Q&A | Incoming Associate, Bulge Bracket, Career switcher (tech sales/BD → MBA → BB TMT IB), return offer | (6 years in Tech/Accounting)
Hey WSO! I'm hosting a quick Q&A for career switchers. I just wrapped an IB summer associate stint in TMT at a bulge bracket and accepted the full-time return offer, so I'll be starting as an Associate after I finish my MBA.
Brief background:
- Path: non-target US undergrad (D1 athlete, non-finance major) → 6 years in tech sales and business development at SaaS companies, most recently a director-level BD role at an accounting and IPO-readiness advisory firm → T5 MBA → BB TMT summer associate → return offer
- Summer: staffed on five live deals across sell-side M&A, credit financing, and ECM, covering software, cybersecurity, semis, AI/cloud infrastructure, and consumer internet
- Typical summer work: spreading financials and building models, committee materials (credit and equity), buyer and investor materials for sell-sides, positioning decks, plus a buy-side capstone we modeled and defended in front of senior bankers
- Before banking: sourcing new business, running diligence meetings with CFOs and finance teams, building and managing BD teams. Zero formal finance training before b-school.
Happy to answer questions on:
- Recruiting as a career switcher (networking, the MBA recruiting timeline, superdays)
- Technical prep when you're coming from a non-finance background
- What the summer actually looks like day to day, and how to stand out
- How client-facing and BD experience translates (and where it doesn't)
- Balancing recruiting with the rest of MBA life
Please leave your questions below.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some insights and advice tailored to your Q&A:
Recruiting as a Career Switcher:
Technical Prep for Non-Finance Backgrounds:
Day-to-Day Summer Associate Work:
Translating Client-Facing and BD Experience:
Balancing MBA Life and Recruiting:
Feel free to dive deeper into any of these areas or ask specific questions!
Sources: What to do Pre-MBA to prepare for IB recruiting, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/1-year-after-graduation-need-life-and-banking-advice?customgpt=1, A Guide for Switching From Commercial Banking to Investment Banking, PE Lateral Recruiting Advice/Stories/Help?, Advice on career and the switch into investment banking
del
Uh, this is actually a two-part question.
I’m applying for a summer internship at Brewster Keegan, and I was wondering a) what it's like being an investment banker and b) if you would write me a recommendation.
Why leave a high level role after 6 years to pursue MBA and banking? Was it pay, career trajectory, or wanting to move into high finance and this was the only shot?
Good question. Banking was the goal for a long time, and looking back each role moved me a step closer.
Tech sales was where I first got exposure to the office of the CFO. I was selling software that helped with problems their business models created. I got poached a few times and ended up selling different technologies, but it was always a single-solution sale, and the CFO's problems usually went well beyond what the software I was selling could fix. I wanted to be involved in those bigger problems.
That led to a role at an accounting and advisory firm, where the work felt a lot more like banking: IPO readiness, diligence, lots of time with finance teams. I was good at the job, but I had real imposter syndrome. I wasn't a CPA, so building credibility with very technical people took a lot of studying, and I was advising on work I only understood on paper. I wanted to be the person who could actually run the call and do the work, not just the one who won the meeting.
MBA was the realistic way to make that jump without a finance background. It gave me time to build the technical skills and access to recruiting at the associate level.
TLDR: the goal was breaking into the industry and the career trajectory that comes with it. Pay wasn't the driver. If you're good at the job, that part tends to follow.
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