Curious- do MSF candidates typically apply for SA roles and internships or straight FT? Asking because I am attempting to pivot into IB from a different industry and I want to know the route others have taken by using an MSF to get their foot in. Thanks for any input
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i can only speak for the UK, but it depends on the person and the bank. i've had some friends do SAs after a masters, and i've had some go full time.
generally, the SA roles are less competitive than FT ones in terms of expected knowledge at the interview stage, so if you don't have direct finance experience, that might be a (slight) simpler route. the downside, though, is that you aren't guaranteed an FT starting straight after the internship - they could leave you hanging for a year before your analyst starting date. but you could make it known that that's what you want; said friends above did that and were accommodated by their banks.
can't speak for the other side of the atlantic, not sure how different it is there.
On the aggregate, how does full time recruiting differ from internship recruiting? Do they both consist of Hirevue and Superdays or is that more so geared for UG internship recruitment? I suspect it varies bank to bank but for the most part what are the main distinctions between the 2?
most banks hire primarily through their internships (some banks, e.g. Nomura, will only hire this way), so there are more positions available. internship candidates are not necessarily expected to have previous financial experience, although it does give applicants a competitive advantage. accordingly, interviewers will expect less detailed knowledge of financial theory and deal experience.
for FT, there are fewer positions available for the above reasons, and those who get to interview stage will typically have experience working/interning in finance; strong competitive disadvantage for those who don't have it, but not an auto-ding. FT interviewers will expect a more nuanced understanding of financial theory (e.g. sector-specific approaches to valuation if you are applying to a certain desk, such as FIG or infra). in my FT interviews, i was asked to explain details of the deals i worked on as an intern and to outline how i contributed.
in short, from my experience (bank-dependent), for SA recruiting it's more about why banking?, what do you know about finance?, whereas FT recruiting focuses more on why this bank in particular?, why this team in particular?, what is your relevant experience? what financial knowledge can you demonstrate that would allow you excel in this role?
edit: also yes, online tests, phone interviews (sometimes), hirevue (or equivalent vid interview) (almost everytime), face to face interview (superday/AC). sometimes more than one phone and/or face to face.
Have never seen any MSF grad doing an internship. Most knows in their senior year that they will need/want an MSF so they apply early (aug/sep) of senior year for MSF admission and if admitted, use the MSF brand to network and gain summer internship post undergrad graduation.. secure the return offer and come back to campus to complete the MSF program.
If you are already in the senior year second semester, id say a better route wil be to work for a year and then apply early decision for top MSF like Vandy
Certain MSF programs can be completed in longer than a year. I'm doing a 1.5 year MSF program and have an IB internship for the summer between my 2nd and 3rd semester.
are they IB feeders though?
Short answer is MSF grads usually go for quant-related or similar research roles. You could potentially lateral over to banking after a while, but would be tough via campus recruiting IMO. Why not just do an MBA? Looking at salary reports for some of the top MSF programs, it seems difficult to justify the economics.
Can you share one decent MSF program where majority is making below market in their respective fields.
Look at MIT's MFIN report vs its MBA report right on the website. $140K for MBA vs $96k for the Mfin. Nevermind the additional latitude that an MBA provides, you're investing time and money to pursue a grad degree. Might as well go for the option with the larger payoff. Who knows, you could end up at a nice quant fund and get paid well. But it's tried and tested that most MBA grads from top schools get compensated very well and have excellent career prospects.
I have been on these boards lurking for about a month or 2 and one thing I noticed is most people say A2A are better bankers than first year MBA->A. I want to go through the analyst experience so that I can get an MBA later on. I scored above 700 on the GMAT, I am a diversity candidate, and I might be interested in the buy side at some point. Getting an MBA pretty much marries me to banking, and I won’t be as good as the analysts starting out. not sure if those are good reasons (at all) but I am going the MSF route and basically giving myself a second chance as someone mentioned earlier
I can point to a number of examples of people with MBAs who do very well in banking and several who have jumped to PE (difference in economics isn't what it used to be). At the risk of stating the obvious, you're leaving half your pay potential on the table by going the analyst route.
disagree about MSF's going primarily into quant related roles. I think this is true for MIT, as this is what their program curriculum is primarily geared for. Can speak for the program I am in, most people who decided they want banking end up getting in. A decent amount at BBs, and majority at MM banks. The kids who resort to another type of job usually have to do so because they didn't put in on the front end enough work to do well in recruiting.
now that I’ve been admitted, I begin in August. I want to apply for 2021 SA positions, but my undergrad GPA is garbage. am I forced to wait until my GPA is respectable or is there a way to leverage my 700+ GMAT score and F250 experience into getting an interview?
In an MSF now. Most kids get a random internship working for a small firm throughout the summer and then hit FT recruiting pretty hard in the fall. Ended up with multiple offers and super days by the time I was done recruiting in September. Although interns are first in line, I noticed a fair amount of banks not taking their interns due to performance or wanting to hire for more Ft than anticipated. I can Pm you if you want to chat further.
yea sure pm me. I don’t have any ib internships which is why I am trying to get one as soon as possible but it’s difficult with my UG gpa so low. I don’t want to report it whatsoever lol
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