Career Advise for a 26 year old in the Houston Energy market

Hello all! I was hoping to get some career advise from you all on how to best pursue a career in investment banking, specifically either on the M&A or risk side. To be honest, I am a fair bit worried that I may be too old and come from the completely wrong background. I am 26 and reside in Houston, which would mostly focus on energy sector. At the moment, I'm trying to figure out if going back for an MBA would be really my only chance to get into the industry.

A few facts about myself:
1. I graduated in 2013 with a Hospitality degree focused on finances from the University of Houston. (I know, I was young and didn't know what I wanted to do)
2. I have been working full time with a third party audit firm that performs audits on all sectors of the energy sector. (Upstream, Midstream, Utilites, and I specifically have been focusing on Downstream refining for the past year) I am extremely valued at my company which is great, but I am basically at the top.
3. I have a few connections at Goldman. I have a friend here who works as an analyst and my cousin is the MD in Hong Kong for the controllers.
4. If I go back for an MBA my plan is to stay local here and do a professional program.

Investment banking has been a sector I've always been interested in but at 18 I didn't know what the right way to break into it. Originally I focused on Hospitality as I wanted to do M&A for the hotel industry, but now that I have had 4 years of energy experience I can speak to a lot of energy. My question to all of you gurus is what do you think my best way to break into the industry is? I've applied at all major firms and used my GS contact to try and get me in but I am afraid I need an MBA to even be considered.

I appreciate all the advise and information I can get.

Thanks,

 

Hi Floeylee, check out these resources:

  • Is Goldman Sachs's NRG (energy IB) still not as good as other big players in Houston for energy? Which banks are dominating? Most of the energy IB posts on the site are quite old. I'm wondering if GS has built up their ... reputation in Houston. Also, who are the best banks in Houston? Which bank usually get more analysts into ...
  • 26 Year Old Female to raise $200 million Short Hedge Fund "26-year-old Fahmi Quadir, who expects to raise $200 million at her newly created Safkhet ... high fees and unimpressive returns. Fewer startups rolled out in 2016 than in any year since the ... Fund Research Inc." She is a protege of notable short seller Marc Cohodes and in the past 2 years ...
  • 30 year-old breaking in this day we still have a great relationship. 27- 28 years old The next natural step for me was to write ... knocking: the military. You see, military service is mandatory in my country for a year. While completing my ... MSc programme in London, which I did and to which I was accepted. 29-30 years old
  • Houston, TX- Career vs. Lifestyle that Houston really is the mecca of the energy world, and that furthering my career (going down the ... a few years. The analyst before me left in June for a commodity fund out there, and the other analyst ... undesirable conditions for a few years if it's to my advantag
  • How old is too old for MBA going into investment banking track? when I apply for b-school. Would I be too old to apply to an MBA in order to pursue a career in ... estimate 26-27), and I'm under the impression investment banks dont like to bring in Mba grads who are ... me a long time till I get the score and repeated attempts, but I'm worried I might get too old ...
  • 26 years old, too old to be an analyst? So I graduated from a master in RE last December and started working as an analyst. I am 26 years ... old going to be 27 this year. I realized I am pretty old as being an analyst. I studied in engineering ... and worked in different industry before I moved to RE and I wasted 2-3 years of my life. People I knew ...
  • Houston Energy BB Rankings a few years old. I was wondering what general rankings are for BBs specifically JPM, Barcap, CS, ... Jeffries, BAML, MS, GS, UBS in Houston. Looking at exit ops, deal flow, prestige, and comments on culture if ... anyone works at these places. energy BB Houston league tables ...
  • More suggestions...

If we're lucky, maybe these professional users will respond: MlleVVu powers99 Sarah-Zhang1

Hope that helps.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 
Best Response

Quo aliquam qui et impedit possimus. Id dignissimos ipsum aut possimus dolorem aut. Ut dolorum delectus sit id consequatur voluptatem.

Saepe et sit quos deserunt qui amet asperiores. Necessitatibus maiores fugiat dolor commodi reiciendis. Autem aliquam nihil non et esse cupiditate.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (145) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
numi's picture
numi
98.8
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”