Help! GS BO -> INSEAD -> Nothing in IB?

I just graduated with an MBA from INSEAD, after five years serving a Goldman FICC trading desk as a BO guy in NY.

I missed the typical BB recruitment cycle because to do it right I would have had to start looking even before I got accepted (no summer internship option), and anyway the recruiting activity was rather miniscule and primarily London-focused, where I would be riddled with work-permit issues on top.

What's my best bet to proceed with hunting down an IB/PE/M&A role in NY/US? Recruiters? Cold-calling? LinkedIn InMails? I know lots of folk in S&T but absolutely no one in IB/PE.

Any advice is appreciated. To top it all off, I'm in my 30s now...

8 Comments
 

Ouch! My first thought is why you would choose a program with no internship option if you are a career switcher? What is your work-permit issue? Are you US citizen? France? Either way I think best option is to start shamelessly calling INSEAD alumni in IBD and asking for informational interviewers. Someone is going to need someone eventually (hopefully).

 

Well, I was dinged from all the other programmes, and I perhaps underestimated the importance of the internship. (Nice username you have, Booth had me waitlisted forever but finally dinged me.. too bad, it was my top choice. INSEAD was a phenomenal school otherwise though!)

I've been reaching out to alumni, who very nicely forward me to HR, who tell me - with appreciable politeness and interest - that the Associate class is already hired and they don't know what they can do ( and I'm out of school now so they can't consider me for the next class either). Guess I've got to keep trying.

I can work for anyone in the US, but no such privilege in France, or the UK or elsewhere.

 

Your best bet at this point is trying to cold call/email smaller US firms that don't have the traditional recruiting cycle. You don't want a large gap on your resume so you should try to find something ASAP.

 

Thanks for your help.

Actually through my connections I have managed to get an offer from a small commodities hedge fund to be a quant trader - if I take that eventually to end the gap on my resume, will it negatively impact my future on the IB/post-IB side? Will I be forever branded a trader and confied to looking for trading roles (not saying its a bad thing)?

 

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