Career Advice Needed: I made some fucking bad choices
Hi,
I've been fucking depressed lately at how bad things have gotten. I did my undergrad in finance, was very involved, had a 4.00 gpa, was pretty much guaranteed to get a top ibanking job ... if I fucking applied. I had decided to become a lawyer, did everything to get to law school and didn't even consider getting a banking job. So I got to a good law school, now I have an internship at a decent firm practicing corporate law. But it fucking kills me to see all the guys that I dominated in undergrad get into bulge bracket banks, while I'm at some comparatively shitty place. It's not really shitty, but it's not where I could be.
My career goal is to earn money. I'm not just a wannabe jerk, I got enough shit to know I could have gotten something top. And I honestly find finance closer to heart than law, so I'm thinking of ways to come back to banking. What advice do you guys have for me? What the fuck do I do, finish law school, work at a law firm for a while, get some experience then apply to banks? Will they even consider a corporate lawyer for a banking position? Should I get into a top MBA school then apply? Or is it just too late, given that I didn't apply in undergrad and missed my chance?
I'd appreciate honest responses and advice. I blame myself enough for this, so I don't need more shit from you guys.
Does your law school have a joint MBA program by chance?
Yeah, but it's a shitty program. The law school is good, but the business school won't get me anywhere.
a 4.00 GPA to attend an inferior law school... wow
Who said it's inferior? I said the law school is good, the MBA program is bad.
There isn't a top law school with a bad MBA program. Even Georgetown places into IBD.
The one that comes to mind for me is Yale. They are maybe the top law school, but I don't know much about the MBA program as far as IB recruiting goes. I could be wrong, but it's seemingly the answer to this...
No, the Yale SOM has rapidly improved over the past years and is definitely on track to be a top 5-7 school in short order. Certainly going to vault places like Haas.
I mean, banks would definitely look at a candidate out of a T10 law school, but this doesn't sound like that. Assuming that, you might have some luck if you spend a few years at a Wachtell, Skadden, etc. doing M&A law. You'll get plenty of exposure to bankers and might be able to score an interview at some point down the road. I have met plenty of bankers who have backgrounds in law.
Hello Everyone, I received an internship offer from [/company/wells-fargo-and-company]WF Corporate Banking (Asset-based lending) in NYC and I have an interview with Microsoft next week for the Finance Internship Program in Seattle. I am nervous about getting an offer from Microsoft, and finding myself in a complicated position due to better benefits. Microsoft pays partially for housing, transportation, and a higher salary (6k vs. 4k per month), and WF is not. As you guys know, the cost of living in NYC is way higher than any other city in the U.S. As an intern, I will do my best to secure a full-time offer by the end of the summer. Once I graduate from college, I would like to work 2-3 years, and then go to law school. Afterwards, I would like to pursue a career as a corporate lawyer at a Big Law firm. Let me know what you guys think. I want to take the best decision and make sure it will help me to advance in my career in the future.
I'm curious: please provide a few examples of "good" law schools that have "bad" MBA programs. You don't have to list your own school if you want to remain anonymous, but I am hard-pressed to think of a good law school that doesn't have a correspondingly good MBA program.
I'd pm you, but I'm using a throwaway account, and I don't have enough points to pm
I heard it's almost impossible to lateral out to IB unless you work at a tippy top law firm specializing in m&a, such as skadden, simpson, or sullivan. even then, i heard it's pretty hard to switch.
if you end at at a law firm that isn't absolute tops in m&a, you might have to work a few years and go for a top mba, then come into IB as an associate.
I mean, just provide a couple of examples - doesn't have to be the school you actually attend.
I want to know as well, could you just list some examples?
All is not lost though, the M&A law idea is a good one.
Watch out for PM requests.
I'm sure Wachtell, Cravath, Davis Polk, Jones Day and Kirkland Ellis have opportunities as well.
University of Toronto has the best law department in Canada, but its MBA sucks.
@ northsider, yeah, like i said, any top firm with m&a focus... so a V10-ish firm in nyc.
my cousin is a corporate lawyer in nyc, at a top firm, trying to switch out to banking for last year now. what he's been told by lots of recruiters and the bankers he's been networking, is that it is much easier to get into IB from a top 15 MBA.. even schools like UVA or Cornell, rather than lateralling into IB from a top 10 NYC corporate law firm.
That tells how difficult this transition is. for most corporate lawyers, unless they are studs and have sick networking skills, corporate law to IB isn't happening. OP might need to go for a top mba program
Example in the US?
Mr. Blankfein has a JD so you should be fine! Watch this:
Yeah I'm confused as well, all the t14 schools have good mba programs.
There's a law student (H/Y/S) currently working as a Summer Associate in my group in a BB, so if you're really at a top law school it's definitely possible. That said, I, like everyone else, am not convinced that you do go to a top school if it's MBA program is bad.
A few points:
I don't think OP is in the United States.
I don't think OP attends a truly top law school. U of Toronto, which has a top law school, also has an MBA that is very well-regarded (and I say that as a (Canadian) HYP student).
The best advice OP received was to enroll in his/her school's MBA program immediately. If OP is truly at a top law school (even the University of Toronto) he/she should do this.
I know quite a bit about the law world for a non-lawyer, wife is in big law and went through what you're talking about. So, in order to answer your question, I have a few questions for you:
1) The firm that you're a current summer at, what groups have you been in? Where have you been doing the most work? Transactional? Lit?
2) Of the work that's come down the pipe for you, anything out of public finance or anti-trust/M&A?
3) Any BB banks on the client list? If so, where does your firm sit in the pecking order?
My guess is that you're summering in big law, and that you probably have an option for finance. Without knowing anything else, I'd say you're pot committed with law and that switching back to finance will waste years of your life and not be worth it. If so, your best option is to stick with law and try to lateral to the client side.
YSM has plenty of representation on the Street.
I've met plenty of bankers with law backgrounds.
Aim for the M&A law track.
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