Top MBA vs Structuring Associate
I'm an older employee with a family, but as the title states, I've been accepted to INSEAD's 1Y MBA program in France. Shortly after being accepted to INSEAD, my employer (BB in NYC) offered me a structuring associate role in Houston on the commodities desk.
I'm currently a back-office nobody, so both the MBA and structuring roles are very inciting. I'm worried that INSEAD won't guarantee me a job as good as the structuring role that I'm currently being offered. However, there are individuals coming out of INSEAD going into IB, which would also be nice... it's really which way the wind blows, but in the current economic environment, I feel like the structuring gig is a good one.
Thoughts? Should I go do the MBA? Is structuring that lucrative? Keep in mind that the MBA would cost $100k+ in actual cost, not to mention $100k+ in opportunity cost.
How old are you? I ask because you could always take the role for a year or two then get your mba if you want to pivot.
I'm 31. Shouldn't I be worried about the 1Y program?
Sounds to me like you have no clue what you really want to be doing, you’re talking about IB and commodity sales-both are very diff. Try and figure out what you want to do longer term, consider as well that insead is long optionality and that commodity sales in houston is a potential pidgeonhole and is very niche. The costs of an mba shouldnt matter that much if youre looking to get an FO job and trying to do a career change. Again, you need to figure what you want to do, and that takes into account alot of things (you sure you can be a junior banker with a family? Gotta think about that).
Honestly, at 31, who knows what they want to be doing for the next 34 years? I know I want to get out of back office and have a more client facing, higher earning role. IB sounds great, but I also have a wife and kids, so the hours don't exactly excite me. Structuring is considered front office, and I would have interaction with clients. I've also been told that structuring to trading is one of the most natural progressions, so there's a good chance I could be trading, if I play my cards right. Lastly, is structuring really that niche? At the end of the day, it's heavy quant and sales.... both these seem to transfer well in the real world. Salary seems like it can touch $300k+ at the VP level (so within 3 years).
So if you take the MBA, would you bring your whole family to France? If you are moving to Houston for a front office role, I would take it. I'm assuming you are working at Citi because of their presence in Houston (in trading/structuring capacity) compared to other BBs. Your cost of living would be way lower and you would be potentially making more. If you don't want to go into IB, what fields would you want to go into? If you want to specifically get a certain job, I can see why you would want the MBA to pivot, but it seems like you don't really have a reason other than getting a "front office" job.
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