Transition into banking/consulting/phd/MBA from startup scene
Hello All,
I’m going back to school as a senior (top school in US, econ major) after working on startups for six years. I experienced one exit ($$$ + stock) and one failure. For the second one, I gave it all; it didn't work out. Anyways, I am done with all the startup hype, decide to go back to school to finish school, and am in need of your opinions on which career may be the best option for me.
School performance: 3.4ish (major 3.7; I have two semesters left); a number of leadership roles (I don't if it matters anymore)
Before I get too old, I want to have big names under my belt. Do you think I can break into prestigious jobs like Banking and Consulting? If so, as a junior role or a senior role?
If it's unlikely to break into, I'm considering 1) MBA or 2) PhD, 3) Other career path
1) MBA: I have $ to go to MBA but I don't know if it's going to be worthwhile. Am I going to learn much? It is certain that it's going increase the chance to break into prestigious jobs mentioned above, but it is worth investing 2 years + $?
2) PhD in management
3) Other career path: to be honest, I don't know what other opportunities are available for me. Big tech companies may be worthwhile to have a look at?
I have been lost since my passion about startup was extinguished. I know what I want for now is to have a big name and to experience well-established systems though.
What do you think I should do for my career?
Thanks in advance. I very much appreciate all your opinions.
You have a very unique background as an undergrad with real work and start up experience. I don't think it's impossible to get a job in consulting or IB, you just have to spin it right and have your elevator pitch down. The obvious question they will ask you is why banking or why consulting. Write down the two or three sentence answer and memorize it.
For consulting, you can say that after working in start ups and seeing what succeeds and what doesn't, you want to apply that first hand experience and knowledge to a variety of different companies and projects and help your clients reach their potential, and you also want the experience of working across a broad range of projects to make your business expertise well rounded.
For banking, you can say the same opener, but apply it to finance and deal experience. After working in start ups, you came to realize you really enjoyed the financial aspects of what succeeds and what doesn't, and with the failed start up it was obvious that the financial backbone was what made or break the company - there just wasn't enough liquidity and cash flow to keep the operations running. It clicked for you and that's when your desire to be in Wall Street began, etc. etc.
Obviously, don't say you want the name or big brand name. It's all about spinning your story.
Sorry to hijack the thread. But after having work experience, why do banks ask "why banking"? Aren't the candidates a little old for general and basic questions like that. It's like, "..because I want to graduate from college and learn a lot" just doesn't seem like it will stick. No. It's obviously because the name and money will carry its weight. Also, general questions are very impolite when the underlying answer is really about money. Banks should steer clear away from that and just be more specific, such as, "why our bank".
Completely fair and I agree with you 100% on that. Having been on both sides of the interview process, it's an easy question to weed out folks who actually came prepared with a decent response versus those who say superficial things (even if the superficial things are totally true). You can definitely play up the "why our company" by saying all of the great things about the reputation and project/deal flow of said company. That's reasonable. But saying something like "I want the money" or "I need to pay off my student loans" won't fly during an interview, and it won't fly during a performance review when you need to convince your boss of a raise or a promotion (my experience on that for another time...).
electriclighto @iBankedUp"
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts! It means a lot to me.
I hear that for consulting I can be considered as a senior position (one right above the junior entry level position); for banking I assume I have to start as a junior since I don't have relevant work experiences and have a mediocre GPA. Correct?
I think it really depends on the company. I would expect even at the top tier consulting firms you will likely start at entry level. But you will never know. If you take advantage of undergraduate on campus recruiting, it's likely to pigeonhole you into the entry level position because of the avenue and channel you're approaching it at.
For all of IB, if you had no prior IB or financial experience, it is guaranteed a start as a first year analyst. Even people who lateral from, for example, a traditional corp fin job will likely start as a year 1 analyst.
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