Currently struggling with whether or not to pursue an MBA. I'm finishing up my second year at a no-name boutique in NY (mainly M&A advisory), and I've been attempting to lateral to a larger bank. I've progressed pretty far in the interview process with a few Tier 3/boutiques, but haven't been successful in getting an offer (I think this is primarily due to deal flow at my firm being extremely slow + deals that I've worked on have been tiny with TEV IB as a career, and have been thinking that maybe getting an MBA would allow me to re-enter the recruiting cycle as an Associate, where I may be more competitive since I do have some prior IB experience. GMAT/UG GPA (>700, >3.7 at top 10 UG school) are strong, so hopefully would be able to get into a top 10 b-school. There aren't many exit opps that I can see from my current firm, and once I hit my third year, I would think it becomes even harder to lateral to a larger IB.
1) Would having some prior IB experience (even at a no-name boutique) help with on-campus Associate recruiting?
2) If GMAT/GPA are strong, does working at a tiny bank hurt chances of getting into M7 (probably won't get into H/S/W, but maybe CBS)?
Appreciate the feedback.
Take some time and read through my lateraling guide if you haven't already.
Your reasoning for why your interviews do not result in offers is incorrect. As long as you are getting some good experience, the size of transactions does not matter. If you are getting interviews, your resume is most likely up to par. You are most likely just interviewing poorly and do not know the finer points of the transactions on your resume. You need to know your transactions inside out- everything from the reason the seller wanted to sell to how you built a buyer's universe to how you marketed the transaction to difficulties you ran into in diligence.
I personally would not go from IB to an MBA back to IB.
Does your lateraling guide still hold up even through it's from two years ago? I'm currently in an accounting role, but am working towards a lateral into IB. How do I know when the best time to begin the recruitment process is? Where is the best place to go to look for open positions at MM & BB IBDs? Is there a structured process for FT recruitment at MM & BB for people who are lateralling (not coming from undergrad)? Your guide was extremely helpful, but the entire IBD recruitment process for experienced professionals seems very ambiguous. Really appreciate any help you could provide!
The lateral recruitment process for MM & BB is very unstructured. It is really done on an as needed basis. The best time however is probably summer after analyst bonuses are paid out and people leave for PE, corpdev, etc. The best place to look for open positions is probably the careers webpages of the firm you're targeting or the careers webpages of recruiters.
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