Hi all,
I am an international student at M7 starting my IB internship in June.Coming into MBA, my goal was to secure a FT offer from a AM, but realized how difficult it was for an international student so I decided to go the IB route with the hope of transiting to Long or LS AM. However, given all the uncertainty around the possible transition, I am now thinking whether i should just go for MBB FT and give up my passion for markets/investment. In return, i get to spend more time (relative) with my family and 1 year old daughter. I definitely do not see IB as a LT career - it is simply not sustainable for a dad.
To all who has been there done that - please advise. Particularly, for those who love finance and have moved on to MBB, have you found the work equally interesting?
Neither are good for an exit to AM, but banking is somewhat better by virtue of being finance related. MBB is absolutely not better for a family either. You are away from your family more in MBB than IB.
I heard for MBB you will just be away on Monday- Thursday (maybe Sunday night to catch a flight). This is still way better than in IB where u don’t travel but stuck literally with work even on weekends? Is that right?
Back to the point on AM exit, does it mean i should try hard to recruit FT for AM position even if it's just boutique? is boutique AM > BB IB for large AM role in 5 years?
You clearly have no idea what you want to do. Why did you pursue IB if your goal is AM? Do you know what AM is? How do you know you will like it without ever doing an internship in it? Why do you think the exit from post-mba IB is AM? You have not done any research into this at all. AM is not a common exit for post-MBA IB associates or MBB. If you wanted to do AM, you should have pursued it for your summer.
People in MBB absolutely work some on weekends, especially if you are somebody trying to advance. It is still a client service role with multiple deadlines. Ask your wife if she likes the idea of you not being around 4-5 nights a week in a totally different city. Some can tolerate that, some can't.
No dude, IB does suck for a family but it's way better than MBB. I have a baby at home and chose BB IB over MBB for this reason in large part. Let's break it down, worst case scenario:
Monday-Thursday - IBD wakes up in the morning, sees your child, maybe takes them to daycare on way to work. Comes home later than kid goes to sleep, but sleeps in bed with wife. MBB: gone completely, hope you enjoy Facetime 4/7 days of the week.
Friday - IBD similar schedule but more often than not can make it home for dinner and to put kids to bed. MBB - might fly back on morning flight so will miss morning. A lot of bankers go home at 4-5 PM on Friday, of course there are many weeks where you work later but typically things aren't "due" on Saturday morning so no need to burn the midnight oil.
Really you have to compare being literally gone most weekdays and working less on the weekends to sleeping at home every day and waking up to your family every day, but working more (sometimes only slightly more) on the weekends.
By the way, neither are ideal for family life. If I could rewind the clock, a job where I could be home for dinner and exclusively have remote weekend work would be ideal even at a lower pay. If you have a family I would urge you to consider more Corp Strat / Corp Dev / F500 etc. type roles. If IBD try something in Markets where you work market hours.
If you want to do AM I would definitely recruit for a smaller AM firm rather than something outside the industry.
EDIT: Just saw you're international. It's going to have to be a long and hard conversation and thought process with yourself and your family. Would a less-travel consulting firm like LEK be better for you? It won't exit to AM but it would be slightly more balanced than IB life.
Thanks Synergy for your sharing! Looks like IB is better than MBB in terms of managing family life. Gonna see how the internship pens out
MBA recruiting is very different between international student vs local student, and this is something not everyone might understand. The reason people always see international student taking up roles at MBB and IB is because it's a safety net - they are the only companies that are willing to hire international students in large quantity. Sure, AM is possible too but very tough (because they rarely want to go through the visa sponsorship), and even if u get an internship the conversion is uncertain. I have seen countless of my seniors who get those internship, but did not convert to FT. At that point, they can only go for MBB cause IB only take in from their intern pool.
It is unfair to jump to conclusion that I do not know what I want to do or that I do not know what AM is. This is a genuine question my international classmates face at M7: do you take a hedge fund/pe/vc internship with 10-20% conversion rate or IB with 70% conversion rate?
I face the same dilemma. I have seen people going from IB to AM, but if this is really that uncommon, then I am thinking to just try for MBB. Yes both IB and MBB are tough, but everything is relative. Besides, who else wants to hire international student with that pay so that I can pay off my debt?
It isn't unfair. It is also weird to lump in PE and hedge funds with traditional post-MBA AM. They are under the same umbrella I suppose, but there is very little in common with the traditional asset management shops like Capital Group, PIMCO, TCW, BlackRock, Fidelity, etc.
If you feel like you aren't going to convert AM into full-time, how do you expect to convert MBB or IB to a full-time AM gig post-mba with no experience in the field? That is even less likely.
MBB is not any nicer for a family. The idea that someone would choose it over banking for the lifestyle is absurd and misguided. It is different work, in some ways better and worse, and has different exit opportunities, but it is not something with fewer hours that lets you be close to your family. By its very nature you are away from them entirely 4 nights a week at a minimum and most top performers in MBB are still doing work on the weekends, albeit remote.
The best man in my wedding works in MBB and, while he made mine, he missed the wedding of his cousin due to work. He and his wife are waiting for him to exit before they start their family. He flies across the country most weeks and spends similar hours traveling and working to what I have heard most Associates are putting in.
IB make a lot more sense, particularly if you are open to boutiques. MBB will help if what you are looking for is a strategy or operations role in AM but certainly not investing in markets. I would shoot for IB, secure an offer and simultaneously recruit FT for ER roles in a BB.
At this point, what you should be researching is what group will give you the best leverage to make that leap into AM after a few years and what banks, if any, are open to taking MBA's for ER roles.
Thanks alreadyrich. Going to try ER FT recruitment for other BB. Would my current BB find out, assuming i am even lucky enough to get a return offer? so few ER position available compared to IB.
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