Is it too late to try and pivot into IB?
I am a recent undergrad from UT Austin McCombs and did Finance and Math there. Worked at JPMorgan for two summers but nothing near IB at all. Left because I felt that the work wasnt fulfilling and I wanted something more challenging (technical finance or even some type of coding at the very least). Recruited for CorpFin my senior year and got a Financial Analyst role at an O&G company in Houston. I think I was too late for IB my senior year as I was probably already behind, so just wanted to know my options moving forward. Want to do IB then eventually move to a better (easier + less stressful) finance role in tech. Me doing my MBA is very much on the table but idk if I want to be in my late 20s grinding out in IB especially if I have a family by then when I know I'll want to eventually leave. Would love to hear any advice/personal experience anyone has on this!
99% chance you will have to do an MBA at some point for your long-term goals. I see two general paths
1. Manage to lateral to IB right now as an O&G banker, do your time, then do a good MBA to pivot and recruit for Tech Co's.
2. Don't lateral, keep working at O&G Co, do a good MBA. From here -- I'm not sure you will actually have to do IB at all. Depending on the tier of MBA you do, you could probably pivot straight into a tech role. In my opinion (NOT based on personal experience fwiw), Current job -> MBA -> Tech finance-adjacent role is actually probably EASIER than MBA -> IB -> Tech role, because the recruiting pipelines and processes are a lot more defined and official through an MBA program than as a lateral hire, because you're gonna be basically trolling public tech job listings to find roles you're a candidate for, shooting out 500 apps to get 10 interviews, etc. Basically, the IB lateral process all over again, which as you're about to find out, is not a fun process. And now it's cross-industry! So I'm sure you see the difficulty in this -- the only thing that helps is being in a TMT group because you will have relationships in Tech.
#2 is somewhat contingent on you being at a t10ish MBA, which I see as very very possible considering you're from a target school and you have a good finance job, as well as a decently clear long-term vision for your career and how an MBA could help. With an above average GMAT you'd be a strong profile for M7.
As far as the feasibility of lateralling currently, I will leave that to people who have more experience than I with the current lateral hiring environment
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