European MBA to land a job in T&S with I-bank?

Hello everyone,

First-time poster here, and I really like these forums a lot. Great information, some funny people, and seems like everyone wants to help.

I am trying to switch careers (prior military officer looking to work for an I-bank) by getting an MBA in Europe. Specifically, I want to work in trading/sales for a top-tier I-bank in Europe. I currently live in Europe, and have been here for over 4 years.

Besides LBS and Insead, what are the other "brand" schools that could help me successfully transition careers from non-finance (military) to investment banking (trading/sales)?

I'm looking at Oxford and Cambridge primarily, and I think I have good chances getting in there. But, I'm not sure if these schools would offer me the same opportunies (or odds) of navigating this career switch as compared to LBS/Insead? I prefer the 1 year format over 2-year, but I understand this could limit the internship opportunity.

I realize that one doesn't need an MBA to be a trader. But, since I'm a career switcher and have almost 5 years non-financial work experience, I think the MBA (with a finance focus) offers the best solution to my needs.

Anyhow, I look forward to any positive/negative feedback.

Thanks, William

13 Comments
 
Best Response

You put it out well: LBS and Insead are definitely leading the way in Europe, with Insead being the best way to enter consulting firms, and LBS having an edge in the City (not only because of location, but also thx to LBS focus on finance). After that the most famous historically would be IMD in Switzerland. Then you have to think local: go to HEC if you wanna make a career in France, Erasmus if you want to land in Benelux, IESE/Insituto de la Empresa for Spain, Bocconi for Italy, Oxbridge/Cass/Warwick for London, etc. In the perspective of getting in IB in London, I'd go for Oxford/Cambridge/IESE. Oxbridge for brand name and location, IESE because it's become very strong in the last few years, and i know that their graduates get IB interviews quite easily usually.

My rank would be: 1. LBS/Insead 2. Oxford/Cambridge/IESE 3. HEC/Erasmus/Bocconi/IMD 4. Warwick/Cass/Instituto de Empresa/Cranfield... T be fair, i'd say group (2) and (3) are pretty much on the same level, but i'd go favour group (2) personnally.

 

So, "William," are you ...

a) an Indian guy with 5 years of IT experience who wants to get into banking? or

b) a former military officer with almost 5 years of military experience who wants to get into S&T?

_______________________________________ http://www.drmarkklein.blogspot.com/
 

Thanks so far for the comments/feedback. I have already signed up for that Oxford Open Day sol in November. Going to be in the UK for about 10 days doing "scouting."

In response to some of the other questions:

1) I am a former military officer with 5 years of military experience and desire a career in S&T, ideally as a trader.

2) My Bachelor's is a BS in International Strategic History; my Master's is an MA in International Relations

 

HAHA mark klein...

I now get your joke.

I see some Indian guy copied my post almost word-for-word in another thread also asking for advice. Hey, I give him points for being "efficient!"

 

The questions were aptly versed in your words and hence i thought it appropriate to add my queries to the same... ofcourse with all the credit to trading@home aka William . Thanks for letting me do the plagiarism for good reasons.

Cheers Ashish

 

imo LSE MSc Finance and Economics is probably one of the best degrees to get into S&T in Europe. It's usually a one year degree but the 2-year program is available for those without an econ bachelors

Ashish: he didn't let you, you just did it. btw,I hope you don't talk like that in person, especially with a foreign accent.

 

Lol I'm pretty sure Ashish and tradin@home are the same person:

"William (Oct 15, 2007 1:15:47 PM) What is the approximate percentage of MBA students who desire to switch careers from an IT and/or military background into I-banking (specifically a Trading/Sales function)? Of those MBA students, what percentage are able to successfully achieve the switch?"

-William -LBS -military -IT -strange 'T&S' or 'Trading/Sales' phrase

'IT and/or military' So WHAT are you? It's either one, none or the 'and'...unless...

 

First, thanks everyone for the feedback.

Deadjackal! Wow, are you a part-time detective? You might want to stick to your day job, because you're making a fool of yourself.

I did participate in the LBS chat. I come from a military and IT background, b/c I managed IT and provided telecommunications services in the military. Go figure.

I'm neither Hindu nor an Indian. I've nothing against them or anyone else for that matter.

I'm actually American.

OK. You also recommended LSE as an option to break into "Sales and Trading". Why then are you looking at the LBS chat? I already looked into LSE a while ago and discounted that as an option. Since, I have no economics background, I'd rather do an MBA for 2 years than a Msc for 2 years. In my opinion, an LBS MBA outweighs the LSE Msc.

 

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