Changing from Internal audit to something else

Hello, I'm currently working at GS in internal audit but honestly don't want to stay here all my life. Is it possible to do an internal move to another division? Any advice on how I should go about prepping myself to potentially bring this up to other teams?

 

I'm honestly not 100% sure. I changed my major last minute to accounting, graduated soon after, and then this offer fell into my lap. I know I definitely don't want to be an accountant but when I look up things about IA everyone is basically saying it's a dead end job, and I'm definitely not trying to put myself in that type of position. So I planned to stay for about a year or two max and audit some divisions and make a move into the one I find most interesting. So I guess I'm looking for just general advice as of now. Im definitely not interested in IB though.If I had to pick off top of my head I would say possibly asset management, corporate banking and wealth management type of teams. Maybe even into HR? Doesn't really need to be the most technical role where I'm crunching numbers all day long and building models.I'm also doing my MBA part time until I figure out where I'm trying to go.

 
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I think that it would behoove you to spend some more time in IA before you decide if it's for you or not. You're probably on, what, a two-year rotation to start off? There's a reason why those rotations exist and its because IA is a learned craft that you have to learn from others and grow into. You're barely 6-months into IA, you don't know anything yet :)

IA is far from a dead-end job. Do this - go to the web sites of any large banks you want and look at the people at the very top of the org chart (say the top 10 people) and then start researching their backgrounds. I guarantee you that you will find that a large number of them have spent some time in IA. Plus there is good career longevity in IA - when the layoffs start, you don't start with the department that is keeping you from regulatory fines. Because then you're more exposed and now you have to explain to regulators why you let your IA go. No one wants that. Also, a Democrat administration is usually good time to be in IA too :) 

If you do insist on moving, give it at least 2 years. Take that time to form relationships with some of the people you're on audits with (business side, not IA). That will give you a sense for who you want to work for and in what capacity. They'll use you (at first) as the interface back to IA, but that's the price of admission to join the business side, completely standard. You can grow and manage your career from there.

 
Alexhoffman29

I'm honestly not 100% sure. I changed my major last minute to accounting, graduated soon after, and then this offer fell into my lap. I know I definitely don't want to be an accountant but when I look up things about IA everyone is basically saying it's a dead end job, and I'm definitely not trying to put myself in that type of position at 22 yrs old. So I planned to stay for about a year or two max and audit some divisions and make a move into the one I find most interesting. So I guess I'm looking for just general advice as of now. Im definitely not interested in IB though.

If I had to pick off top of my head I would say possibly asset management, corporate banking and wealth management type of teams. Maybe even into HR? Doesn't really need to be the most technical role where I'm crunching numbers all day long and building models.

I'm also doing my MBA part time until I figure out where I'm trying to go.

Part time MBA isn’t as good as full time MBA if you want to make a switch. You should consider T10 FT MBA programs.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

i worked in fund accounting for a year and now I'm starting a new job as a credit controller analyst at a MF (APO/KKR/BX). hoping to move internally there.. but I'm in a similar situation as you and also hoping there's just another option around it lol 

 

Some years ago I had beers with a head of IA at another large bank and some of his people. He was lecturing his team on how many young people who go into IA, do it in order to become subject matter experts in some field, and then transfer to that field, in the first or, slihgtly more likely, second line of defense. The transfer you describe is perfectly normal and should not be frowned on.

Unless your group is unusually toxic, you can openly mention to your co-workers and to the teams you audit that you want to become a better SME in a particular field and eventually move to work in that field. If you're doing a good job in IA, people will keep you in mind when there is an internal opening.

 

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Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.

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