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It really depends on the person's pre-MBA work experience and what school they go to. Obviously, the better the school, more options you have and easier it would be to make a transition. At the same time though, certain transitions, like trying to get into PE or HF without any relevant experience is NOT gonna happen even if you are coming out of HBS.
Among the students at top programs, going into MBB consulting, either from a lower consulting firm or from a different industry altogether (engineering is very common) is probably the most common transition. Also, going into IB is quite common, especially for those who were in "lower-tier" finance like accounting for a Big 4 or those who did military or government before b-school and want to make money.
IB to HF or PE is the most difficult because it's so coveted, and you're competing against other finance superstars. IB to ER or S&T is definitely more common, but pure trading roles are VERY tough to get since there are so few spots. The recent regulatory regime has not helped matters either. Most of the MBA's who do land at S&T desks at bulge bracket banks end up in sales.
Thanks Brady - That's good stuff
But I'm not really asking about directly out of school - I meant transitioning once you have already done 2-7 yrs (arbitrary) in IB or MC - POST MBA.
You're saying that PE/HF is unlikely even after 3-5 years out of HBS?
I know that a top HF out of a 10-15 MBA is unlikely - but my question goes more like this:
Can: Small HF + top 15MBA+3yrs BB IB = Large HF Analyst or some of the other tranisitions that I mentioned above.
Basically, what are the exit opps for post mba associates/VPs (everyone discusses PE, but Im more concerned with the other options)? and how much does pre-mba experience help? How easily can the guys that are 30+ move around?
Doesn't anyone ever see senior associates and VP's at their IB leave for something else?
Oh, I misread your original post.
It does get easier the more experience you have after b-school. So if you work at a good IB group for a few years after b-school, yes, transition to HF or PE is totally possible and rather common. However, the most elite PE firms like blackstone/kkr/carlyle/bain capital, etc., do tend to only hire people from a few select schools, mostly HBS/Stanford/Wharton. But for almost everything else, any top b-school combined with good post-mba work experience should be fine.
As a general rule, the older you get, the less your pre-mba work experience matters. If someone is at a small hedge fund making good money and his other credentials are in order, he should go for the top 7 b-schools and then leverage that into landing at a larger fund. Going from a hf to a BB IB is usually a step down.
Got it. that is exactly what I figured. Thanks Brady
Yes, most would see it as a step down but I was more on the execution side- with some exposure to the investment themes - but since it was macro-based, I have no real experience with the financial statements or modelling. This makes my options limited.
My thought process was that MBA+IB would fill in the gaps for a L/S fund - as am i very unlikely to transition into a large Macro fund from MBA (they like former sell side traders and academic-type economists, not to mention H/S/W/C)
Anyone have experience moving into industry from IB? Would one generally have to relocate from the NY area? Or Going into consulting at Delloite/Booz/Moniter/Lek/OW type firms and transitioning from there?
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