I-banking career path advice needed!! (and greatly appreaciated)
Hi everyone,
I'm interested in the areas of M&A and Private Equity but I'm willing to get in anywhere I can. I am looking to find out what all my options are so I can focus my time and energy where I have the best chance of succeeding.
I have read that getting an internship is a big part of breaking into investment banking but, sadly, I don't have the option of securing one since I graduate in only 2 months.
Also, I'm not a finance major. I'm a 26 year old business management major from a non-top 10 university (I attend Penn State University). My GPA is pretty good - cumulative 3.40 currently (I switched majors), and 3.65 in my major.
It looks like many BB's look for individuals with finance degrees which completely excludes me...
On the resume side my experience looks pretty good (in my own opinion). I have started a software business which I raised seed capital for, I have worked in a bank for 2.5 years as a teller and was also a real estate agent for 2 years.
SO Long story short... What are my options? Should I apply to boutique firms for analyst positions? FMP programs? Can I still intern even though I'm graduating? I'm really unsure of how to approach this is the most efficient manner so I'm not wasting companies times (and my own).
You should search this forum for answers. Your gpa is "decent" not "pretty good". You're a management major so you'll have to work extra hard since your major isn't necessarily the most technical. Your best bet is to cold call and cold email a ton of people in banking and see if they can give you advice. Get in contact with alumni, see if they can help you break in.
Realistically, you should just go work for a fortune 500 and try to break in after a few years of "solid" work experience. Being a teller isn't that impressive to these banks.
A CFA level 1 wouldn't hurt your chances either, at the very least it will show that you are capable of learning finance.
Good luck.
Best advice would be to network and leverage the Penn State alumni base b/c it's huge. You should also assess if you really want to get into IB at this point. Most places hiring for analyst positions are looking for 22 year olds fresh out of college that are willing to slave away and take orders for 2-3 years. I know you'll be a recent graduate, but as a 26 year old with some experience in the working world, are you going to want to answer to an associate that's your age or worse a senior analyst that's significantly younger?
I would say your best bet would be to get a good job at a fortune 500 or something comparable for a few years as pac mentioned, try your hand at business school, and try to break into an associate program from there. I think it would be tough to get into an analyst program as it stands today. I know when I was in banking, there was enough demand for the position that we didn't really bring anyone in unless they were young and had a strong internship background and undergraduate profile. Just my 2 cents.
why would you want to give up your comedy central show and everything else to work in banking
seriously man, it's not all about $
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