How to lateral from lower-tier bank (think Credit Agricole, BMO, TD, KeyBank, Nomura)
New A2 in coverage at a lower-tier bank and wondering how easy it is to lateral to a mid/high tier BB or EB from roles within lower-prestige banks. Maybe I am browsing this site too much and giving too much attention to the opinions of WSO hardos, but I feel like my bank doesn't have enough prestige. For people that have gone through the lateral process, how much did networking matter? If I were to cold-apply to lateral positions, is there a decent chance of interview? For context, I have a pretty strong academic background (3.9 at semi-target) and had internships in PE and AM. Just feeling a little unsure if I'm going down a dead end
"my bank doesn't have enough prestige"
if your self-worth is based on that then maybe that's where you're supposed to be!
Fair enough... I think more important to me than the prestige are the exit opportunities, the meaningfulness of the work (exposure to live deals), and the ability to learn a lot and become an expert in my area. Probably not a stretch to say that those things may correlate somewhat with prestige.
As a former CACIB employee, they would love to be included on the same tier as BMO, TD, Key Bank and Nomura.
I feel like most people sit at some average between sweatshop and super chill group, but closer to chill. Every junior tier networking event I've gone to, I've seen that the only people with hella deals are usually sweatshop guys and then mostly everyone else is like "maybe" on a live deal but haven't really closed anything lol, idk someone else chime in? I'm essentially saying unless you're at GS TMT or MS M&A, you aren't exactly getting a super heavy experience but rather just one or two live M&A deals closed, if you're lucky
I lateraled from one of those firms and have met others on the street who have lateraled from the rest as analysts. I got interviews and offers at “prestigious” firms with a resume that had no closed deals. 3.7, non-target, LAC analyst. You literally just apply. Everyone overblows how competitive it is to lateral, it’s not. There really aren’t that many highly qualified (i.e have experience) people looking to lateral compared to people trying to break in and you have a huge leg up because you won’t be completely useless on day 1.
The day to day experience is 95% the same whether you’re at Key Bank or GS. You’re pitching, spreading comps, and aligning logos.
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