non-target with no experience--> success story or failure story? you tell me.
hey guys. long time lurker here who’s been stressin out a little bit, and i guess i feel more confident admitting this to strangers over the internet rather than my friends and family who think i have my entire life figured out.
basically, by the grace of god, i landed an S&T SA stint in NYC this past summer coming from a non-target and without having any previous relevant work experience. it seems hard to believe, and i too questioned how i was able to pull that off, but ultimately it all came down to incredible timing and the fact i’m a D1 athlete— pretty much the only reason i ended up with the offer.
fast forward and I ended the summer without a return offer. I did try hard throughout the summer and i established some great relationships with the other interns and people on my desk. many people around the trading floor told me i could use them as a reference because they enjoyed having me around, but the offers came down to a numbers thing and frankly there was no space for me. I do admit my quality of work was not the best because I was so new to that kind of work environment and struggled with the steep learning curve.
fast forward again and i ended up accepting a full-time offer in back office at a BB………NOT in NYC. At first I did some networking but I ultimately did not have the same passion and drive that I had during internship recruiting. I figure this back office gig will help me make some good connections and I will be able to stand out among the analysts (many of them come from my school and i’m a top student).
As of now my plan is to taking full advantage of this BB experience while also studying for the GMAT and hopefully go to a top business school down the line. I know you need about 5 years of experience before bschool so I’m thinking about moving back up to NYC after a year or two either internally or for a different role if i don’t like ops.
Do any of you have a similar experience to mine? There seems to be a lot of threads regarding moving from BO to FO, but not much the other way around.
Not really sure what I’m looking to get out of this, but don’t hold back.
Good luck with your efforts. The only thing I’ll say is you don’t necessarily have to wait 5 years for Bshool. Depending on the school, some prefer a slightly younger group but others may prefer folks with more experience under their belts. I’d say for the most part it can range from 3-5 years which is ideal IMO. So if you know you’d want to go for bschool after this gig, it’ll be best to figure out what job you’d like after graduating. That will help you work back and identify the exact schools that will help you land there. Then see their avg work ex and decide how long you should stay in this BO role. With a BB brand on your resume and a concerted effort to get some meaningful work along the way, shouldn’t be a problem.
thank you so much for your insight! I will definitely take some time to think about what my long term goals are so i can best position myself for that path. appreciate the response!
Ut et veniam quia. Error ratione sit qui ut. Nobis qui nam veniam non.
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