IB Operations

Hi all,

I'm studying physics and currently interning at a BB in operations for the summer. I know a lot of physicists go into quant but I'm not a strong coder and with no experience ops was the only chance I had to get into finance.

I know exit opportunities in ops are limited so assuming I get a graduate offer post-internship and I'm stuck in ops for the long haul, how easy/hard is it to move up the ladder within ops? What's the best way to get recognised and is it reasonable to assume that with hard work it's fairly straight forward to progress to VP to ED to MD? How's the pay? (in the UK if possible but also in general)

Thanks :)

 

You're in BB Ops so you have a solid name on your resume. Tweak your resume for the positions you apply in the future and start networking. Moving up the ladder is not impossible if you put in the work. Take some coding classes in the evening after your internship; if you have down time during work, try to network with tech and get some advice from them. All the best.

 

The fact of the matter is front office is front office, no matter whether it's at a boutique or a BB. While it is possible to move from Operations to Front Office in a BB, it would be easier to use a front office internship at a boutique to get a FT offer at a BB.

 

I would leverage the front office position at the domestic securities company. IB Operations, for unknown reasons, tend to have an associated stigma. I would not get caught into that web.

Give it a try...
 

"Given my background, I have a offer from a recruiting agency to work for a bb as a operations analyst, but within the investment banking division."

There is no BUT in ops, it's just ops.

I wouldn't do it, but if you're going broke fast...you need that paycheck.

Under my tutelage, you will grow from boys to men. From men into gladiators. And from gladiators into SWANSONS.
Asatar:
UFOinsider:
Look for better, take it if you have nothing else, and then network your balls off to get to front office. UBS is actually pretty good about letting people move around.
Look where that got them :) (If that was a sarcastic post, I totally missed it).
Plenty of people started in the back office, and more than a few FO people move to BO / MO. I'm half joking about UBS, but their risk and accounting people are largely to blame for leaving such glaring loopholes in the system go unchecked. Getting out of BO is tricky, but looking around at the average ops person makes you quickly realize that they're no match for the well motivated person who wants to move to a revenue generating role.
Get busy living
 
Best Response
UFOinsider:
Asatar:
UFOinsider:
Look for better, take it if you have nothing else, and then network your balls off to get to front office. UBS is actually pretty good about letting people move around.
Look where that got them :) (If that was a sarcastic post, I totally missed it).
Plenty of people started in the back office, and more than a few FO people move to BO / MO. I'm half joking about UBS, but their risk and accounting people are largely to blame for leaving such glaring loopholes in the system go unchecked. Getting out of BO is tricky, but looking around at the average ops person makes you quickly realize that they're no match for the well motivated person who wants to move to a revenue generating role.

This said it all. I had a meeting with the head of s&t at a bb(gs/ms/citi) yesterday and he spoke on this very topic. The key is to network and to have the knowledge. Once your in, you can always get an interview but you have to make sure your on top of your ish. you should know everything that it takes to be an amazing analyst and blow away any interview you do get because if you mess up then your done there forever.

Beast
 

Really appreciates everyone advice. The ops role is actually with Barclays. Feel free to lmk what you guys think now, and how the mobility is there.

Also, how about a long term goal, staying there for 2 years to have experience and a good name on my resume to go for a MBA and trying from there again to get into ibanking. In the future, would a bank frown upon my experience pre-mba, or does my mba help clear me from it. Let me know what you guys think.

 

novicemonkey- kinda dealing with the same thing here. i'm just worried that it might be very difficult to get into a top MBA from a rotating ops role, even coming from a top target (i have middling grades though.)

 
bagelbites:
novicemonkey- kinda dealing with the same thing here. i'm just worried that it might be very difficult to get into a top MBA from a rotating ops role, even coming from a top target (i have middling grades though.)
At this point, if you've struck out at all the good jobs and usual fall back options, your top MBA programs are going to be really unlikely for you no matter what you do. After you strike out at those top jobs you have to realize that business school admissions will be much more based on what you've done in that job then what exactly the job is. Ops at a bank is no worse for you in b school admissions than whatever other shitty option you likely have. Just do your best, get a good GMAT score, and get involved in your community. Realize your work experience is not prestigious and you will just have to make do.
 

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