Boutique consulting to IB

WSO has been a great resource for me over the past couple of years, and I just got into investment banking as a lateral hire from a boutique consulting firm, so I'd like to share a bit of my experience and background. Would love to answer any questions if there are some.

Background: fringe semi-target university, <3.3 GPA, immigrant family but not a diversity candidate. Family generally works in trade occupations, in small businesses, or in other blue collar work, so I had little to no exposure to finance or business growing up. Sciences major for first 1.5 years in undergrad, took a couple core business classes out of interest, realized I excelled more there and enjoyed the coursework more, and fully pivoted to business at the end of my 2nd year. Learned about what careers were out there in business/finance, and set my goals on IB or consulting. I knew these were solid, high-paying jobs, but didn't really know much else at all. Didn't get a summer analyst gig in IB (got one interview by networking but blew it), didn't get any interviews at MBB or T2 consulting, interned in F500 corporate finance. Got a FT offer at a boutique consulting firm doing accounting and finance-centric advisory work. Typical M-Th travel (pre-covid) if on non-local engagement, clients were generally PE portcos of ranging sizes. Worked at this firm for ~1.5 years, top performer. Just joined a coverage group at a MM bank, and I'm very happy about it. Might not have that GS/MS prestige, but I'm feeling like I finally have a real chance to set a strong foundation for my family in a new country, and that shit feels real good. 

Networking and getting people on the phone was 100% the only way I was able to get into the processes at firms for lateral hiring. I found most opportunities through LinkedIn. For each firm I wanted to join, I reached out to 2-4 people, from Associate to Director. Sending an email asking for a quick call worked better for me than sending a message on LinkedIn. If a posting said Investment Banking Analyst experience required, I didn't give a shit. I applied and tried to network regardless. Before you begin having conversations with people at the bank, you have to make sure you understand the work of an analyst and you have to be able to speak to how your previous experience is either similar to the analyst work or how it will help you do that work well. The actual interview process is fairly standard, and I would say most banks don't require a modeling test. Know your technicals, but truly understand that people won't hire someone they don't like or don't want to work with.

I believe I was successful in lateral recruiting for a few reasons: 

• My resume looked sharp. Good bullet points, and well-formatted. Genuine interests. Left off the GPA.

• I had the technical knowledge and could speak to technical concepts and deals well. I was very comfortable with most concepts in the BIWS guide and I made sure to read up and get familiar with a few deals that interested me. 

• I was comfortable in conversation with people at all levels. Understand that if you blow an interview or a conversation, life will go on - there's no reason to be so uptight. Your confidence, or lack thereof, will materially affect your conversation or interview. Be yourself. 

• I was able to show interest in the specific groups I spoke with. 

• I didn't let rejection get me down. There are many things out of your hands in recruiting. Just keep going.

This isn't all-encompassing info for lateral recruiting by any means, but I hope this sheds some light onto the fact that although getting into IB is always tough, it's doable even with a slightly unorthodox background and a shitty GPA. Sometimes you won't always get something as soon as you want it, but if you really do want it you'll find a way.