Enlisted, Special Ops Army to IB to PE
Hello all,
I am currently in special operations within the Army and have a year left on my contract. I have been knocking out school online during my time in, at Purdue Global University. I know this is not a very sought after school but I am hoping to leverage my special operations experience to get a foot in the door. I am 24 years old and have multiple combat rotations. When I get out next May I will have about 20 weeks of school left. Meaning I would finish my undergrad around the end of October to November 2021. I was looking into getting a student internship for next summer (2021) and if I don't get that, then finish my degree and try to get a military internship (which I am assuming is also in the summer so I would have to wait from November 2021 to summer 2022 to start.) If I fail at getting that internship then plan C is to go straight into getting my MBA via a J term at a tgt school and go into IB from there. Then do the traditional route of going from IB to PE, but I read its harder to break into PE w/ an MBA than from undergrad. Does this sound like a good course of action? Will special operations experience help me and how do I leverage it? Would I be able to get into PE w/o going into IB first? Any other insight also welcome.
Thank you
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Are you an idiot?
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I think you have two options:
If you're a ranger, transfer to a elite uni, do 3 years on campus. Recruit for literally any job in finance that you want. You'll be able to land a great internship during your sophomore fall for after your sophomore year; then you can recruit for any bank you want for after Jr. year.
If you're SF (I presume you're not, because said Spec Ops, not SF), finish your degree before you get out, absolutely rock your GMAT (720+), and hire an MBA consultant and go to a T15 MBA. You have the work experience function down - plenty of officers go Service Academy -> Five years obligated service -> Elite MBA. SF gives you a higher probability of that, because there are fewer SF vs. Spec Ops guys.
I suggest going with the first option. You'll be much better for it and there's a higher statistical likelihood that you get on the IB-> PE path coming out of UG than an MBA. Many more accessible, institutional undergraduate target/semi-target pipelines for you at this junction. If you choose the MBA out of the military (with completed degree), you're purposefully shrinking the probability of you landing something great.
Reach out to "@trades_and_raids" on instagram. Yes, I'm being serious even though I just recommended a meme account.
He legit helps veterans network and help them land roles in high finance as he is a veteran himself (possible spec ops/SF background) and works in finance. I've communicated with him through DM's and he legit cares about helping other veterans and will exhaust his network of former veterans who now work in finance.
I highly recommend shooting him a message with your story. He will probably be able to help you out more than undergrads on WSO.
First, thank you very much for your service. What you do is of critical importance and greatly appreciated.
Second: you have achieved a lot. What you have done professionally speaks volumes. And Purdue is a fine school. Anyone who does not get that isn't worth working for. Have confidence. It's excellent to have a plan B and C, but instead of simply setting alternative plans figure out how to hone your skills so that you do not fail in the internship / applications. Focus on getting the content down, and be confident.
Thrid: I would dis-recommend a J-term start. I know INSEAD and Columbia have them. Hwoever there is value in having more time at school and leveraging the summer internships to get jobs. More schools have December starts thanJ terms. An extra six months to do a pre-MBA internsip, travel and pre-start studying won't kill you. In hindsight I dearly wish I had taken a bunch of accounting classes and practicing my financial modeling before starting my own MBA. It would have put me on better footing. TLDR: This is a marathon. 6 months won't kill you and you have more options with a normal fall intake.