Entering from non finance background with an MBA
Just to help contextualize the circumstances – I am from Canada.
I am interested in getting into Investment Banking but I have limited professional experience in the field of finance. I am currently 22 and have about 2.5 years of operations management experience at a start-up.
I’m planning to go do my MBA at a Canadian b-school, and I’ve been told an MBA can act as a proxy by which you start in Investment Banking at the associate level. Is this accurate?
Based on the apparent rigidity of the hiring protocols in IB, I’m surprised that someone with limited finance experience could bypass the 3 years of analyst work just by virtue of having an MBA. In fact, I’m relatively pessimistic about my ability to even land an IB internship with no experience as an analyst.
Are my concerns merited, or can someone with no finance experience use an MBA to enter Investment Banking at the associate level?
Your skepticism is not warranted. The entire point of MBA associate recruiting is to recruit people like yourself who are trying to make a career switch into banking. It is entirely expected that MBA associates are pretty useless to begin with compared to senior analysts, but will eventually get up to speed with experience. A more valid concern is whether your school places well into investment banking.
Thank you for the prompt reply.
Is there any way to legitimately verify whether or not the school places well into IB? It is one of the top MBA programs in Canada (if not number 1), but I feel as though admissions directors and recruiters try to sell me on the program by talking up the placements. Are official placement statistics published anywhere?
Just search on this site and I'm sure you will find a comprehensive list of Canadian target schools. If your school is as strong you as describe, I am sure it is a target. If you need further affirmation, search LinkedIn and filter by school and industry to see what alumni there are in investment banking. Take my comments with a grain of salt, though, because I have no idea how Canadian IB recruiting differs from the US.
Ok. You are planning on matriculating to Rotman.
I would reach out to their program office asking for detailed recruiting statistics. You want to see where students are going for investment banking, not corporate finance. A lot of career development offices use smoke and mirror tactics to idealize recruiting (i.e. stating that MS is a preferred employer when they, in fact, only come to campus to hire for PWM).
You are correct. Impressive read ;)
I spoke to an admissions director particularly about investment banking, although I was not given specific statistics. Their existing employment reports also obfuscate the finance employment rates since they do not specify about placements specific to investment banking.
Does the school openly release information about internship / employment statistics specific to IB? I have no problem contacting them to ask, but I’m wondering if that type of inquiry is even reasonable.
It is a totally reasonable ask--they have the data. And they certainly have people with access to the data. You're spending your tuition dollars--important that you do your diligence.
You graduated undergrad at 20?
Landing IB as an associate in Canada is a tough gig, they really don't take very many. I would say maybe 1 per 30 applicants end up with a full-time offer at Rotman and I can count on one hand how many I know who ended up there without any prior finance experience. There are way more analyst promotes here and so a limited number of IB spots. Head south of the border if you want to maximize your chances.
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