IB or Consulting for me? 24F
Hey everyone, I'm looking for some open-minded advice and constructive criticism.
Some background about me: I graduated in 2020 from a non-target in 3 years and going out of college, I knew about IB but knew I could never get there (didn't even know what consulting was until a year ago). I chose my school because I was able to go for free and I had the best time! It was super chill but I worked hard and graduated early. Everything was paid for by scholarships including my housing and I got to study abroad! Due to me going to a non-target I had always considered IB but knew it was not possible for me. Growing up in the silicon valley, I knew I wanted to work in tech. I had done interviews/internships at companies like Salesforce and LinkedIn and ended up working for another tech company right out of graduation in tax. I did that role but a year later I got the opportunity to switch doing M&A for my company on financial due diligence and integration. Since then I have worked on over $30b of acq across lots of different verticals/industries focusing on tech. I never knew I would ever even have the opportunity to do M&A and I am so grateful. I really like M&A and I loved my company, people I work with but I am beginning to realize it is because I have work life balance! People I work with truly care about me, what I want in my career, and genuinely want to support me. However, I'm leaving my current job because of low pay and limited opportunities for advancement.
I've applied to several business schools and been accepted to a few (Stern, Cornell, Dartmouth, UCLA). My dilemma now is that I originally wanted to work in internal strategy at a big corporation, but it seems I might need experience in IB or management consulting (MC) to get there. I love M&A work, but I'm hesitant about banking due to the demanding hours and intense work culture. I prefer a supportive environment where people treat each other well. Despite working in finance, I don't think I am that great at financial modeling, etc. I'm also not particularly technical, but I excel at high-level thinking and problem-solving. I really see myself long term in ops as I am really good at broad projects.
From my research it seems like consulting is harder to get into than banking (just because there are less firms). If i don't land at JPM/MS/GS, I can at least go to Moelis, Lazard, Evercore, etc but if you don't get MBB, you get Deloitte. I'd rather not work for a firm like Deloitte. I know it might sound a bit stuck up, but I'm being honest about my preferences. I think my M&A and finance experience would really help me get my foot in the door at a BB bank.
I think part of my hesitation stems from feeling insecure about my abilities. I'm leaning towards consulting because it aligns better with my strengths, but I'm afraid of not getting a job in that field. I am afraid I am not good enough to get MBB. If I recruited for MBB, I would like to do focus on consulting for M&A. On the other hand, I'm considering banking as a path to eventually transition into corporate development, which is something I've always wanted to do. I would like to do corp dev or corp strat out of my MBA but I don't think I have enough of a strong foundation to get there. To be honest, I never knew I would be here. I never thought I would even have the opportunity to do IB. But I wouldn't have ever considered it without my current M&A exp.
I know that no one can tell me what to do, but any advice would be appreciated. How did you pick banking over consulting? Money doesn't really matter to me, I just want good experiences for me to go back to corporate and have my corporate career. I care about people treating me well in the workplace as well.
TLDR; Work in M&A in finance/integration, going to BS, do I do consulting or banking? LT goal is to do corp dev/strat
"If i don't land at JPM/MS/GS, I can at least go to Moelis, Lazard, Evercore, etc"
It doesn't work like this lmao
MBA recruiting is significantly easier than Analyst recruiting. At Ross, for example, they have touted that all non-international students who recruited for banking landed offers. Add in that OP is diversity and could go to core banking schools, she has a good shot at landing a top shop.
“Despite working in finance, I don’t think I am that great at financial modeling, etc. I’m also not particularly technical, but I excel at high level thinking and problem solving” Answered your own question. Seems your strengths lie in a consulting skill set so I’d say go for that. Best of luck!
If you’re bad at modeling and want people to treat you well then you’re going to hate banking and it would be tough to succeed.
You seem to have centered your research on firm prestige, I would take a look at what the jobs entail and what sectors you’d like to work in. While you may be a good candidate from an M7 depending on the strength of your interviews/technicals, those firms are all exceptionally competitive and deny many more MBAs than they take.
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