Going from K Street to Wall Street
New to this site. Will be brief. I studied Poli Sci, some econ. In the two years since graduation. I have had incredible opportunites in national politics and have survived thie 2016 election with truly great offers for someone my age. I now am working in government affairs for a major trade association. Still young (23 years old). I want to jump to Wall Street. I have began emailing alumni at GS, JP, Moelis, KKR, etc. A lot of advice I receive is that I should slowly move into government and regulatory affairs in a DC office and slowly learn more. Does anyone have any different advice?
I would agree with that advice.
get some more experience, and then go get a MBA from a MBA business schools ">M7 if you want to go to wall street.
However, if the money is as good as I hear in lobbying, you probably should not leave unless you just dont want to do it anymore.
That's good advice. I also know friends who made the transition to MBA business schools ">M7 MBA from state department/congressional/west wing roles. The pay might not make the shift worth it for you but the connections are great. One of my friends who worked in the white house under Obama still gets to visit the West Wing; they're now a consultant post-MBA.
If you want to work in IB, this is one of the occasions where CFA progress might help show that you're serious and interested in finance. The content isn't directly relevant to IB but you'll learn enough to talk the talk in technical interviews down the line. Pretty much everyone who wants IB from an MBA business schools ">M7 gets it but this will put you ahead of the other 'non-traditional' candidates. It will show long term motivation towards your goal. Being able to understand the mechanics of financials before coming to school is also helpful.
As an aside, DC has hands down one of the best, if not the best CFA society. It's huge (a few thousand members) and great networking in and of itself, especially if you want to return to DC. An upside is a lot of PE/AM firms attend the events, which means their associated professional services firms (IB/Consulting) also like to poke around.
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