Hey guys, new to WSO (this is my first post)
Here's the deal: I was late in realizing I wanted to go into finance, and even later in realizing I wanted to get into IB. I went to a top 20 public business school for undergrad, graduated with a 3.5 GPA in Finance in 2016. No finance internships though.
After graduation I struggled to land a finance job and ended up taking an analyst position at an insurance company, hoping that they would help me transition after a year or two. They offered me a free graduate degree to get me to stick around for an extra year, so I am close to finishing up my MS Finance from another top(ish) public business school, on track for a 4.0. No internships here either because of working (2 years experience), and the degree was earned online.
So I have the finance education, albeit not from target schools, but I lack real-world finance experience. I am hoping to leverage my MSF to move into IB (ideally M&A I think) in NYC. I've been going back and forth between abject hopelessness and semi-positivity.
Do I have any hope? What's my best bet? Looking for any and all constructive criticisms/advice/etc.
Thank you all in advance!
Edit: Graduate degree is an MSF, which I know is not as sought after as an MBA, but its what the company wanted to give me for free. MBA is not off the table and is something I have thought about doing in a few years.
Bump, please help. Looking for suggestions and advice!
You have hope! I am telling you, believe you can make it happen and it will happen.
First of all, many on this site believe that everything in life follows a set path, and if you didn't work in IBD at Goldman you are screwed. This is not how life works. Scrap, grind, work and make it happen.
To give practical advice, networking will be everything. Immediately begin building relationships with folks at any and every investment bank. Look at their LinkedIn and social profiles to find any kind of common interest, and send them a message saying you'd like to meet and would appreciate their advice. Do this hundreds and hundreds of times and you will find your job.
Have confidence, you will make it happen if you truly want to.
I appreciate the encouragement!
I have begun reaching out to alumni of my two schools in work in IB/financial services in NYC, however, I am curious: what are some good conversation starters for reaching out cold?
You need to try to find common ground, no matter how small. This could include:
In terms of what level to reach out to, reach out to everyone. I personally like to go as high up the ladder as I can (obviously they have more pull), but really you should reach out to the people you have the strongest connection with first, regardless of their organizational level. They will give you the highest response rate and keep you from wasting time. Sending out cold emails is great, but it will yield a much lower response rate than people who you can create even a tiny connection with.
Also, what level of banker should I be looking to reach out for? Analysts, Associates, VPs?
Talking with anyone will help. But obviously talking with a VP or MD will pull the most weight if you want an internship/FT position
B-School is a good way to reset the clock. Otherwise, apply. Network and apply to postings because you will never know wha comes your way. Prep for interviews for at least a month and have technicals to a T. Persistence and grit will get you a long way, in addition to being humble. But, at the end of the day it may come down to luck and being in the right place at the right time. Just keep on grinding.
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