Miltary (Marine) officer with 20 years experience

working on wall street in what capacity? By 6 figure salary do you mean 100k or 300k?

Working in finance, IB, and by 6 figure, I mean $120k and up. $300 would be nice too.

You are far better off reaching out to retired O4s and higher that have made a similar transition to get their input than you are asking here. You have more time in service than a significant portion of this site has being alive. That said I worked for a retired submarine guy that was able to exit to industry via the UNC online MBA.

I would also go through linkedin and look for service members with the UNC MBA who had time in service and time in the program that overlapped. This should give you a good population to talk to re: career options coming out of those programs with similarish backgrounds.

Wait until you seperate and then go to a full time MBA, yes? Breaking in at 45 is unusual but doable. A finance MBA is not like passing the bar, graduating from medical school, or getting the CPA: those credentials have worth in their own right. The purpose of an MBA in finance is to use it as a recruiting tool, and the degree itself is basically worthless. It is not a license, a credential, or any sort of professional certification that qualifies you for anything the other guy can't do. What they DO is serve as a recruiting pipeline, and banks have zero incentive to look for candidates elsewhere.

Regardless of whether some 20 year old kid or an industry veteran tells you this, it does not change things. FYI I run several businesses and have been in industry for a while, and this is what I've learned. When I see vets getting shit degrees thinking it will help, I want to cry and then hunt down the bastards peddling the crap, and I mean that. The truth is that your military service does set you apart in some ways, but it does not make you an exception to the rules. I'm sure one or two people here and there have used these online degrees to break into finance, but the sad reality is that they reduce your odds significantly: and you're only allowed to do one MBA.

Going into finance in your 40's is like joining the military in your 30's. You'll get a few weird looks and people will ask you if you're sure you want to, but if you can do the work there's nothing stopping you. ESPECIALLY given you've been doing something worthwhile as opposed to being, say, and unemployed blogger for the last 20 years. You have significant accomplishment to differentiate yourself, so I'd say it's a fair shot.

Don't just focus on investment banking proper though. Look at Fortune 500, Equity Research, Asset Management, Consulting, and the full range of jobs within the service industry. I know that military/gov't consulting and/or contracting firms love veterans and the pay is $$$$$$ good

There's a lot more leeway with the smaller firms. Bulge Bracket banks have very regimented recruiting, but smaller firms are more flexible. Still though, finance is very rigid and while there's comfort in the structure, there's not much room for getting creative with the job hunting process. The end run around everything is networking. If you meet the right people, they can give you a huge boost. If some MD decides you're working on his group.....then you'll be working on his group, HR be damned.

One last thing: you may not need an MBA at all. If you hit up the military alumni network on Wall Street, you may find an entry level position, and you can just take if from there. Once you're IN, you just have to earn your promotions. The MBA isn't actually necessary to advance through the ranks. Just something to consider: entry level can actually be a huge plus because it will save you two years of school (and the expense)

Thank you for your service, feel free to PM me with questions

First of all, thank you for your service. Let me clear up some misconceptions. While their experience doesn't compare to a 20 year military career these kids generally have 5 years of work experience, so they're not attending for team building. What may get lost in translation is the key benefit of a full time top MBA program: helping land your first job out of graduate school and smoothing later transitions. The on campus recruiting is crucial as its a tried an true pipeline for slotting in to top firms. While Wall St loves the military and officers, your age will work against you. I think it would be very tough to get into a global financial center (NY/London) in a traditional front office role (investment banking, research, sales and trading etc). However, I believe you could be competitive for some interesting jobs that earn 100 k plus such as fortune 500 corporate finance, private wealth management, political risk among others. The issue is you need to do a complete career set and the online/part time programs won't let you do that. During a full time program you'd also be able to intern on the side to build up your credentials. If time is an issue, keep in mind the full MBA program is only 21 months end to end (3 of which are spent working) and this time flies by. If expense is an issue, then I consider (if i recall) the online programs aren't that much cheaper than full time, so you're really only looking at the foregone income (which you should make back quickly). Finally, I would think you could get a top 15 school to give you a shot...always a space for an outlier. Just my two cents.

For what its worth, retired military officers that I've met through USO events and such seem to do really well in the PWM space.

the reason I was asking about capacity because some positions will be easier to get into than others. Also, the salary figure was to guage what exactly you wanted as 6 figures is pretty arbitary.

I am a vet myself (much younger though) but would be willing to talk and share my experiences so far. Additionally, I know some other vets across the street and some groups that might be able to help you. shoot me a PM and we can discuss more and set up a time to speak if you would like. I'm not sure if you have enough points to message me so I will send you a message so you can respond if you want to.

RomeoOne3USMC

I've looked around this WSO for quite some time now and whenever I look at the online MBA threads I hear the same argument. "Online MBA's aren't worth it because you don't get to network or work in teams, etc etc." I understand that aspect for a kid that's in his mid-twenties and hasn't really worked with other individuals. Most of us in the military that are preparing to retire in a few years don't really have the option of going to a full time MBA program at a top 15 school (let alone M7). Some officers are fortunate enough to end up in non-deployable units in areas near Georgetown, Haas, Kellog, or anywhere else that puts them near a decent part-time program. For the rest of us that deploy on a frequent basis, this isn't possible. With UNC and Indiana Kelley offering online MBAs, it seems like this is the only option. Basically my questions is:

Does a military officer with 20 years' experience (combat, peace time, and team work/leadership abilities) and an MBA from a Top 15 online program (UNC/Indiana) have a legitimate shot at breaking into wall street at the age of 43? Is 43 too old and too late? Is the idea of a 6 figure salary expecting too much?

Don't worry. You have a legitimate shot. Age is not a barrier.

A lot of firms in the financial services industry have stepped up their recruiting and hiring of veterans.

Just to name one firm off the top of my head, Goldman Sachs has this fairly new program (launched in 2012) called "Veterans Integration Program" (VIP), which is basically an 8-week paid internship exclusively for veterans of the armed forces.

You will receive hands on training and get some good experience and will also get tons of networking opportunities within Goldman Sachs. As an added bonus, each person in the training program gets paired off with a buddy and mentor who is also a veteran (you have a common bond, they know where you are coming from, etc.) If things work out, you could return to Goldman Sachs full-time. Otherwise, you will have a great springboard into finding a job else where and starting your new career in finance.

The application deadline for this is December 15, 2013 and the internship itself is from April 7, 2014 to May 30, 2014.

For more information you can check out the link below:

http://www.goldmansachs.com/careers/experienced-professionals/veterans-…