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Bloomberg/factset focused course. I have had a strong passion for finance ever since. I spend a lot of my free time exploring and learning everything I can in the could break into banking if I can land an interview. I'm confident I have what it takes (persona, drive, etc) but I'm afraid I won't even be considered given my "numbers".I'm willing to grind my ass off and be patient.Thank you for taking the time to read and respond!
Once you have experience, the more your gpa starts to become irrelevant. This is not always the case, but for the most part, it is skill and experience that matters. If you are trying to get into B-school, than you would need to take the GMATs, but if not, they are not a requirement for getting hired at an investment bank. (They might be with idiot headhunters for PE). You would be coming in as an experienced hire.
How large is the company your are at. If there is a IR, Corp Dev or Strategy team, see if you can float over there for a year. Also during that time, continue to network and become an expert at financial modeling, and PowerPoint pitch books. Your advantage is that you have a strong knowledge or AR, AP, cogs, and other aspects of the company's balance sheet , that financial modeling should come easy to you. Another selling point is that you have industry experience. That can be valuable in many groups.
You should show off your knowledge and resourcefulness. Don't even mention your gpa unless someone else brings it up. I hope this helps.
It’s a Fortune 500 company but the finance structure is very ladder based. Strategic work is reserved for directors with 15+ years of experience.
Would a good GMAT score trump a bad GPA? I feel like I could tell a pretty good “comeback” story. I was told by a banker that I won’t be considered if I don’t have a good “number to point to”. He also works at a top bank so I feel as if his opinion is skewed.
At this point I’d work at the smallest bank in Antarctica if it meant I could do “real” finance.
How do small boutiques compare to middle market banks? I just have no idea how to find these “small boutiques” I keep hearing about. I don’t care how much the pay is at this point, it’s not really about that. I just want to feel excitement at work.
I really appreciate your feedback!
Corporate finance is real finance. Where do you think the numbers for the financial models come from? As I said before, you would find financial modeling and what bankers do to be second nature due to your corporate finance experience. If it is difficult for you to move internally, try to find a company that will allow you to float around and be put on interesting projects. Still go for banking if that is really your passion, just make sure you will like the reality of banking. Yes, should try for the local, small shops but there is no harm in going for the large ones. So many people drop out as analysts and associates.
Your gpa is not that bad. I have worked in banking for a while. My gpa nor test scores have never been brought up during an interview and I never put it on my resume. If you spoke to a banker with less than 3 years of experience, he probably does not know how experienced hiring works. It is very different than campus recruiting. You might have a VP or MD hardo that needs the top gpa or top GMAT, but that is not that common. Most senior level managers only cared about experience and skill. They are hiring you to make their life easier. If you want to take the GMATs, then fine, but you should not lead with it. Anyone over the associate role wants to make sure that they will not have to train you from scratch. Your industry experience will also be valuable when you are client facing.
I worked in a top BB for years. I can not count how many times someone with a top gpa was an absolute dumpster fire. Having a strong gpa from a top school does not mean top performer.
Thank you I really appreciate it!
One last thing,
How much should I value timing?
I want to put my best foot forward and be completely ready to begin sending those emails and applications. The last thing I want is to land an interview when I’m not ready.
I’ve recently put the modeling portion of the technical training to the side to focus on the GMAT. Would it be wise to split my focus, practice more modeling, and start applying at small local shops now? Or lengthen my time horizon, smash the GMAT and then go full focus on banking prep?
To restate, I’m taking the GMAT to have a number to point to to excuse my lackluster GPA to hopefully avoid being passed over due to the interviewer doubting my cognitive ability.
I’m sorry if this is confusing, I’ve had a lot of these questions brewing in my mind a long time now lol.
Thank you!
How old are you? I am asking to evaluate your timeline.
I’m 22, 23 next month. 9 months of work, still taking one last course at school. (Year long buy side program)
Happy Birthday. You are very young (lucky) and you have quite a bit of time to work with. I would say try to get a fp&a(or an fldp program) job with a Fortune 500 (or Fortune 1000) company that will allow you to rotate to more strategic roles such as corp dev, corp strategy , investor relations and corp treasury. While you are there, network with bankers at all types of firms such as BB, MM, Boutique etc. There are plenty of people who have made the transition from corp fin to investment banking. I see this on this site all the time. I would do informational interviews to make sure you will like doing the day to day work of a banker. Corp fin is a nice gig that pays well with work/life balance and you can live in any city. You can live in NYC or a low cost of living city. That will be a concern of your hiring manager at banking during the interview (not gpa). They will question why you want to leave a nice gig for 80 hours a week of grunt work. If you have an honest answer, you will be fine.
Take the GMATs for an MBA program (Not your resume). If you do not have any luck by the time you are in your late 20s to early 30s, then apply for an MBA program. This should be a last resort because MBA business schools">M7 MBAs are extremely expensive and personally not worth it.
As for gpa, your gpa is pretty good. It just does not meet the requirement for recruiting students. When you apply for banking, you will not be a student anymore. There are plenty of people who got really terrible gpas from non-targets who got into these graduate programs out of school through internships and networking. Just avoid HR. The gpa is just used to screen resumes (because recruiters are morons.) Once you have the interview, your gpa goes out the window. They will care about skill, experience and fit. You do not need your GMATs. You might look like a hardo. You will be an experienced hire, so your gpa is irrelevant at this point. GPA does not measure cognitive ability. You could have taken extremely hard classes or had to work while at school. Your gpa is not the real world. You really do not need a lot a cognitive ability for investment banking (It can be just a clerical job at times). Your corp fin job requires more cognitive ability. Trust me. I have done both.
I hope this helps.
You should also look at the valuation firms as well. They are a lot less picky.
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