Tech Grad - easy way to Enterprise Risk Management or struggle to IBD?

Hey everyone,

I'll cut straight to the point to keep this as short as possible. I have a Computer Science degree and masters in computational finance from a top UK business school.

As you probably guessed from the title, I want to join the IBD (yes yes, tech sector) and yes, I have a full understanding of what's going on in there. In fact, my master was just an "easy" way for me to get into the finance field. In my free time, I have studied pretty much everything that analysts need to know to get in IBD, as I have taken courses in corporate finance, accounting, modelling and all that beautiful stuff.

Thing is that I'm not really getting the chance to prove my worth. I reached the assessment centre stage of a BB for a full-time analyst position, however they said that even though they were impressed on how I taught myself everything and my technical knowledge would definitely not be an issue, the lack of experience in the field makes me a risk they are not willing to take (giving an excuse along the lines of: 'your market awareness wasn't as strong as other candidates').

Excluding that, I am getting NO chance to even interview. I am mainly applying for off-cycle internships (and I'm focusing on boutiques or small banks) to gain the "experience" that I am lacking, but rejections come one after the other, as they all want to proceed with "better-suited candidates" - some even offer me to join their tech departments (because if I wanted to go tech, I would spend all this money for a masters just to work in their shitholes and not go to a tech giant...).

On the other hand, I have an offer (from the same BB as they didn't want to lose my skills, ugh) for a full-time Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) role. Keep in mind that I have previously rejected an offer from a small firm for derivatives structuring (at least it was front office), which I didn't really chase- they were just really keen on bringing me in.

And, finally, my question/dilemma: Do I keep trying to get an internship in IBD, wherever and whatever I can, or do I accept the middle-office position and try to get a lateral after a couple of years? To be honest, I'm sceptical about the ERM role because the skills that I will learn are nowhere near what most of the groups in IBD do. But you know what they say: beggars can't be choosers!

Thanks for reading this! Can't wait to see what you guys think!