Would love some advice as to how to enter the IB space
First of all, would like to extend my gratitude to anyone who reads this post. Hope you're having a lovely day!
Info: -
- 24 years old Male based in Sydney
- Commerce/Law Degree UNSW graduate of 2023 with a Distinction WAM.
- Currently working in a boutique law firm and have been here for 2 years. Had dreams of opening up my own practice but definitely regretting it at the moment.
- Have completed my Wall-Street Prep Course.
My question is just, how do I sell myself? How do I stand out amongst the competition who have amassed experience in banking/Big 4 where they have already accumulated deal experience?
Is there something I can do like have a pitchbook as my cover letter and completely surprise everyone?
Thanks guys!
Tough market to enter into at the moment in Sydney. I have just moved to an EB from big 4 transaction services. If you want to go to IB you need to get deal experience wherever you can - apply for any banking graduate programs as well as the big 4 deals teams (valuations and m&a are the more attractive for banking moves). Alternatively you can try and get a gig in M&A law before moving to banking.
Why do you actually want to go into IB? No, honestly, it's an actual question. I would suggest you get an MBA from a top business school, but even then it might be a waste of money. Of course, breaking in is still doable, considering an immense amount of luck is on your side and your professional and personal network within finance, but it's still an uphill battle. Even though UNSW is considered a target, going to law school is going to make it much harder for you to break into IB. You will be heavily questioned on why you decided to go to law school if you were interested in finance, so be prepared to have a good,logical, and motivational story. Also since you have 2 years of non-finance-related professional work experience and considering the current IB job market at the moment it makes it even more difficult.
It's not uncommon to see M&A or Restructuring lawyers go into RX at EB's, but again, it depends on what law you are currently practicing.
Like I mentioned, it's not impossible, but it's really reliant on luck, and you are going to have to spend many years working backward to get an entry-level position.
Agreed with above, but if you’re going to do an MBA, do it in the USA. No point doing it in Australia.
Big 4 Transaction Services/Deals Modelling/M&A is your best bet in my opinion.
Edit: Don’t use a pitchbook as your cover.
Hey, just wanted to flag that although most of the response above is correct, the part about the difficulty of breaking into IB as a commerce/law student is not. Not only is a Comm/Law double degree extremely common in Australia for prospective IB analysts, but it is actually generally considered the best possible course choice. I actually remember applying to one EB which specifically had “Commerce/Law” as the topmost option when selecting degree major. If you take a look at current Australian IB Analysts on LinkedIn, something in the range of a third to a half of them would have done Comm/Law at Sydney.
Definitely do not do the pitchbook as cover letter. Banking, like law, is very formal/traditional and this move would be met with "wtf" rather than props for creativity.
Think MBA is your most direct route. Or go to restructuring law for a year or two and then you can get into RX IB pretty easily, as they need people who understand the complicated legal side of it.
That said - as said above - IB sucks and most people burn out within a year or two, would be unfortunate to spend a lot of time and money for a job you will very likely leave shortly. I think M&A law is a better path without lots of trouble getting there if you just want to work in the finance realm.
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