Seattle Finance Junkie seeking IB professionals for networking

Hi all,

I am grateful to have found a resource like WSO with as many active, knowledgeable, and generous contributors like you all. I am currently (and have been since undergrad) an analyst for a commercial bank in the Northwest where I have been an underwriter for small/mid-market clients for roughly 4 years. IB has been a career goal since junior year however graduating at a west-coast, non-target school shrunk most opportunities to highly-unlikely. Even through my work experience tells the tale of a commercial banker, I have self-taught myself most IB concepts, and models based on textbooks, internet resources (WSO/Macabacus), and feel the hands on experience is the last remaining piece.

This past year, I transitioned into our business acquisition department, where I have underwritten the debt portion on many small scale leveraged transactions. This has been wonderful experience and also has added to the insatiable desire to cross an IB opportunity.

I am seeking individuals connected to any IB firms in the Seattle that may be willing to connect/network. I know there is a ton of insight my knowledge you can't self teach and I would be forever indebted to pick your brain!

Thank you!

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Best Response

My first thought was that FIG groups could potentially be a good fit if you can demonstrate a solid understanding of the banking space and can demonstrate that you have self-taught yourself the IB concepts. I guess you wouldn't have to do FIG, but i'd expect you have a slightly better chance there given your sector experience. Not sure which firms would be good to target on the west coast, but hit up linkedin and see who you can find. I'm sure you can find a list of Seattle firms on here or just by searching google. Only one that comes to mind is Cascadia and that just happens to be a name I remember when I was in the recruiting process, I know nothing about them

Array
 

Thanks for the feedback! I have actually worked a couple deals for some Cascadia clients and have built some awareness around my desire to break into IB. I am hopefully grabbing coffee with an MD after year end to discuss potential opportunities. I have found the smaller local firms are more willing to look at potential analyst hires without previous IB experience which gives me hope. Thanks again!

 

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