“My mentoring session with Andre was extremely valuable and gave me the clarity and direction I needed at an important stage of my application journey. He was kind, approachable, and generous with his time, creating an atmosphere in which I felt comfortable sharing my experiences, asking questions, and discussing my doubts openly.
One of the most helpful aspects of our conversation was his guidance on how to organize and communicate my personal story. Andre helped me understand how to connect different experiences into a coherent narrative, identify the elements that matter most, and explain their significance more clearly. His perspective was fundamental in helping me see how to present my background with greater confidence, purpose, and authenticity.
I particularly appreciated his advice on what to avoid. He helped me recognize that including every detail does not necessarily make a story stronger, and that being selective can make a message much more effective. Our discussion gave me a clearer understanding of how to avoid unnecessary repetition, keep my narrative focused, and ensure that each part contributes something meaningful to the overall application.
Andre also provided valuable guidance on how to organize the application process itself. He helped me think more clearly about priorities, how to approach the different components, and how to make the work feel more manageable. Having a clearer structure has made a difference to my mindset: instead of seeing the applications as one overwhelming task, I now feel better equipped to approach them through specific, achievable steps.
Another important takeaway was his advice on how to use the coming days effectively. Our conversation helped me understand where to focus my energy, which tasks deserve immediate attention, and how to establish a realistic plan. I left the session with a stronger sense of direction and a better understanding of how to balance thoughtful preparation with consistent progress.
What made the experience positive was the combination of practical guidance and encouragement. Andre offered suggestions in a considerate and constructive way, helping me reflect on my choices while also making me feel supported. His kindness made it easier to engage honestly with the process and to see areas for improvement as opportunities to strengthen my applications.
Overall, this session was fundamental in helping me understand both what I want to communicate and how to move forward. I now have a clearer approach to telling my story, organizing my applications, avoiding common mistakes, and planning the next few days with intention.
I am very grateful for Andre’s support and for the care he brought to our conversation. His advice gave me useful tools, renewed confidence, and a more focused approach to the work ahead. I would highly recommend a session with him to anyone seeking thoughtful guidance, practical direction, and a supportive space to develop their application narrative. The session helped me turn uncertainty into a clearer plan, and I feel much more prepared to make the most of the time ahead and present my experiences in a meaningful and convincing way.”
Sounds a bit like Wells Fargo or similar. Interned there this summer in a “top” IB group and a significant portion of 2nd year analysts and associates on my team were internal laterals from corporate banking or other quasi-IB groups. Definitely doable at most BBs with some networking and much easier than lateralling to a different bank
can I pm you?
My 2 cents as someone who was able to pull off a move similar to this early in my career - you need to be thoughtful about how you go about this. You're an incoming analyst - put yourself in the shoes of the guys you'll be working for. How would you feel about the guy who showed up on day 1 saying they don't want to be there? There's a pretty high chance you rub people the wrong way. A rough way I'd go about things is as follows:
Forget about IB for your first few months - focus on performing well and being well liked. Have a great attitude, volunteer for things, go to the happy hours, never show them that you don't want to be there. Your goal is to develop a reputation as being a great member of the team - for you to pull this off internally you need to have people who will advocate for you. Not to mention, there will be plenty to learn in corp banking that is transferrable - modeling etc, so this isn't wasted time in your hunt to get to IB. Meanwhile - start researching on linkedin for people at your firm who made this same switch - ask them for a (discreet) coffee chat, learn from them, how they switched, why they switched, how they prepared for their interviews etc. These people will be able to give you advice that is tailored to your firm - some firms are great about internal mobility, others aren't. Many have formal policies - these people will know all of this and can help you gameplan before making your move. Ideally you should wait until your 1 year mark before you formally express interest, or atleast some formal review period where you have an official review on a sheet of paper saying how great you are - this is your golden ticket, and it's critical for 2 reasons: 1) most importantly, it protects you in the event that your team takes offense to you wanting to leave, or worse, you get put on the chopping block for the next round of layoffs. You want your hard work and contributions memorialized on paper incase you find yourself out of a job. This may sound harsh, but again think from your boss's perspective - if we're in a recession and HR comes to them demanding a 10% headcount reduction, the guy who just told everyone he doesn't want to be in the group is first to go. 2) this serves as a marketing tool for you - eventually if all goes well you will interview internally for your IB switch - having a formal review praising your contributions and work ethic goes a long way here, and again in the event that your team feel burned that you want to leave, you have their true feedback untainted by the news of your desire departure in your review sheet. Now I realize that coming out of school 1 year can feel like a lifetime - but trust me, it isn't. Tons of people in IB did other front office roles for a year or two prior to switching as well. Anyways - after your first year of crushing it, armed with your positive year-end review sheet, you now have leverage. I forgot to mention this as well but throughout your year you should be drilling BIWS 400 questions, working on your story, brushing up technicals so you can crush interview when ready. Now that you are ready, again I would rely on the folks you have networked with to determine the best path here because every bank is different, but a few weeks after my reviews I engaged a full court press - I asked to meet with my boss and told him that despite how much I love the group and working for them, my real interest was in the IB side. By this point we had become fairly close, and because I had worked so hard for him, he was more than supportive and offered to help any way he could. Meanwhile my contacts I had developed on the IB side began pushing internally for me as well. After a quick interview process (at this point I had already spoken with everyone on the IB team through the course of networking so this was really a formality) I made the switch. Let's say for instance though your firm for whatever reason doesn't want to let you switch, or maybe they don't have any spots open for you. You can then go out, armed with your great review sheet and interview skills you've been working on, and get a job elsewhere. That's my 2 cents, YMMV, every bank is different etc etc etc but that is a rough overview of how I went about it. I cannot emphasize enough that just showing up and week 1 going to HR to try to switch groups will not work out well for you. Good luck!
edit: Finally, sorry for the stream-of-consciousness post. Busy day here but wanted to get my full thoughts out for you.
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