UNC Kenan Flagler MBA for Banking?

I've been offered admission for MBA at UNC Kenan Flagler.

I'm a career switcher hoping to break into banking. I've looked at employment reports and searched on WSO, but would like to hear from members on how the banking recruitment is at UNC currently?.

Looking at the companies list in employment report seems promising, but surfing in LinkedIn I see many alumni in non Ibanking finance positions at banks. So not really sure about how good the recruitment is.

Appreciate your thoughts on MBA from UNC for banking(for a career switcher with no prior finance related experience)

18 Comments
 

Sorry about the double post. Anyways hoping to hear from you guys. Personally don't know anyone in banking/UNC , hoping to get as much info as possible from WSO.

 

Have a friend in the program with prior banking experience - he landed Top BB full-time after his summer gig. But I think his previous experience in the industry helped quite a bit.

I believe MMs and BBs recruit there, but i'm sure you'll have to network extensively to make the best of it.

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Buddy got S&T gig at a BB in NYC after ugrad there. Definitely good school, not sure on specific MBA vs. Ugrad though.

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
 

Lots of UNC alum. senior bankers in Charlotte and Atlanta. Much more suited to banking in the South if that's what you desire. If not, I'd consider a similar tier in the Northeast, Midwest, or West Coast depending on where you want to be.

 

Cool. Im open to all locations in US. Right now my priority is to break into banking. NYC would be nice(considering long term career options), but getting an associate spot in a good BB/elite boutique/MM is my primary target.

 

As an analyst, I can confirm that associates who come straight from business school with no investment banking experience are often dead weight and are not being hired as much. Sorry to derail thread, but I dislike the idea of hiring someone and paying them more to do less work than the analyst supporting them.

 
Booger45As an analyst, I can confirm that associates who come straight from business school with no investment banking experience are often dead weight and are not being hired as much. Sorry to derail thread, but I dislike the idea of hiring someone and paying them more to do less work than the analyst supporting them.

Never mind the disgruntled analyst.

 

All of the Charlotte banks, especially the MM boutiques, have a hard-on for UNC. You would definitely get interviews.

 

Actually kind of agree with the disgruntled analyst. At my program (non-Finance focused MBA), people with finance experience (not IB per say, but corp fin, research, accounting, whatever) had the best luck, followed by past consulting experience and almost none with totally off beat background (not that many tried). Doesn't apply to military or female. But UNC does place a few. Heard of one interning at MS last year. Outside of Wells and SunTrust in the South, Charlotte also have few good boutiques. But they seem to prefer past finance experience if they can along with strong tie to the region.

 
Best Response

OP, we should probably be realistic and ask, "What are your options?".

If this is the only school you got into, then it probably doesn't matter a ton...unless you will just stay put and apply to other schools again next year.

As others have said, it is very possible you land at a good IB firm out of KF-UNC, the question is whether or not it will meet your expectations. A lot of people here would rather work at a Subway sandwich shop in North Korea than live in Charlotte or Atlanta...so they are very unlikely to 'settle' for UNC, since the network is going to be focused more heavily in the SE...though KF grads do make it to NYC.

I don't mind working in the South, and probably prefer it in many cases, so KF-UNC is on my short list of schools. Admittedly, it isn't my first or second choice, but probably my third...with the first two virtually tied.

You have to figure that going to a 'better' school will give you more access to those same types of jobs, but also consider that there may, or may not, be more equally or better qualified people interviewing for those same positions. That is to say, there are both benefits and consequences to each decisions.

And to the disgruntled analyst(s)...sorry for the crap you have to put up with, but some things just are the way they are. Unfortunately, not many analysts want to spend the rest of their life in IB, so most banks have to look elsewhere for folks to fill the ranks. Chances are, people that came out of IB and are going to bschool are only going back in it if they have no option...so the ability for banks to high experienced IB'ers isn't likely.

It's almost as if they have to find some fresh blood.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

Hey there hope to shed some light on your question, as someone who knows quite a bit about UNC I bank recruiting. Big Banks that recruit for IBD and that KF has a sizable MBA alumni presence at are: MS, BAML (Charlotte and NY), barclays, and Wells Fargo. In addition Jefferies, SunTrust (Atlanta), Lazard MM, Edgeview, Harris Williams recruited there and did the whole 9 yards (On campus presentation, career trek visit, on campus interviews). McColl Partners mostly recruits undergrads but has taken MBAs. Also count UBS (FT going there, on campus internship interviews, they made an offer but i think it was declined). UNC is sending a guy to Goldman IBD for the summer, he was military. Citi UNC has alumni at but it's hit or miss. JPM also brought some guys to NY for final round summer internship interviews last week, not sure the results. (Again these are all for IBD FO roles). Credit Suisse also interviewed some folks for their TMT group in San Fran.

As far as a career switcher it depends. Nobody in the class of 2014 was a prior IBD analyst but they did have some CFAs and folks who had pretty transferable backgrounds (i.e. investment research etc.). Those folks did very well a little bit to the detriment of the other folks who were total career switchers. For the class of 2014 most people either had multiple offers or no offers, I think about maybe 4 guys had only 1 offer, everyone else had multiple or nothing. However, some of those folks who got multiple offers were pretty big career switchers. The sentiment was that because the class was so committed the bankers had a lot of depth to choose from, word on the street was the bankers liked the 2014 class but because a lot of the offers went to the same people, the class is placing on the low end numbers wise. Class of 2013 was a little more spread out in that they placed 30 for internships with only about 3 or 4 getting multiple offers. One of the most successful in the class of 2013 who interned at a big time BB was a teacher. The moral of the story is that in on campus recruiting your competition can have an effect on your success in the recruiting process.

 

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