Career changer - start from bottom again?
For those career changers in this forum, are you willing to start from the bottom (analyst) in IB and spend some years to move to up?
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I am a somewhat career changer (non-bb sales-trading ---> to IBD). I had the opportunity to interview for BB analyst recruiting last year but I chose to go the MBA route instead. The contact who got me the interview opportunity (a BB MD) told me afterward that he thought that b-school was the best route given my age (26 at the time).
So yes, I was willing...but without that contact I'm not sure if I would have been looked at, and even with the contact I think going the MBA route and coming in as an associate is a better bet.
It really depends on where you are coming from - meaning what your previous career was. If you were a lawyer, other finance professional, or coming with a finishing degree (such as an MBA), you might not start off as an analyst (in the event of an MBA, you will definitely not be starting off as an analyst). Lawyers can often start off as associates, or occasionally slightly higher depending on where they are in their law career and which field of law they practiced. There are other past careers and depending on your length of time in the career (and your contacts), this will determine which level you will most likely start on.
That said, if you are coming from an unrelated field and essentially starting over without an MBA, you will most likely start as an analyst, or need an MBA to break in in which case you'd enter as an associate. Generally, it is difficult to break in higher than associate simply because VPs and above general need to have some sort of client base established and a name in the field to add transaction and client value and not just the hard (and soft) skills required of analysts and early associates.
Check out my post on Career Changing for some help with the process: http://www.bankonbanking.com/2009/11/07/a-career-changers-guide-to-brea…
Thank you very much for the comment. I also knew that MBA would be the most pragmatic route. Therefore, I started prep-ing for B school over a year ago, and I finally got admitted to Georgetown's MBA program this August. I was very happy that I finally got a shot to change my career, but things are not what I thought. One discouragement after another. People, my friends who work in finance and career coaches, all told me to forget about it because I'm not from a top school, and I'm not going to a top school. In addition, I'm in my very late twenties with no finance background. The more research I do, the more I know how the game works. Like you said, people who got out of b school will not be an analyst, but, in reality, who knows? I don't need to work at a top firm what so ever. That's why my final hope is to start from scratch after B school and work as an analyst. I don't even know whether going to B school is a good idea for me. I tried to stay positive, but I have to face the reality.
I'm not sure if they will let you start as an analyst if you have a MBA.
I'd like to hear more opinions on this. It seems the opinion from most on this board is that you can break into the industry but you need to network like crazy and utilize all connections if you don't have an investment banking background.
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