Is it currently a waste of my time to try and get into IB??

I am interested in getting into IB but I am not sure if it is even remotely reasonable at the moment. I completed an undergraduate degree in philosophy and I am almost done with a Master of Science in Accounting (neither school is a target). My plan is to transfer into advisory/transactional services at the accounting firm I have an internship with to get some relevant experience and then break into IB.

My question for y'all is: would it be a waste of my time to start applying for IB positions right now and see if I can somehow get in anywhere before having the transactional services experience? This would include learning technicals/modeling, maybe taking the Bloomberg aptitude test, etc.

If this would be a waste of time currently, I will just focus on my current career path and do my best to get into transactional services first.

5 Comments
 
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The path from B4 TAS to IB is one well traveled. That sounds like your best bet given your background and timeline. Alternative is always to kill it at a B4, make manager in a relatively fast time frame, and get a good T15 MBA.

Array
 

Yeah that is my plan, I am not at a B4 though but maybe I will consider getting into one. In my city the B4 doesn't have that large of a presence, the firm I am at is actually much larger than all of the B4 here, so I am not sure which is better in this case.

But my real question is if I should even attempt to apply to analyst roles right now just to see if I can land a hail mary opportunity, or if this is completely out of the question and a waste of time?

 

Just apply my dude! You never know what opportunities might come. You can literally spend less than an hour a day doing so and in 2 weeks you could have a hundred applications sent. Unless you're already working 80 - 100 hours a week, you can definitely find the time in the day. And you could even find it if you were working that long.

I've had those moments too when I see an opportunity and think - ah, it's pointless, I have no chance, why even apply. But I applied, and I got in!

Plus, if your goal is to get into IB in the future it never hurts to start preparing and learning the concepts early on.

 

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