How hard is it gonna be to get in?
I'm a noob and long time lurker. I've read other's posts about breaking into IB/PE but can't ever find anyone with a situation close enough to mine to gauge it well enough.
One of my undergrad degrees was finance, and I recently finished my MBA with a finance emphasis. GPA was OK in both (3.5, working full time during both). Undergrad was a non-target but good state school, and MBA was a target school in the country it's in, but not in the US.
I've worked for over 6 years in international business and trade, living overseas for almost 4 years and am moving back to the US this summer. So I have solid overall business experience, and plenty of theoretical finance experience from undergrad and b-school, but except for very basic stuff (like DCF, some IRR stuff, my jobs weren't too finance-oriented). I know how to do most things well in theory (DCF, projections, some modeling, running comps, etc) and know Excel like the back of my hand.
I'm realistic and only will be looking at MM and quality boutiques (in the Southeast - ATL or MIA most likely) for an analyst position. Even still, gonna be a bitch to get in since I have no pure finance experience or internships?
Will be tough (getting into IBD always is no matter the situation) but can be done. Read Valuation by Rosenbaum and Pearl, it will prep you for the technicals. If serious start focusing on where you want to be and try to network into the companies.
You will likely not qualify for analyst positions -- you'll be looking at associate spots. And while it will be difficult, you may be able to find a boutique in the SE that finds your background useful.
Good luck, and it's hard for everyone to break in these days.
I originally started looking at associate positions, but most (and even a lot of the analyst positions I've seen) require a couple years of "experience". I took this to mean relevant experience (e.g. internship(s), analyst work). Am I wrong on that?
Unless they specify, I take it to mean any work experience. That being said, of course relevant IB or industry experience would be more highly valued.
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