MBA vs. MiF for 27-year old engineer to break into finance

I am a 27-year-old engineering graduate from Europe with 3.5 years work experience on an engineering company.
I definitely strive for a career shift towards finance.
My current options are:
1) Master in Finance in Europe
2) MBA in Europe

I would like to have your advice on which one would be the choice that maximizes my probability of success.
Given that it would take me two years or more I would be 29 when out: since I currently have no experience in the industry, do you think I would be in any case too old to land a job?

Any suggestions welcomed
Thank you in advance
Paolo

15 Comments
 

What was your major? have you worked for an oil gas company or for a precious metals company? I'm also in engineering and I'm considering the switch

 

I guess it depends what kind of finance job you are looking for. Are you interested in banking, trading, corporate finance, etc? Then you can decide which degree places those graduates into the role you are looking for.

 
Best Response

First of all thank you all ! To electriclightto / shorttheworld / FormerHornetDriver :
my dream jobs in finance would be equity research / asset management, but also corporate finance in a big firm would be great!

Summary of info/situation: MSc graduate in Engineering in Italy at 24 (GPA 4.0/4.0 and best student prize...) Three years Work Experience in Engineering company No work experience in finance or business

I am looking for a career switch and I am not totally risk-adverse, but I don't want to waste all the money I have (not quite a lot) to have a post-graduate education or MSc and after be unemployed.

I currently live in Italy, and as a matter of fact an MBA does not give you any possibility to land a job in finance (in many cases you do not land a job at all...) To work in Italy perhaps the only option is a MsC in Finance from Bocconi (2 years), but I am afraid I would be too old and regarded a strange career switcher with no experience and I would have really hard times landing a job. Can someone share his experience in Italy?

By the way, I am totally ready to get out of Italy.... any suggestion? So summing up, my Fundamental Question of life:

My age is too old to do MSc/MBA do the switch and land a job in Finance ? Any further advice you can give me over MBA/MSc in Finance? How is a 30-year-old former engineer with a MBA or a MSc regarded in the financial sector? Will he ever get an interview?

Thank you in advance. This forum is really priceless

Paolo

 

Ciao Paolo,

as stated above, an MBA is your best bet. Try to get into top schools such as INSEAD or LBS and you will be just fine. Switching with your background is quite common and I have met people with your background which were able to move from engineering to investment banking with a top MBA. Stay away from MSc, especially in Europe, since they are made for people with no experience.

I'm grateful that I have two middle fingers, I only wish I had more.
 

Paolo, The average age at both LBS and Insead is around 29-30, so I don't think getting in should be a problem. However, many people enter business school with very specific career goals in mind that they then change at some point during the program. Also it's worth noting that SDA Bocconi also offers a post-experience Master of corporate finance, which you might want to look into.

 

why doesnt anyone mention breaking into the field via networking?

Would networking be looked down upon if you used this approach at age of 27 as opposed to age of 22?

 

Networking on your own to break into finance is EXTREMELY difficult. You want to be at a top b-school where you can leverage OCR and other resources to meet firms and network with people.

 

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