Non-Finance IB Exits
After 18 months of banking, I'm looking to leave finance more or less entirely, with hopes of jumping into the business side of tech. Easiest move would of course be corp dev (not entirely opposed to this if the pay cut or seniority cut is too high for other roles) but long term I think I want to be in product management after MBA so I think something like strategy, sales or chief of staff might be a better option (open to thoughts on this). I'm currently a second year at a mid-tier MM bank (BMO/Stifel/Lincoln/Oppenheimer type place) in consumer with primarily M&A experience but due to the rarity of a non-finance exit still have a lot of lingering questions:
1) do hiring managers for these roles think the non-tech IB background is appropriate? Is it possible to get looks or will I just be seen as a finance monkey and lose out to consultants?
2) should I build a resume for each type of role (chief of staff, sales, corp dev, strat, ops) or just one for corp dev and one for non-finance roles?
3) is the product manager pivot possible with just Python / SQL knowledge picked up on the weekend / after work with an MBA?
4) what are people's thoughts on the various roles available? Any info on comp, hours/WLB, and career progression would be appreciated. Generally looking to work around 50 hours or less (with more work during deal sprints if in corp dev) and get paid at least 90k base with TC of at least 120k, which I believe is doable with 2 years of IB in tech strat or corp dev
5) what (if any) recruiting firms would be good for this? I know of Omna Search, which looks pretty legit, but that's about it
6) last question - am I making a mistake going for these roles if I want to be a product manager? What are the downsides of taking the road less traveled from a B-school, career progression, compensation, and WLB perspective?
Will also be networking with alumni in these fields to get a sense of what's out there but wanted to put the question out on WSO in case others have seen this set of exits happen before.
Edit: added Chief of Staff but also have no idea what this means so would appreciate clarity on what that role is
Also interested
Bump! I’m super interested. I’ve heard that you need project operations experience to go into PM tho.
Interested in 3. Banker, proficient in SQL and know some data science Python. Thinking about this post-MBA, if I get an MBA some day.
If you're proficient in SQL and Python look into data science roles pays just as great as product managers but just as hard to get into but that's another option you have because you already have those two skills at are needed to be a data scientist.
*Another way to become a product manager is to take a role at a company and network within the company to become a product manager. For example I know plenty of people who are software engineers, business analysts, data scientists, marketing analyst etc and they became a product manager in the company that they were working for already. Product management is very competitive right now because of the pay so these are really the two ways of becoming a product manager. You don't really need SQL or any technical background to be a product manager. Some product manager roles are more technical so they'll be looking for someone from a technical background but those are specific teams. I myself am business analyst and my first year comp was 100k. Usually business analysts first-year comp is anywhere between 75k to 120k depending on the company. I'm going the second route my company is very flexible in changing roles they usually look internally before externally for hiring for a new role. So right now I'm networking product managers so when a role opens up they have me in mind.
*Coming from a finance background I would say probably business analyst or data analyst. If you have strong Excel skills you'll definitely stand out for both roles. But for the data analyst you would need SQL.
*In terms of my working hours are 9: 00am to 5: 00pm. Some days I finished earlier. I can count on one hand how many times I worked past 5:00 p.m. I work no weekends. Usually all corporate tech roles have lighter hours then other functions in corporate.
*Check out a website called "levels FYI" it's a salary information website that gives you insights on what companies are paying for a particular role. It mostly has a lot of tech roles but they're starting to update it and putting finance, accounting, operation roles and you can just get gauge of what these roles are paying.
Thanks, really appreciate all the insights. Is business analyst more ops focused than strategy? And when you say "first year comp", does that mean with 0-1 YoE / entry level? Would think that 2 YoE would garner base of 90-110 with a small bonus and some equity as I don't think I should be getting an entry level position. In my head expecting TC ~120+ and wouldn't want to make the move for less than that. That WLB does sound super nice though...
*Business analyst roles like I mentioned it's very team-dependent it can either be an ops or strategy role or a mix of both. But you can gauge exactly what it is through the team that you're interviewing with or through the job description. What you really want to look for is it a IT business analyst role within the tech department it's very different from a business analyst in the finance department or marketing department etc. The work you would be doing is different and it would be harder to transition to a product manager. But IT business analyst roles are very easy to spot because they usually call that role a "Business systems analyst" or an "IT business analyst" depending on the company.
The difference between a IT business analyst and a regular business analyst is they usually get paid more not by a lot but more and you're usually working within a development team with software engineers, product owners, product managers etc. So you're ready getting experience working within a development team and and seeing how different roles function with each other with in the team and you're working with different parts of the team and getting exposure working directly with product managers and possibly helping them with their tasks depending on the team setting
*Yes, 100k was what I got right out of school. You can probably get a probably 90k to 100K base and bonus would probably 10% to 15% of your base salary. And that's not including sign on which can probably be up to like up to 10k. So first year you would probably make like 120k including the sign on bonus. If you get into a tech company equity would push up your comp a little more.
I am not familiar with product management, but have seen lots of bankers make the switch after MBA. I recently made the switch to corp dev and can speak to your comp. With 2 years of IB you should be able to get 120k-150k TC, even 180k is not unrealistic. That’s for 50-60 hours per week with more on deal sprints. As far as recruiting goes, the usual PE headhunters usually also cover this space
Thanks, good to know. Did you end up looking at strategy roles as well? Curious to hear what the WLB / comp is there. Had a few corp dev interviews and TC was around 130 - 150 but the WLB was wildly different at each place. Some clear 9-5, maybe 9-6 (40-45 hrs/week) type places with others coming in more around 60-65 hrs/week (all while not on live deals).
If strategy is more like 40-50 hours a week with no weekends and cash comp 110-130 (which is what I believe is possible) I would definitely go for that over corp dev.
Moelis exits anywhere — PE, VC, ect
Great question, following.
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