What is the best route?
Hi all,
I am looking for some advice on how to break into IB for my situation. I graduated from a public ivy with a 3.4 GPA in 2011 (finance major). While I was still in school I didn't really know what I wanted to do so I admit I slacked off a bit during recruiting. Ended up with couple 2nd tier offers and accepted an analyst job at a bank (non big 4, but always on TV).
Info about my current job: my position is not the typical banking/underwriting analyst job. It is more on the consulting side where we do NPV, risk, revenue vs. cost analysis for projects. We also make sure execution and operation is in place for the projects that we are working on. There is no accounting component. The NPV model was built for us, all we had to do was to input our assumptions on risk, cash flow, etc.
Now that I am more than 1 year in the job I feel that I have a clearer mind that I want to pursuit a job in IB. What would be the best route for me to break in? The ones that I have in mind:
1.) IB entry analyst level position at my 2 year mark: don't know how hard this will be since I will be consider "too old/ much work experienced" for entry level but yet I don't have any IB related experience.
2.) Management consulting => B school => IB associate : since my current job is more in the consulting side, I felt that it would give me a better chance on landing a gig in consulting. I also plan to get a MBA and consultants are placed decently for top schools.
3.) Other jobs that give IB transferable skills (big 4 TAS, investment management, etc.) => B school: basically jobs that is "closer" to IB than my current one. A job that I can say I have some IB-related knowledge post b school.
Please comment on the feasibility of the options. I would like to hear what you guys recommend; any comments is much appreciated!
Cheers!
So it sounds like you do financial risk analysis? i'd be curious to hear peoples' thoughts as well.
wtf is a public ivy
I hate the term public Ivy. The very thing that makes the Ivy League what it is is being private.
Next thing you know, there's going to be a "Community College Ivy".
Yea, I have never heard of it until I graduated.
wtf is a big 4 bank? I get JPM, GS, MS... who's #4?
given the state of the economy, i imagine it will be hard to pull off option 1 as there are very few banks taking experienced hires these days. opportunities exist but you will have to be very aggressive in finding them and spinning your experience as one that is attractive to them. you'll likely come in as a senior (2nd/3rd year) analyst.
options 2 and 3 seem fine and feasible. assuming the rest of your b school admissions profile is decent, i imagine youll be fine getting into an M7 school which will be an appropriate launching pad to MBB and BB recruiting. as far as choosing between 2 and 3, i wouldn't worry about your pre-MBA experience as it relates to when you recruit for post-MBA associate positions in banking; banks are open to all backgrounds at the MBA level and you just have to spin your own to fit whatever story you're trying to tell.
I wouldn't say that it's necessarily harder now to pull off a lateral move than it was before; lateral hires are always based on need, so it's more firm-dependent than economy-dependent. I'd reach out to headhunters, and if you went to a solid state school, then I'm sure you know a friend or two in IBD, so you should ask them to keep their ears to the ground in case they hear of an opening (my firm typically sends out email blasts with openings if they are urgent. Generally, you'll also get a bonus for pulling people in as well, so there's an extra incentive for them).
I'd also reach out to other alums at banks. Start networking and try to build up good contacts.
Thanks for the feedback. As you mentioned, lateral hires are always based on need (usually urgent), then wouldn't the firms want to hire someone with IB experience? Since I have no IB experience, would it be more beneficial for me to go through their fall recruiting and compete with college seniors?
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