Late to the game and need honest advice
Hey everyone - right now I'm at a crossroads in my life where I could really use some guidance.
I'm a rising junior at a top liberal arts college majoring in Biochemistry. As soon as I entered college I was deadset on going to med school but this last semester some shit happened and now I'm seriously reconsidering my major/career aspirations. I talked to my friends who are shooting for IB and the allure of finance is grasping my interest. I would want to enter IB, but I'm afraid that it's too late for me as I'm already entering junior year after the summer and many of these friends have already secured junior year internships at BB's. I, on the other hand, have no finance-related experience except for some math courses and intro microeconomics.
The only thing that's working in my favor is that my college is a target school for IB and I have a relatively high (3.85) GPA in a STEM major.
I'd graciously accept any sort of advice or help on how to proceed.
Hey. Wishing you all the best and hoping things are good by you. If you want to build a career in IB maybe it makes sense to study the industry a bit. Not sure though what would be good for you in this particular circumstance. Again, best wishes
Thanks for the well wishes. It seems like I’d be the most interested in mergers and acquisitions. I feel like building strong client relationships is similar to the intimate patient relationships that drew me to medicine initially.
It will be tough, but biotech ER tends to take people with chemistry backgrounds because the science is harder to teach than the finance/accounting. In my experience it’s often people with advanced degrees in that position though. Just an idea.
Would getting into analyst positions be too unrealistic? I thought about taking an extra semester at school so that I’d theoretically have an extra summer internship opportunity. Could also switch my major to mathematics.
Getting into what analyst positions? From what you described it sounds like it might be tough, I tried to give an example of a FO role that is more receptive to your background.
Don’t want to give anymore advice than that as I don’t know your situation really. Ask your friends or professors for feedback on that stuff.
I was in the exact same spot - DM if needed
Networking is the name of the game. If you’re having trouble at the mainstream shops, shoot for HC/HCIT/BioTech focused firms — your background and interests are certainly a fit.
Make sure to work on your story for the “walk me through your resume question” or the “so if you want to be a banker, why did you study bio / why are you premed.”
there’s no wrong answer, as long as you put thought into the transition and can clearly articulate your reasons for switching, what skills you bring to the table, and your goals going forward.
Best of luck! Coming late to the game just means working harder, but it shouldn’t write you out of contention by any means.
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