Unconventional Paths into Finance?
These days, the most typical path into finance is studying business in undergrad and getting a first job in IB or something similar. But have you ever met any people who worked in a random field or job before getting into finance?
What did they do before, and how did they switch fields?
Recently had an interview with a director who used to be a HS math teacher for several years
Know a successful HF guy who taught for years
Yea a person I worked with this summer did their major in a middle eastern language. They’re a IB An2 now
Have seen people joining infra teams coming from M&A teams at infra operator groups, analyst to associate level
Had a networking call with an associate who was a personal trainer for a few years prior to joining IB
Guy I worked with quit his bio phd at a very prestigious school to join my shop
Went to medical school. Moved to ER biotech. Now recruiting for HF’s.
Pretty linear path tbh. Lot of guys in biotech with my background so they helped me along the way.
What was process to move from med school to ER? Did you target biotech specific ER firms or just generally applied to ER at banks
Knew a guy who spent 7-8 years working in a corporate job at an electronics retailer before joining ib as an associate, he’s now a director
Would love to hear more about this
There are so many people I’ve met in ib and finance in general who didn’t start from the traditional target school -> 3.8+ gpa -> bb path that have done well for themselves. I wouldn’t even call it unconventional, many people just start from different places or wanted to join a different field and that shouldn’t be categorized as something with a slightly negative sounding connotation. So what if one was a mechanic or working in a blue collar field before getting into finance - those roles require skill and grit just like ib, and as analysts we just build models, make ppt decks and process admin tasks all day. There are not many super challenging or highly specialized aspects about the role itself…
I worked in a no-college degree required field before attending HSW.
I wouldn’t really recommend that approach. But it’s certainly possible
Guy on my team was an analyst in cb for a couple of years then came to our group in cm as an analyst a few years ago, recently promoted to aso
I'm a mechanical engineer and recently moved to Restructuring entity at A&M. Path:
- Masters in Mechanical Engineering
- Worked 2y for dredging company
- Quit job and studied 1y masters in General Management
- Worked 2y for big4 strategy and internally navigated to RX practice
Interesting, what level were you able to go in at after your masters in general management?
Started as someone with 1 year of experience (Business Analyst 2). I got an easy promotion to Consultant 1 a few months after. Possibly could have negotiated to start as Consultant 1 but tbh pay scale differences are so small it kinda gave me room to be a 'high performer', exceed expectations, and get exposure to finance-heavy RX branch.
Came from research firm, worked there for 3 years and started over as an analyst 1
Would you like to share what kind of research it was? Like some financial research or totally unrelated?
I worked in a fintech startup prior to IB. Currently work in a FIG group
I’m curious how the outside industry laterals compare to people who took the traditional path though
Do you guys find these people are good performers?
It’s random from what I’ve seen. You can tell many have hustled and tried to learn as much as possible, they put in full effort in everything they do and are grateful for the opportunity they have. Others seem to have a different attitude towards work
My roommate worked in tech sales, then got a masters degree and now works at a bank in an IB coverage team
Did he join as an analyst or an associate?
AI researcher in tech —> Quant researcher in hedge fund —> lead portfolio manager.
Trade reconciliation —> trader —> trading MD.
Super model —> marry a billionaire —> MBA —> Venture capitalist.
DJ —> CEO of top investment bank.
Big4 FDD / Deal advisory into IB analyst
Did you get your cpa? Would having one help? And how’s the transition been?
How many years did you work in Big 4 before lateralling?
Anecdotally have seen quite a few ex lawyers who found their way into RX and groups related to stuff they worked on in law
My group has several people who used to be engineers for years. Now they're associates and vps
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