MBB internship junior summer >> Banking Full time? How feasible?

Hi everyone,

Thanks in advance for reading my post. I searched for the topic online but couldn't find discussions relevant to my questions. I wanted to know if it would be possible for me to do an internship after my junior year in MBB and land a FT BB Analyst position if I decide to go the banking route. I am interested in doing banking after graduation but have also been looking at the consulting route since starting college. I feel that if I decide to play if safe and do banking internship after junior year and then do banking (assuming I get a return offer of course), I will always be wondering what if I did an MBB internship instead. Furthermore, I also want to spend my last summer near my hometown and seeing as how MBB have regional offices around the country and is not fixated in NYC like banking is, it makes this option even more attractive to me. My question, is how hard would FT recruiting for banking be if I spent my summer at say McKinsey. I know that it's getting more and more competitive even for summers to get FT offers at BBs and just wanted to check in with WSO.

Some background: Sophomore at a target school, decent gpa, great extracurricular, and will be doing a business internship at a well-known tech company this summer (Think: Google, Facebook, Snapchat)

 

I understand that and have actually already interviewed with one of the MBB for a sophomore diversity program and although I was not extended an offer, I was told I have an automatic interview spot next semester. I am planning to spend all my free time this summer doing case prep and technical studying for BB interviews as well. So assuming I can get an offer, would this route be feasible?

 

Just from a pure numbers perspective... Number of interns at a NYC BB bank: 80-120 (this is my best guess of what I saw during my summer) Number of full-time positions at a NYC BB bank: Likely however many interns they hired the previous summer. Vast majority of people who get return offer accept.

Number of interns at large MBB office: 10-20 (1-5 likely in small regional office) Number of full-time positions at large MBB office: 40-60. Vast majority of people who get return offer accept.

So more slots are open to make the transition from banking to MBB full-time (doesn't mean actually getting the job is easier). Would assume most people who recruit for banking full-time did a banking internship and either a) didn't like their group/firm or b) didn't get an offer.

If you want to do banking full-time, do an internship at a bank. 20 years from now, you aren't going to be wondering "What if?" about an MBB internship.

Source: Did SA in banking, made switch to MBB full-time, found out my replacement also did banking internship.

 

I don't think it would be that hard to say that you were curious about that career path and that's why you proceeded with the internship. Something of that nature.

“The only thing I know is that I know nothing, and i am no quite sure that i know that.” Socrates
 

doing FT recruiting for BB/EB is very difficult, regardless of your background (i.e. whether you have that "investment banking summer analyst" title), simply due to the nature of how IBD recruiting is done (summer class conversion). Chances are you won't even get interviews without a lot of networking. (I know plenty of GS/MS SAs who couldn't convert FT after their summer, and they still haven't landed a FT IBD role). So it's always much easier to go banking SA --> consulting FT, than the other way around.

MBB is not the typical route to PE (although at a place like BainCap, it's slightly more common, but BainCap is a MF and we all know how difficult that is even for top GS/MS/EB candidates). MM PE is much easier to break into if you are in MM IBD, as opposed to consulting

 
Best Response

-How common/possible is this transition? Possible but not probable. Just too many slots taken up already when FT recruiting begins. -Can I get interviews without previous "investment banking summer analyst" experience? Yes, but you'll need to network to increase your chances and in particular to overcome the notion (right or wrong) that you're either spamming your resume or otherwise not that interested in IB. -Can I get interviews at BB M&A or EB? If not, which groups/firms should I target? At what offices? Won't really be able to target specific groups in FT recruiting, it's just whatever is left over from SA's not converting or more junior staffing needs than anticipated. So you should be targeting literally any reputable bank in any half decent location. -Would focusing on MBB FT be better for PE megafunds? Would MBB better than non-BB/EB shops? No, and if you're asking about PE generally, then also no. But MBB would be better than MM IB if you are dead set on megafund PE (which would be a ridiculous position to take anyway). -What advice do you have for when/where to start recruiting in my situation? Start networking and get some IB related stuff on your resume. There are still spring/winter internships that might be available but you'll probably have to do some legwork.

 

3 reasons really. First, I want to experience banking to see if it's something I would enjoy full time. Second, banking is a great experience that sets you up well for consulting. Third, assuming I enjoy banking I would like to take a full-time offer at bank after an SA stint assuming I didn't get MBB.

 

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