Is 34 too old to be a first-year banking associate?

we have a 32 year old first year(MBA) in energy S%T

There's no set age limit, but 34 years old as a 1st year associate is definitely at the upper end of the age spectrum.

average age of first year associates in my class is 28 to 29, so by 34, I reckon most will be VPs. If you do not mind the fact that you will be working with peers who are much younger than you and with superiors who are your age, then go for it.

I guess in the long run, a few years difference is no big deal, so I wouldn't mind too much about the age gap if I were you.

not too old. i know someone who was 1st year analyst at 33/34. career switch

I've seen 1 associate closer to 40 and know of 1 first-year analyst who was 39 (!) when she started (career-changer plus she had an angle on being a China expert). It's typically a lot easier to pull this off at smaller firms/boutiques.

The other question you have to ask yourself is how long you'll be willing to work long hours for, because as a new Associate you'll be doing this for at least 2-3 years. If you have a family or SO this can become a burden.

But in the long-term it won't matter too much; you'll be a few years behind MDs who did banking their entire lives and never went to business school, but hey they never had fun until they were over 30 either so it's a trade-off.

I think it does make a difference whether you're going to a boutique or not. I wouldn't deal with the first-year bullshit at a BB, but at a boutique it would be a lot more palatable.

I think age is one data point. I think there are two probs with age for banking: 1) It suggests that you might not be available 90 hours a week coz you have a wife and 2 kids and a dog... and a cat; and 2) that you willing be pain in the ass coz you will push-back more than a 27 year old would. And IBanking is very heriarchical. But this is somthing you can and should address in OCR interviews or even in a cover letter if you can be not to obvious about it. And if you have friends on the inside that can vouch for you, it shouldn't be an insurmountable problem.