Non Target MBA Career Pivot-- Advice
Hi all,
What I am looking to do is make a career change into finance in order of priority of:
- IB Associate programs
- IB analyst programs
- M&A analyst roles
- Corp Fin / other FLDP's/ financial consulting (a "if nothing else pans out" option)
My background 26yo:
- Undergrad big state school BSBA ops management
- Went to fortune 50 company into manufacturing leadership program (~3 yrs experience since)
- Started mba finance part time with a non target so I could finance it myself (hindsight tells me that was a mistake)
- Enlisted into the air national guard in tech job to serve and learn a new skill (IT)
- Set to graduate may 2022 3.9 gpa, working on getting SIE knocked out, taking some IB courses on Udemy, reading Rosenbaum and pearl's book
My concern: it's do or die. My understanding is that if I don't secure a FT opportunity this recruiting cycle, being on the older end of the spectrum might inhibit future IB opportunities if I pivot into a finance gig to try and secure some experience first. I have been diligently networking and studying in preparation, but I have reasonable suspicion that employers seeing a non target, non experience related candidate are more so on the reluctant end in perceiving me as a viable candidate. I'm telling you right now I'm a work horse and I believe I embody the can do attitude employers want (+social skills), but everyone wants that hard resume experienced proof (source: intuition). I am not above going into an analyst position first, but I don't think that notion registers well with employers either.
WSO: I ask of you to give some assessment of my viability and perhaps recommend some paths to pursue to either enhance candidacy or preparing a contingent plan if IB doesn't pan out this time around. I am by no means signaling defeat; however, I need to have a back up plan because I MUST have a new job by May 2022. I need to take steps towards a finance career and work on steps to un-pigeon-hole myself (no thanks to 20yo who was not well thought out at the time). Side note: Corp dev appeals to me. I was thinking that if I do not make IB this time around, I set myself up to gather some key experiences and maybe in 3-4 years apply to corp dev roles. Thoughts?
I appreciate any and all advice, help, and perspectives you may have to offer. Turning to WSO because slicing through information on google searches and youtube are no longer doing it for me.
Hi wso-hjc, no, I never sleep and so I can respond to any lonely threads (like this one) at all hours of the night. Impressive, I know ;-)
More suggestions...
If those topics were completely useless, don't blame me, blame my programmers...
Tbh this is a hard one but I can relate to this situation
3 tips you might want to address:
Attempted and successfully completed a somewhat similar pivot but my MBA was target and those were the challenges I faced. I think if you can leverage your network and get in front of people make sure you have a solid answer for those pain points and you should hopefully have a decent shot
Hey thanks for the response. That's excellent feedback to consider. I can put some brief answers to that.
1. I did not plan well. I started into a decent job and just figured an MBA would be good to pursue part time while working. I knew I could leverage it someday but I did not have the end in mind initially. It wasn't until 6 months ago when I sat down with myself and was honest about where I want my life to go. Subsequently, I realized I put myself at a major disadvantage by not planning this out. Life lessons learned the hard way.
2. No direct finance experience because of the path I went into after undergrad. Supply chain sounded like a good career field. It wasn't until I was placed into my current role that this was not the move for me. I should have pivoted early on, but I wanted to give the opportunity at hand a fair chance.
3. Yupp. I have done the research and I know what it is. Intense, exhausting, demanding. I currently work variable hours up to 70hr a week and go to school part time and am in the national guard. Grind is all I have ever known. The learning experience one could get in two years of IB in overdrive are incredible compared to someone only putting in 40-45 a week. The development opportunity would be worth the time spent even if grueling.
Thanks for commenting. Also, congrats on making your career pivot. First handedly, I can attest to the experience so nice work on "making it". I plan to follow your lead.
I did it. It's not do or die I broke in when I was years older than you, it took me more years to break in, and I broke in a softer market, while not being a US citizen! So, absolutely doable. My guess is you are working / lower-middle class type of background, so you didn't even realize what investment banking is until it was too late, and I am absolutely rooting for guys like you. So I did 5 minutes of google searches and I think I have an outline of a plan for you
I would advise you to aim low. Examples of people you should be reaching out to:
feel free to message me for more details. Cheers!
Addendum:
Some more links. Odds are, these folks will like your experience with a large corporate. Be presentable, ask for a phone or video informational, get your story nailed down, and you'll be good. Everyone who's real in the business now has good deal flow, and if they are not looking for help, they are not real
https://www.cambridgewilkinson.com/careers-students/
http://www.bentleylp.com/careers/associates/
Thanks for sharing your story. Definitely sparks some motivation. Interesting how you have picked that up from context clues, you're right. Father spent his life in a factory and my mother was a hair stylist. I went to college and was recommended "Supply Chain" because it was a decently lucrative career field and seemed interesting at the time. Should have done better research and weighed options more holistically.
Thank you for the the advice and even as going as far as researching some options. I will explore those. As much as I would like to "break in" I don't think I could afford to do it pro bono unless it would be some sort of part time work in tandem to bringing in a monthly income. Truthfully, I've been targeting probably 80% BB and 20% MM. I'll look into LMM as an entry point. I think the ego encourages us to go "big" but nothing wrong with starting small and working up. Thanks!
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