/2014)
Hi all,
I was just wondering how much does having experience in a specific industry (energy, tech, etc.) affect recruiting for same industry groups at banks if the previous experience wasn't in banking? I am curious because I've had F500 corporate finance experience in Aerospace/Defense and I was thinking of applying to Aero/Def industry groups at banks (most notably HLHZ's Aero/Def/Gov industry group since they are recruiting at my school) but I don't know if I should bother since my experience was not IB related.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
Interested in hearing some insight on this issue as well. In a similar predicament but in a different industry.
Well you should definitely "bother" to apply because no matter what you never know. While it is typically extremely hard to get FT IBD without a junior summer IB internship, having that industry experience will put you miles ahead of all the people at your school applying w/o a summer IB internship and w/ no relevant industry knowledge.
If it helps, I've seen a few people go from tech places like Microsoft and Amazon internships to FT IBD in the tech group so I do think it gives you a chance.
Definitely helps at the Associate level when several years of relevant group-specific work experience are on the resume. If you are referring to a college internship it will get you a closer look for an Analyst role but won't help as much as the standard stuff (GPA, school, junior year banking internship, etc.).
I think it helps. You have bankers covering those industries who are bluffing a lot on how much they really know and understand what their clients' businesses involve, particularly those bankers who haven't lateraled in from industry. Adding industry technical knowledge to their team can help them a lot.
From personal experience I think it helps. I did a summer internship at a F100 Healtchare company doing both bus dev and corp fin and afterwards applied for some analyst positions at several banks. I submitted a generalist application at one BB and the associate who phone screened me said something along the lines of "I was searching through resumes and saw you did an internship at X so I wanted to chat a bit since we have an opening in our HC group". Later on in the superday all we did was speak about my experience there and what I learned about the industry. If anything it shows you have an interest in the industry and at least a small idea of what they do.
Try it if its for an entry level position. Know your accounting and fun stuff for an associate position.
Some spots will grill you for an analyst position too.
In my experience, if you are in the USA they like it (if you network/pitch it right your all set). Everywhere else - not so much. You will be faced with a 'well if you could get into XYZ F500 then surely you got interviews at banks' question and from there it just spirals downwards. The comment about bankers not actually knowing much about the industry above is true but they may also resist hiring you because you actually know something/may show them down in the future. At the end of the day firing is not unknown on Wall Street and bankers are risk adverse (seriously think about this one). Therefore my advice to you is to sort out a really strong pitch and network/sell yourself (if in the USA) but look at alternative jobs (if you not in the USA) as a back up.
Experienced hire with industry knowledge for IB? (Originally Posted: 08/13/2006)
I am 35 and I have 10 years of experience working for an oil company doing M&A transactions/strategy development. Graduate of a top MBA school. Will i-banks find this experience attractive for an associate role? I am thinking about pursuing a career in investment banking, and I was told that industry experience is not that valuable for them, because they have their equity research people providing this expertise when they work on deals.
I am well paid and well placed in my current role working 40 hour weeks, and I am afraid that I will have to work twice the hours for the same compensation I earn now even if I get the job. I would appreciate any thoughts especially from those who are working in oil & gas investment banking groups.
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