There seems to be a lot of jerking off to the MBA degree (and to some extent the MSF) for getting into Finance, and this is absolutely rightfully so. However, in discussions about the HKSG (and other related masters programs) I have noticed that people often go on to work at places like World Bank, UN, IMF, and various governments in either think tanks or public policy positions.
My question is, specifically what type of jobs are available to someone who just graduated from a HKSG type program?
(seeking advice other than to just research the recent grad's LinkedIn's and/or check the program's website for placement stats.)
What would one's career look like in the long-term if they attended such a program?
Did anyone here attend such a master's program or know anyone that did and can elaborate upon their experience, type of people who attend this program, and future career prospects/campus recruiting?
Seeing as how World Bank, IMF etc. are still money-related institutions, how closely does the work there mirror the traditional finance roles (IB, PE, consulting etc.) that this website has become so fond of?
What type of transferrable skills would be learned in those positions?
How realistic would it be to expect to be able to make a lateral into one of WSO's favorite industries after a stint at an IMF think tank or World Bank role?
If someone was looking to make such a transition would an executive MBA or some other type of additional education be more of a necessity?
Lastly (not going to pretend like this isn't at least somewhat of a consideration), how "lucrative" would you say a role at any of these places is as far as salary, future earning potential, lifestyle, benefits etc.?
I have a number of friends that did HKS, so I can comment there.
The student body is comprised of people primarily interested in public policy or public administration roles. As a result, recruiting -- both in terms of the opportunity set available to students and the overall vibe of the student body living, breathing, and hoping for their dream role -- is geared predominantly towards exactly that.
The people I know who seem to be most economically comfortable out of HKS are those who either took an MBB role (few) or did a joint-degree with HBS or HLS because of some unique angle they wanted to pursue.
In that latter group, most were URM students who were receiving substantial enough financial aid packages where the extra year on campus didn't matter because they were a first-generation college student / immigrant during their childhood years / had some other hook that made them compelling to the adcom and served as 'brochure bait' where the school could print their student profile and success story in a glossy pamphlet about student diversity.
I know in order of frequency, the private sector placements were to consultancies, international development, then law firms. Most were one-of-one placements, meaning only one HKS grad that year was going to that firm.
I have no idea what compensation looks like for people outside of banking or consulting (and to some small extent, BigLaw), so unfortunately I can't offer any color there.
World Bank and IMF and similar roles are not a fantastic stepping stone to traditional banking or PE. The most likely overlap would be if you were in some kind of development finance role and then looked to transition to a major infrastructure investor (like GIP, Stonepeak, Arcus, LS Power), emerging markets private equity find (Abraaj or Denham or similar), or impact investment shops whose strategy was most similar to your group's.
Know that the IFC is the private sector investment arm of the World Bank. That is probably going to be the role most analogous to a traditional private equity job. It is a massive organization and teams are based on region, industry, and stage (e.g. venture capital in Latin America is different from growth capital in APAC is different from private equity in Africa).
So, in summary, it probably isn't too realistic that you can use the dramatically easier acceptance rate HKS offers to game your way into a World Bank-type job that would set you up to transition onto 'the path' after only a couple years. If you chose to attend HKS, you're best off networking really aggressively to find your own opportunity at a bulge bracket bank and be the one-of-one placement at JPM or wherever, then progress vertically from there.