Best Related Fields for IB pre-MBA

Hi all, first post here. Here’s some background info on me and my situation: December 22 graduate from a non-target state school with a 3.82 GPA (4.0 GPA as an upperclassmen). Current position is at a larger regional bank in the PNW. Interned at a MM commercial team last summer and have been a credit analyst for them since September 2022. Decided during the internship to take my career more seriously. Beyond working as an analyst through my last semester, I entered the CFA program (at the time I was unsure on what I wanted to pursue, this looked like the best use of my time). Passed Level I in May scoring well above the 90^th percentile and will be writing Level II in November.

Recently reached out to some colleagues about leaving commercial banking and brought up investment banking in my city. I was given the idea that I had a better chance of breaking in than I initially expected and have since committed to breaking into IB. I want to note that IB in my city is not nearly as competitive as financial hubs like NY. I’m specifically looking at boutiques for work/life balance and this does not look completely out-of-reach. My background, with solid networking, sounds like enough to get my foot in the door for interviews, but the issue is just lack of open positions each year. I’ve met with a couple of bankers in the area, and it sounds like there’s around 10-15 analysts in my city at any point. Even though I feel I’d have a decent shot if a position opened, with the general state of the economy there could easily not be an open position for relatively extended periods of time.

Under a situation where too much time has passed to get into a bank as an analyst, I would shift my plan to getting into a solid MBA program (given the level of competition in my city, T20 or better would become beneficial) for associate positions down the road. Given my background, work experience, and good prospects with the CFA, what would be some fields within finance that would be a good stopgap until I begin an MBA program? Here’s some ideas I have, though I’m not sure what would be the most relevant:

• Stay in commercial credit analyst at a MM team or try to move up to a corporate banking position at a BB.
• FP&A analyst positions seem very plentiful at the moment, I’m unsure if this would even be better than where I’m at.
• AM/WM positions would work well with the CFA designation.

I’d like to think there are positions I can target that would be better than where I’m currently at but not as uncertain as IB given the limited space/competition for 2-3 years, then revaluate things while in an MBA program. Any insight would be greatly appreciated and if I missed anything that’s worth knowing I would be happy to add information.