Non-SA IB Analysts (AN1) - What was your application timeline? Restarting my career possible/crazy?

Calling all investment banking analysts who were not summer analyst at the bank they currently work for... what was your application timeline?

Currently a Corporate Finance analyst at a high growth tech/software company in an FLDP. In my ~18months here I've rotated through all of the core finance departments (GTM, FP&A, IR), frequently interfaced with  executives/analysts/bankers, assisted with the IPO (was sitting in IR/Strategic Finance at the time so had very hands on experience), and made it through multiple quarterly earnings/quarter close/planning/forecasting cycles. At the end of the day, corporate finance is just not where my heart is. I find the salary low for the amount of work I do (60hr weeks normal but 70+ is not uncommon for total comp less than AN1 base) and my day to day be rather cyclical and uninteresting (similar to general IB work - modeling and creating decks).

While my company went through the IPO dance, I became incredibly interested and jealous with the transactional exposure my IB analyst counterparts were getting (in addition to exits down the road). I know it's a lot of hard work and not just riding around in black SUV's, but it's not like I'm getting that now either... Now that I'm wrapping up my FLDP, I'm really thinking about restarting and applying to a few AN1 positions with the class of 2022. End of the day, I just don't see myself having a career in corporate finance and don't want to be pigeon holed into it until I get an MBA (which I really don't want to do).

Note: did not apply to IB SA positions as I was working at a buy-side shop at the time

General thought process for applying to AN1

• Get the training and time to pass all of the exams (nothing compares to IB training and having some leeway to hammer down on all fundamentals is never bad)
• Have strong work experience and know SaaS/Tech sector/accounting well (general accounting could be a bit stronger) with pretty strong modeling skills due to current position which could help me land top bucket 
• Have a cohort of analysts to work with rather than trying to join the club late and fit in
• Potentially get into a high performance group that I wouldn't have been able to get into upon UG grad (ideally software/tech @ a BB)
• Pay increase / growth opportunities

Is this even possible? Too old? When should I start throwing some applications and networking calls out?