Military Career Switcher. No MBA?
Hello everyone, I am a military officer with a STEM undergrad and a data analysis masters. I took some finance related classes and enjoyed financial modeling, so I would like to transition to IB, PE/VC, or a fund without taking a working break to get an MBA.
Is it possible to break in at the analyst level from the military without an MBA?
I have about a year until on my commitment, what can I self study to best prepare over the next year?
Thank you for any help or advice!
I don't have any experience other than we look fondly on veterans at our firm. The leadership and ability to operate in a high stress environment plays very well. However, we only hire experienced folks, so I can't help you out much.
Over the next year I would:
- brush up the resume
- understand how your skills translate to the business world (Zero Blog Thirty did a good podcast on this a while back)
- look up every bank's veteran hiring program
- sign up for a modelling course (or do it on YouTube)
- get an industry guide so you understand the lay of the land
- start networking - I'm a little unsure how you would find people, maybe LinkedIn, but reach out to other folks from your branch of service, or even unit who have made the jump and foster a relationship with them
Thank you for your response! I am glad to hear that veterans are looked upon fondly in the industry.
Great recommendation with Zero Blog Thirty and the veteran hiring programs. Do you have a recommendation for industry guide? I did my initial industry research using the MBA Mission career guides.
The WSO one is actually pretty good for PE. Otherwise, there are a bunch of free materials that posters have put on here, if you spend a bit of time searching you may be able to find some of them.
There are thousands, of varying quality, so it's tough to find good ones. Try to research the source a bit before paying.
I know 2 enlisted guys who left their respective branches and did an undergrad degree and then started in IB as analysts.
Any reason you don’t want to do an MBA? For banking, you could do an MBA and then come in as an associate.
I’m assuming you used the GI bill for one of or both of your degrees. Sucks because top MBA’s are so expensive, but if you are going to a top school with your sights on banking, you’ll be able to pay the loans off pretty quick if you’re strict.
If you have a family I can see why you wouldn’t want to do another 2 years of schooling for the MBA, but one of the guys I mentioned above was married with kids and started at the analyst level. Both guys did internships though during undergrad which they were able to roll into full time analyst positions.
GI bill not an option for me because of time in and attending a service academy. I’m not opposed to an MBA and understand the salary upside is there to make the cost worthwhile. I am exploring to see if I can get in on analyst level on sell side (or even buy side) and promote directly or go back later for an MBA with funding or because I can use it for a switch from say IB -> PE/VC.
From an outside perspective thinking if I can get in without the MBA then it’s possible I might not need it.
Gotcha - it makes sense if you can pull it off. I will say that MBA programs love academy graduates, and the fact you also have a masters on top of that makes you a great candidate regardless of if you do one now or in the future.
I highly recommend searching for fellow graduates in the industries you could see yourself in and contacting them. Hit rate should be pretty high. Who knows, maybe one of them is willing to give you a shot, or at the very least pass your info on to someone else. LinkedIn will allow you to filter by university, and if you want to focus on a particular geographical area, you can filter by location too.
Good luck bro
Appreciate it! Definitely pursuing both paths in parallel.
I didn't realize you came from a service academy (thought you were just a post-grad OCS guy).
Those places have the strongest networks of any school. For example, we have a West Point grad at my firm, there is not another West Point grad that he can't get on the phone immediately.
You should be more than fine, just find the alumni and start speaking with them.
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