Should I lateral from MBB to IB in my first year?

I'm graduating from a target school (HYPSM) and accepted an offer to work at MBB in NYC. I got into finance/business really late (came from a tech/CS background and only did tech internships). I realized I didn't enjoy tech or engineering, and to be honest I've always wanted to work in IB for the lifestyle and opportunities in private equity/hedge funds. However, as a senior, the only opportunities available were MBB full-time, so I took what I could get. If my goal is top PE, like Blackstone or TPG, is it worth it to try to lateral to a top investment bank in my first year, or am I better off staying at my MBB? Also, is it even common to go from MBB to IB?

I get that a ton of people ask the question of "how to get into PE from MBB." However, my understanding is that those people chose to go into MBB full-time after deciding they didn't enjoy IB from an internship. My situation is different in that I'm indifferent to either MBB or IB, and am open to either (in fact I would prefer IB) and I'm entering either without any experience.

9 Comments
 

I know of someone from my target Ivy school who went from MBB to a bulge bracket IB firm. However, that was from an MBB internship to IB internship and later an IB FT offer after the internship. I also know of a few people who went from MBB to PE, pretty common. So I’m sure both are possible.

Probably network like crazy with IB or PE people, also maybe do more PE / M&A / Finance projects at your MBB so you can related your experience more to the types of projects and deals you would do in PE/IB. Good luck!

 

mbb is not better pay, my friend has been at mck for 2-3 years and despite high ratings has like 140k TC. also mck is cheaping out on paying for mbas. they get rated 1-5 basically(not the actual rating) and been told there's no one getting 5 star reviews which is the new req for firm paying mba

 

This is for McK or for all the MBBs? Was under the impression for my MBB that as long as you agreed to return for at least the length you spent at your MBA (2 years) and you were in good standing, you would get it paid for free... Wow.

 

i believe it used to be like your case but there was a new change that came around after the consulting firms started taking a beating, but can't speak for bain/bcg as my friend only mentioned it for himself.

 

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