From Christmas to Investment Banking
Hello all,
I wanted to get some advice about my probability of working in IB.
To start off, I am only 20 years old. I have a 4.0 and work experience.
My work experience is interesting, but I do not know if it will be taken seriously by banks I want to apply to.
I started as just an installer but was brought on year round to do sales. I found, managed, and closed our largest account to date, 500k+, and sold other accounts and after a year became the VP of sales. My sales grew our revenue by around 13%, another fact I am proud of. I can also get some great references through my work.
While I make great money for my age, I do not want to work here forever. My dad is the one who said I should try out IB, through his job he frequently works with bankers and believes I would fit right in. I decided to look into it, and I'm very interested.
Do you guys think that my work experience would be worth bringing up in an interview? Do you think it will help me get my foot in the door to IB at a BB? I am scared it will be viewed as a joke.
What would you all recommend?
Of course it is worth bringing up in an interview. That's a great gig and actually really interesting
100% this experience will help you. I'd recommend preparing a short 3-5 minute statement on your experience there so when you're asked you can speak intelligently about the work you did and what the results were.
Doesn't matter if its Christmas lights or cocaine -- from what you're telling us, you've absolutely crushed it. I'd suggest framing your success in a business/finance context when speaking to your experience in interviews and whatnot.
The path of least resistance will likely be preparing your technicals, a why banking statement, knowledge of some deals, and heavy networking with boutiques and MM's in your area/general west coast. Parlay the networking into real connections with bankers at small shops and ideally that'll land you a full time gig. Spend a year or two there, while continuing to network with bankers at upper MM and BB firms, then make the switch as a lateral hire if you're still interested in banking.
Feel free to PM me if any of this doesn't make sense -- happy to provide color. Good luck!
Moral of your story: Sales > IB Slave
ASU has a program for Investment Banking. I put the link below; some background is that the Arizona schools have reputable business schools and within there schools they have programs that have decent placement into Investment Banking.
https://wpcarey.asu.edu/finance-degrees/investment-banking
Suggest you remove your employer's name from your post.
Found the guy in 2 clicks lol
Yep, that's bad. What would be worse for @adambird98" is if his current or a potential future employer saw this. Who wants to hire a guy who might make fun of your company on the internet?
Man, if your exp at your age doesn't get you the exposure you want. Then those banks fucked up.
Just know what you're getting into.
You're interested in formatting powerpoint slides for 80 hours a week with everything being "urgent", when you're already a VP of sales at a decently growing business? We live in a weird, weird world.
You can make big money in sales.
I personally would leverage that experience and either try to get an AE job out of college at a big tech firm, or just stay a VP of Sales. If you are closing $500k+ deals at 20, you are doing VERY well.
People sleep on sales. Shit, I know I did.
> My probability of working in IB.
Breaking in is not a random walk.
Based on your experience/history of kicking ass, I would say that given you have the same shot everyone else does, you seem like you're willing to put in the effort to beat others out.
And you don't want to be in S&T?
Why not just keep killing it at your current gig and get a slice of the equity pie? You can learn modeling and valuation on your own time in school. From what you've said, your earnings potential is pretty high already...
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