Government employee to MBA to Public Finance Associate at BB- what to expect?

Planning on transitioning from a career in local government to BB Public Finance Associate (think Citi, GS, MS) following T25 MBA. I know it's not the hottest area, but genuinely enjoy policy and municipal finance.

A few questions: -Do all FT Associate classes begin in August? -Is the salary and bonus structure similar to traditional IB ($125k base and ~$65k bonus)? -Is the pivot from Public Finance to DCM (or other IB groups) after 2-3 years a pipe dream or realistic? -Thoughts on exit ops to muni bond hedge funds?

6,319 WSO Academy Investment Banking Session Reviews: 4.82/5

Class of '29 Jun 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Investment Banking Mock Interview

“Sharon was very kind and very knowledgable. She was very friendly and took the time to explain concepts to me that I did not know as well. She had also saw that I knew easier questions and moved on to harder ones after she saw that I was able to understand the easier ones. She also gave me a lot of actionable feedback at the end, such as how to approach a question I do not know and what I should say as opposed to saying "I don't know". I need to work on that and have heard that from people, so it is something I will implement.”

Class of '29 May 2026 Cohort

4.92/5

Investment Banking Mock Interview

“Julius ran it like a Lazard interview which was super useful. Starting with behaviorals exposed that my why Lazard and why tech answers arent ready, better to find that out now than Monday. He skipped the basic stuff and went straight to harder accounting like inventory writedowns, deferred revenue and goodwill impairment. When I blanked on the LTM/NTM and synergy multiple questions he walked me through the logic. On the paper LBO he went line by line and showed me I forgot to take out D&A before tax and the interest, so I know what to fix”

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Government employee to MBA to Public Finance Associate at BB- what to expect?

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Government employee to MBA to Public Finance Associate at BB- what to expect?

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