SEO for IB - Honest Opinion? Alums & Everyone
Long time lurker on this site, first post.
I'm looking for insights that anyone, particularly alums, might have about the SEO Career program for IB. What are your general thoughts on the program? Do you feel like participating in SEO adds value that makes up for the expense? What was the actual training like?
Some background:
Junior from non-target
Received offer for an SA position at a BB
Also received an offer from SEO (so presumably I can combine offers)
Thoughts? I think the training and networking could be especially valuable, but as a broke college student I'm unsure if it justifies the cost. Thanks,
I'm a recent alum of the SEO career program and I participated in MLT as well. I've been working full time for roughly 7 months now. The training was better than what my bank gave us as interns and if you do your work you will be well prepared to hit the ground running. Not sure of what you mean by expense as the program is free and it is an opportunity to make an 85k pro rated salary. You do 150 hours of training during the time leading up to your finals (march or so) and then do another two weeks of in person training where you will be busy with classroom instruction and networking events. There is stigma attached by some people (read: haters) but I don't see how the stigma is any different from those who got a job through a relatives connections. At least with SEO you still have to interview with firms and distinguish yourself from other applicants. Not so with nepotism.
I also graduated from a non-target, public state school where I studied finance and economics which supplemented SEO and my internship. Really the only shot with getting a front office, or any new york finance gig was through SEO or personal connections / utilizing relationships with faculty at my university. Thats pretty much how the dice roll for non-targets.
In addition to the training, connections I built and the internship SEO has served as an introduction to prominent bankers and private equity executives (Henry Kravis, Jamie Dimon, Jim Monihan, James Gorman through the speaker series and networking breakfasts that the firms host). I've also met a lot of finance people in various roles / positions through the SEO networking events. Many of which I still keep in touch with. Additionally, SEO helps to facilitate the PE transition through a very selective supplemental program they have.
Thanks for your insight. Just to clarify, by "expense" I mean the cost of living in NYC for two weeks during the training. Lodging, food, transportation, etc. But it seems like you believe what you got out of SEO more than makes up for whatever that cost it.
If you don't have cash for the first couple of weeks I would try to get a loan from a relative, bank or sign up for a credit card and pay it off when you get your first paycheck (credit unions have looser lending standards if you don't have a lot of credit built up yet). I found a 1BR place on Air bnb with two other guys and crashed on the couch for two weeks. The apartment was so small we had to move the couch to use the oven lol but we all ended up getting great jobs out of it in the end.
NY is expensive but NYers also spend a lot by choice, there is a way to have a good time on a budget here if thats what you're looking for. My first summer internship in NY I made $8/hour and lived with my cousin who was also getting paid similarly and ate Uncle Ben's ready rice for dinner occasionally lol.
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