MBA now or wait??
Wondering what is a better move to enter high finance. Started my career in a back office role at large financial services firm and hate it. I am a 2024 grad from a random state school interested in pursuing ER/IB, and just cannot seem to land a job in either field even after countless interviews. I am considering MSF but am not sure if this is the best move, and should just stick it out at my firm until MBA ready.
I am also open to essentially any school that is considered a “good” school. Just want to set myself up long term and am willing to take on more debt to do so.
Any tips or insights would be appreciated.
It’s too early for you. You need 3-5 years of experience for T-15. Might be some exceptions like HBS 2+2, but general rule is that. Wouldn’t hurt to prep though, get your GMAT sorted, etc.
Would you recommend msf instead? Or maybe just focus on cfa?
Few things.
What's your definition of a top school? M7? T15? Certain schools in these ranges have really strong pipelines into banking, while others may be more tech/consulting focused. 2024 grad means you have around 1.5 years of experience, which is significantly lower than the mean. The only people I see at my school that got in with 2-3 yoe are those that are sponsored and going back to their Pre-MBA firm.
What exactly do you do in back office? If you're at a BB that does some adjacent work to FO, there might be a shot at getting in that way.
Also from what I've seen at my previous BB, noone in Banking had an MSF so I don't think it will help your cause
3.65
T15
I work in a transactional reporting role. Nothing tied to FO work
it will be a tough sell to apply for next cycle MBA. You really do need at least 4 to be competitive, especially if it's a BO role. If you are dead set on MBA I would start studying for GMAT if you have time, otherwise your best bet if you want to do immediate jump to FO is to keep networking
Ok sounds great. Should I target a relatively easier “feeder” role like fp&a first? Would you consider MSF say at a school like USC that offers a 3 semester program?
yeah that's def an option, to go to something that has more transferrable skills or gets you more face time into high finance, though that can also be a grind. I'm not familiar with a 3 semester MSF, I would check to see if any banks recruit out of those programs. the value of an MBA for banking is that all of the banks come to you
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