Investment Banking post-MBA at 31-32?

I am prepared to be roasted to Hell and back but need some career advice here. I am 28 years old and am considering going back to get my MBA with the end goal being entering into NYC bugle bracket investment banking at likely 31-32.

I was unemployed from 2016-2021 with no excuse, just partying and chilling subsidized by parents and the occasional bartender funds. I now have a great, albeit operational role at a major accounting firm, but part of me still wants a piece of the IBD pie. I hustled/networked my way into my current role, and am comfortable in that I could lateral to a relatively high-paying position and ultimately retire in my current company. I believe I now have the ambition (cringe), but I accept my deadbeat 20s may have done permanent damage as a potential candidate for the world of IBD.

Is it possible to get an MBA at a non-top 10 program and leverage that into an IBD role at a place like GS or JPM in my situation/age?

3 Comments
 

It is possible in the sense that many people use an MBA as a career restart/pivot but you may get asked about your 5 year employment gap on your resume and you should have something prepared better than partying.

That said, nowadays banks recruit summer associates from a larger subset of universities than before so if you can land a top 15-20 MBA and you can network like you say you can then it could definitely be possible to land in IBD.

Goldman / JPM is a bit harder (not saying impossible) but there are a lot of banks out there

 

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