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?
