Seeking advice for switching from Software Engineer to IB

Hi all,

Thank you for taking the time.

I am currently a software engineer in west coast and would like to switch career to finance, probably ER. I know this might be very difficult but I still want to give it a try. So I am keen to get some advice from you all before starting my plan.

Background: CS undergrad and grad, mid 30 software engineer, not in a management role, no need for visa sponsorship, non-native speaker. Interested in math/finance. So I took some math/finance basic courses over the past few years. Have a little bit basic knowledge on math/finance and would like to learn more.

I know MBA might be the only way to get into the finance world. But before that, I want to take some math/stat/econ/finance courses to better equip myself as well as making sure this is the right path I want to choose.

So I am planning to take an Econ MA (NYU/Columbia) or MFin or even a post-baccalaureate program (no degree) if I can’t get into the previous two. Then go to MBA. I lean towards Econ MA in NYU because its curriculum is more flexible with less required courses so I can take a lot of courses I want.

Of course the cost is pricy, not just the money, but more importantly, the time. It will take me about 4 years to finish an MA and an MBA. By the time I graduate, I will be almost 40! This is the major concern I have. Will this be a huge obstacle for me to land a job in finance, like almost impossible? Or just I need more effort and eventually I could land on a job? I really don’t want to go to an MBA without having any finance knowledge and not knowing whether this is the right path for me.

I looked through some posts on this forum and found that some people were able to switch their career and get into IB without an MBA. I know these might be special cases and I would not hold any expectation on this. But if any of you have any insight on this, could you shed some light? Will getting an intern when taking the MA degree help me get into a finance position without an MBA?

Thanks for reading this long post. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.