This is so hard
I'll probably regret this tomorrow and sorry for sounding like a little bitch but I just need to rant to someone.
It is currently 12.39 AM where I live in and I just 'failed' an interview with a boutique IB based in NY, guy was upfront about wanting someone with previous transaction experience already. This job meant the world to me as I'm from a developing country where the capital market is small, there aren't many opportunities at all really, and I'm already 25, time is running out and there are very little opportunities, if any, at all.
I understand but can't help but feel devastated, I've always wanted to be in IB and I know I have no one to blame but myself. I went to a pretty decent uni but I had to work while studying and I wish I was one of those people who can balance both things but my grades ended up pretty mediocre - which led to me not getting good internships and I had to work at some back office job after graduation.
I worked hard and climbed my way slowly towards an investment research role and then a valuation role in a boutique advisory firm. I thought to myself finally, I am now able to gain hard skills and it would be highly relevant for IB. Then, my dad passed away a little after working there, my mental health collapsed, I broke up with my gf and I don't have friends that understand me, on why I care so much and it's just a job. I know it's just a job, but for someone who came from nothing I have always wanted to prove everyone wrong and frankly speaking getting into IB will quite literally change me and my family's life. Not to mention I have also quit my valuation job. as it was a small outfit and there was basically not much exposure to the sort of work I want to do, instead I was being tasked with sending out letters and entering name cards into excel sheets, thousands of name cards. I feared that my career would stagnant and I spoke to the directors of the firm and they basically just said that this is the way things are and I wanted to take a bet on myself, looking back I do not regret it at all, I am actively recruiting now and have got an offer for a strategic finance position, while also waiting for interviews with another companies that contacted me.
I just want a chance man, I spent the last 36 hrs preparing for the interview as it was on short notice and all of it did not matter in the end (while working in my previous firms I was also actively seeking to move to corporate finance, and even did an interview with an IB for an ECM role but I got the same response saying they are looking for someone with experience with I am dying to get).
Sorry this was a really long read and I'm gonna go drink now. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Are you asking us to… give advice pls
HAHAHA no im not that guy, im just ranting
Sorry about your Dad. Work in the strategic finance position for a couple years then get a top FT MBA and then go to IB.
from the interview I have found that basically the job is about forecasting/budgeting to improve operational efficiencies and a lot of inhouse management consulting, should I still take it? I have spoken to a few veterans in the banking industry and what I have heard about MBAs transitioning into IB was a mixed bag, things just work a little different here (I can confirm that there is no dedicated MBA pathway into IB). As for the top MBA you have mentioned, if you meant that as the American ones I can tell you that I will never be able to afford that and I'll might have to look for schloarships if there is any available. If I were to go down that route the best I could afford is probably top schools in Asia (Singapore, China, South Korea).
Why the fixation on IB? Do you truly understand it takes over your entire day and life with the time commitment?
Plenty of other jobs out there that pay well into the 6 figures, and don’t require 80 hour standard work weeks
I’ve never met anyone in IB who was happy in their position.
Hi, as I have mentioned, I live in a developing country. Most corporate jobs do not pay well at all and plenty of people who has worked for 10+ years are only earning a litte more than me. I want more, I want to move up in this world and I want to be somebody. I don't care if I'll have to work 100 hrs per week (easier said than done) but I am done being poor and I don't ever want to feel stressed about money and not being able to provide for my family. High finance/IT/certain engineering/O&G/RE are the only options to be paid well, and I really enjoy investment work.
Resilience is an important trait to learn in the face of both professional and personal adversity. Life will always find ways to disappoint you, shock you, upset you, and make you feel like everything is worthless. You grieve your shortcomings or struggles and then you wake up the next day and get on with your life. There is no hack to picking yourself up and moving forward. There’s no trick or secret. You just do it.
It sounds like you are going through it right now. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to keep walking.
Omnis ut est tempore nesciunt natus beatae vel nam. Quidem sequi et ipsum nemo porro.
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