Is 32 too old to be a post-MBA IB associate?
Contemplating getting an MBA. I am 29 years old and would be around 31-32 when finishing the program.
Is 31-32 too old to be an IB associate? Has anyone done this pivot before post-MBA?
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No. Veterans are a good example of older Associates that join IB at a later age. Know of a verterán who is at my school’s business school that received a return offer at a BB - he will be an Associate at 35.
No. I graduated at 32 and am still in IB.
i was a summar anlayst this year and one of the summer associate was 35
To be clear, you're asking if starting IB as an associate at an age that is 1-2 years older than the average incoming MBA associate is too old?
Know of associates even older than that! Even know of an analyst older than that (military)
Not at all. Know 2 summers at one of the BBs who were 34+.
I started my MBA at 36 and joined as an associate. Its definitely doable, and there is an argument to be made that some additional salt and pepper in your hair will be an asset when managing analysts and clients. The tough part will be putting the ego aside when working with senior bankers that are your age or younger.
This last part!!!
Decent advice for everyone in banking, regardless of age or title.
Associate managing clients? lol what
Not all clients are C suite nor is all "managing the client" work is high level, important stuff.
Sometimes you have to deal with manager/director level people that would be your peers in most professional settings as an associate. Sometimes you have to nudge the CFO to sign off on a set of new numbers or a bunch of VDR stuff. "Managing the client" is one of those things that sounds cool and important but half the time, it's just chasing people and making sure the client's own team gets work done on time. Back on the point of the comment above: sometimes being visibly older and having a veteran background really helps with having authority despite only being an associate and pushing client employees to get stuff done
Age is just a number
I’m vet and was A2A, of course I look younger so I didn’t have issues connecting with my peers
I don’t think you need MBA now to pivot as associate though. Covid lowered the bar big time, at least from what I see across EBs in terms of the paper quals to get an interview.
Isn't 29 maybe a year older than the average starting age for an MBA?
You'd be completely unremarkable for your age.
No. Put the ego aside and do it if you want to.
The hardest part is the ego (and this comes when you compare yourself to your fellow MBA classmates who are not in banking)- you will be getting instructions/being told off by seniors who are younger than you, and also probably more immature than you. And given how process oriented and uninspiring banking can be, that will take a toll. Your MBA classmates might be working for cooler companies, working better hours, doing somewhat more meaningful work, and generally you will feel that they are making more progress than you are (albeit you are making slightly more money post tax at a BB, and more at EB). If you can take into account all this and be ok with it, then do it.
I think the important thing is to know what you want out of the banking gig - if your intention is to quit after a year or so and pivot to something else then it shouldn't matter- you treat it as such. if your intention is to stay in banking for long, then I'd probably suggest choosing a bank based on the right culture. Best of luck!
That’s like the first two years out, but a couple more years down the road and things really start to diverge.
I can't talk about general corporates outside of tech because I know very few people doing finance related stuff in non-tech companies. But I can talk about people who joined banks and left for tech, or seriously contemplated finance career but joined a corporate- tech /consulting firm:
1. Consultants are easiest to get out of the way. Most of my post b school classmates have left to join tech/startups/corporates after 1-2 years. They got paid 30-40 percent less than bankers but had arguably better exits and id even say better experience. I've talked about this elsewhere on this forum, but consulting single handedly gives you the most variety of exit options out of any of post MBA careers.
2. For Tech, this is where big tech gets interesting. Contrary to what you have observed, I'd say for me it's been 50/50 in that 50 percent of people who joined big tech (after banking / straight after MBA / after consulting) continue to do really well:
- I know a friend at Amazon (not from my class) who is now at level 7 after 3 years of MBA. You're welcome to check Levels but his base is now 300k and everything added in probably tops out to 650k annually. He's one of the most driven people I know who gave up on offers at banks to summer and return to Amazon. I'm incredibly proud of him, and also somewhat jealous that he can at this point probably pivot over to a VC if he wanted, or easily take his Amazon experience to join most tech companies/startups. Maybe I will make more than him in first few years (marginally too) but the optionality for exits he has is priceless. If you stay in CD and move to strategic finance (CFO path) or move to investing path (either as VC or CD) you can fundamentally do really well, even better than banking in the long term.
Many of my alumni from B school have gone on to become CFOs now at tech firms around 10-15 years out. Are they making more money than my MD 10-15 years out of banking? Probably. Being in Strategic Finance/Corporate Development can single handedly give you a shot at progressing through to the CFO path (or even Chief Strategy - pivot to BizOps role). But he's not the only one. There are number of my classmates and seniors who have done tremendously well in tech over the years in finance functions. And I'd probably rate about 30-40% of alums in this category.
- I also know friends/alums who after 3 years of MBA are still at level 6 equivalent - and maybe making anywhere from 300-450k depending on PM/CD etc roles. Arguably not as successful but definitely not as bad as you think it is compared to associate comp and hours. But if this is the path you see yourself going down, and you don't mind the banking hours, then yes- banking is a firm winner purely in terms of money in the short term. Not necessarily experience or long term projections.
The short answer to what you state is always that there's no linear path. Banking is very much less risky (but you wonder if bonuses now will stack up compared to last few years). But it's also an illusion. The Golden handshake at associate/VP level is an illusion to tie you up. Becoming an MD and thriving in a bank is hard. Post VP level, you are competing with career bankers for same clients and work, and service sector is a zero sum game. If you look harder at comp and levels for people out from business school after 7-10 years, you can make a fair argument about doing something outside of banking.
As the original poster is asking: is it worthwhile - the answer is it depends and is very much a personal decision.
In banking, you will always out earn at least 50% of your MBA class in next 5 years. However, you also significantly limit yourself in many ways- particularly when it comes to being the real top 10%. For what it's worth, I have no regrets about my path in banking. If I had a choice, I would still do it because it gave me clarity on a lot of things, and I'm fundamentally good at what I do. However, I also think if I spent the same amount of effort (in terms of time), I'd do really well in tech world - and it's probably clear to me now that the career path there is not as less lucrative as you or others make it out to be. If you're driven and smart, you can make a stellar career in tech or outside of banking and get rewarded. I'd argue those rewards are bigger outside of banking and consulting than being in them.
There was a summer analyst in my class who was 31, think you're good.
It really depends..everyone gives older vets as an example but they’re obviously built a bit different than the average Big 4 Audit manager. The older guys in my class definitely struggle with the hours, learning curve and technical aspect though they are chummier with the senior folks
A first year analyst in my class is 30. Never too late.
It's unfortunate but many of the older associates I have worked with have had bad egos and were fired for it. They thought their role was to "manage analysts and clients" vs actually doing work and putting their head down and ended up torpedoing their career due to that attitude (never learned how to model and would crumble in the face of any technical question from an MD or client)
Absolutely not. Singaporeans and Koreans serve national service.
I'm 31 and currently a stub associate, many of the associates in my class are my age or +/- a year or two
what does the stub part mean? like you joined halfway through the year?
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