Currently an analyst in a back office role at large BB (think GS, JPM, MS). Specifically in the Finance division.
Have read countless posts on this site (thanks to all who have been super helpful over the years) especially on this topic, but most of them arent up to date. So .. hoping to spark this conversation again. Would greatly appreciate thoughts and advice from anyone who can share.
Are the days of going from the back office to the front over? It seems like nowadays the only way is through the school recruiting process or going back to get an MBA and going from there. I too followed the Undergraduate process to land my internship/offer, albeit in Finance. Primary goal was S&T/Capital Markets. Sometimes I feel like I was 20 years too late in the industry. Back then it seemed like if you had even the slightest interest, you’d get a seat. Now it’s so much more competition and then not to mention networking. Have been networking extensively.
I keep reading so many things about where to go / where not to go. Banking (great prestige vs terrible hours), research (good experience and in touch with markets vs dying down due to MiFID), sales and trading (big driver of investment bank business and heavily in the markets vs dying down due to automation and smaller revenue pools).
Background in Finance and MIS.
Would be really happy for this to get as much feedback as possible. I know the number one thing people will say is “it’s all where you want to go” which can be easy at times and other times can be quite hard to choose. And study for! For ex- CMBS research vs CLO trading vs equity capital markets vs Bank loan structuring and trading
These are just a few examples. I know the work and skills in all of these vary. I have been working on trying to narrow down to not come off as vague but I also don’t want to kill off any opportunities because they are all great seats and I would be happy to be in those. Not being corny, the goal has been to be in the front office. How do I bridge this gap?
If I were you, I would do my best to leverage your current role to another one that's closer to FO, and then hopefully make the jump after that.
For example:
You want Corporate Banking, go into treasury ops, then try go get into FO sales in the CIB.
You want Markets and Investor Services Sales, go into any Markets and Investor services ops team and try to get into a sales role.
You want Sales & Trading, go into trade clearing (MO), then try to get onto a trading desk. After the trading desk it's easier to get into AM.
To be honest, you need to decide what you want to do first since a lot of the preparation you have to do / intermediate roles will be specific to one path.
Generally speaking, IBD and S&T will give you the best options to go into other parts of the bank (AM / ER etc..)
Just go try to make connections and work on the skills yourself then show one of them you have the ability. Most Investment Bankers think there job is super difficult, its not, just show them you have the ability and you should be able to get a job.
Their attention to detail is key.
Just do a top 10 MBA. You have enough experience to try to transfer internally or externally as well, but the MBA might be an easier route.
Network heavy with FO employees at your firm. Express a strong and genuine interest in jumping to the FO. The days of moving from BO to FO aren’t over, but it has certainly become difficult to do. Like you said, entry level FO positions are usually filled by recent grads (both undergrad and MBA).
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