Do I have any shot of getting into Investment banking?

I'm 19 years old and a student at a non-target state school and I need some advice on transitioning from accounting to finance. Here's a little background about myself:

  1. I'm currently going into my "junior" year in the fall, although I took running start and am technically ahead. My GPA is about a 3.6-3.7, but since I've also been working I haven't been focusing entirely on my grades so I'm guessing I can improve it to at least a 3.7.

  2. I had planned on majoring in accounting and becoming a CPA. My long-term plan was to work my way up and eventually pursue an MBA from a reputable T20 school.

  3. Lately, I've become increasingly re-interested in finance. I enjoy data analysis and the various aspects of finance, but I initially thought it would be difficult to break into the field from a non Ivy League school.

  4. Over the last few months, I've been reconsidering my career path and I want to explore the possibility of working in a finance-related role before disregarding it completely.

  5. I haven't applied for any finance internships yet, but I am currently working as an IT consultant at a local non-profit organization.

I would greatly appreciate any advice or insights from those who have successfully transitioned from accounting to finance or have experience in the field. What steps should I take to increase my chances of breaking into the finance industry?

5 Comments
 

Do you think it would be a better idea for me to try and transition from big4 audit instead? I have a somewhat good chance of getting into big4 so if I was able to transition somehow it’d probably be easier for me. However, I’ve only heard of a couple people able to make the transition successfully.

 

You definitely can, but your odds of landing a summer analyst position aren’t that great just because of how late you started. You might have to recruit for full time, but I’d recommend doing some networking well in advance. They might assume you didn’t get a return offer, possibly because you’re a bad intent, but you can mention that you became interested later on in your undergrad years. You also want to get as much relevant experience internship wise as possible, especially if you started late. Some people here might say that a MM is the best you can land, but in my opinion, that’s not a bad thing. Too many people vie for the distinct honor of being their chosen BB or EB’s slave. Either way, even if you don’t land where you want to during full time recruiting, you could try to lateral.

 

How hard do you think it would be to try and laterally transition? I’m pretty sure I could get into big4 then TAS( or something in that realm) and finally IB. However, would going to work for a smaller company for audit still possibly work in the same way if big4 didn’t pan out? Even if I get into IB I would probably only work there for a couple years and then work somewhere with better hours but IB seems to be the best path to that option.

 

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