Attend B-School After 3-Year IB Analyst Program?
Hey guys, I am currently an analyst at an EB.
I love the work and love banking, but I 100% know that I want to get my MBA at some point. Figure in between my analyst and associate years is the best time. I will 100% just recruit back into banking. I figure it gives me 2 more years to mature, polish up the soft skills and set me up better for promotion down the line (or, if I am canned, have a top notch MBA to fall back on).
Will I have a good shot at getting into a top program (H/S/W) with only 3 years as an analyst?
FWIW, I work in Restructuring at the moment and am getting top notch deal experience and will have letters of rec from the CEO of the bank / head of my group.
Has anyone seen people successfully get into top business school programs only after working in banking?
Why exactly would you get an MBA if you want to end up right back in banking? Instead of being an associate 3, you’ll just be an associate 1 when you come back.
“I figure it gives me 2 more years to mature, polish up the soft skills and set me up better for promotion down the line (or, if I am canned, have a top notch MBA to fall back on).“
A career is long - I don’t see how 2 years of being around other smart and talented people isn’t worth $500K. Banking is the most fickle business of all time as well, if your group / bank / yourself hit a rough patch, you can easily be kicked to the curb w/o a second thought.
Don't go back to an MBA program just to recruit as an AS1 unless they break tradition, sponsor you, and you need a two year vacation.
Big time power move using a MBA to break into banking even though you're already in banking
Bump on the actual question - how do you think an AdCom would view my app given my background / goals?
Your work experience is solid and you’re almost sure to get into an MBA business schools">M7 assuming you get a solid GMAT score. I do think the story needs work though. They’ll wonder why you need the MBA. I personally understand the reason but I don’t think it’s a strong enough reason to make it past an adcom. You might make something up just for application purposes like you’re trying to switch to asset management and need the curriculum to help you or something. Once you’re in you can do whatever you want.
What if I were to say I wanted to work in sovereign advisory (i.e. advising governments on financial issues) and need the MBA to gain international perspective?
Ironically I hate working on sovereigns and have no interest in that, but if that is what they want to hear....
This isn’t exactly common but I’ve seen it happen plenty of times at HSW, especially with people who did a 1 year stint in firm strategy or an executive office after their analyst years.
There’s real value to going to a top MBA school (I would say anywhere in the MBA business schools">M7 is worth it) and at the very least it’ll be a ton of fun. I met a ton of interesting people, checked 20+ countries off my list, studied abroad in Europe, and generally had a blast. It may be hard to quantitatively justify the cost on paper but the intangible cost is absolutely worth it in my opinion (I stayed at my PE fund but they made me foot the bill). Another underrated aspect is the ability to intern in anything you want. Even if you’re dead set on banking, a summer at a HF or in marketing or strategy at an F500 or startup will give a pretty unique perspective a lot of career bankers don’t get. Sounds like you’ve already made up your mind so I won’t try to sell you much harder.
Most EBs won’t sponsor the cost but it doesn’t hurt to ask. At the very least you should be able to get the standard $70k associate signing bonus which will offset a year of tuition. You should have enough savings after 3 years as an analyst to not have to worry too much about funds anyway.
Agree 100% - money is not the issue here. EBs pay top-bucket analysts ~$190K (average over 3 year program)).
I am just very concerned that an AdCom will view me as immature or that I struck out on PE recruiting when in fact I just loved what I did and had no interest in buyside.
I don’t think you need to worry about that second part at all.
If you're in RX at an EB you're probably making a killing right now and it will only get better as you get promoted. Even if your employer sponsors you, which is a very slim possibility, you'd still have the opportunity cost of AS1 and AS2 income and 2 years of missed work (2 more years for every promotion). I understand wanting a promotion down the line or a fall back plan. Did you go to a nontarget? My uni is a nontarget and I've thought a lot about getting an MBA down the line to boost my resume from my no name school to an MBA business schools">M7 if I could get in. If you're from a nontarget as well I understand that. But your firm will care more about years of performance than an MBA. If they're looking to fire people and they've narrowed it down to you with your MBA and another person with only an undergrad degree, it won't come down to the MBA, it will come down to the quality of your work and office politics.
Now, in terms of if you get fired. Let's say you get fired at the end of your 2nd associate year. In one scenario you have an MBA and in one you don't. You're looking at other banks to find a job. In both scenarios your potential employer will see you as an AS2, not an AS2 with an MBA or without one. The only advantage you'd have is an alumni network so if they went to your MBA uni then you'd have that connection. In both cases, if you're ever fired you can always apply for places at the same tier, or recruit for a tier lower and end up fine. When networking with people I've seen dozens that went from GS/MS to Citi/Barclays to DB/UBS to Jeff/HL at every promotion year, presumably because they got canned and had to recruit lower. If you're looking outside of banking than an MBA will help, but if you went to a top tier undergrad it won't matter as much whereas it will mitigate nontarget status a lot more
I went to a target (Non HYP ivy)
Disagree with your logic on the 2nd point. I think potential employers would look much more favorably with an AS2 with a top tier MBA vs just an AS2 (it comes down to marketability to clients). Plus, many job postings I see say "MBA required / strongly preferred). Also, if I am fired from banking, unliekly that I will want to stay in banking as I would have to move a step down from my EB, in which case the MBA would be invaluable to move to another industry.
I just don't see why everyone is so anti-MBA if you want to stay in banking. I think the option value is huge and literally the only downside is $500K - if I am worrying about $500K in 20 years I will probably be filled with regret for many other reasons, not bc I went and got my MBA...
You are overrating the option value. Work experience and a decent undergrad will open enough doors for you down the road.
You realize the MBA preferred / required language on job postings usually comes from HR so that they can filter down the # of apps they get? Very easy to get your resume around it with a bit of networking. Then again I’m in the tech industry so maybe MBAs are less valued than in more traditional industries like HC or industrials.
Your success in getting accepted to a top MBA program depends on much more than just your 3 years of work experience. What ELSE do you do/have you done? What do you aspire to do in the future? What are your stats?
You need to be able to clearly respond to three questions: - Why MBA? - Why Now? - Why THIS program?
Take some time to reflect on where you want to go with your career so you can make the right choice. Glad to discuss if you want to request a free profile evaluation - see link in my signature below.
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