It seems somewhat absurd, but I found an opening for an executive assistant at PE firm. In the ad it stated that this would be a good way to get in the back door of a prestigious firm. Being a man, I've never even considered such a position however the pay is surprisingly not too bad. It's almost tempting to roll the dice and see if one could make a transition to an analyst role in a year or two. Do you know anyone who has went such an unconventional route?
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Never
...ever
Only Peggy Olson can go from executive assistant to front-office. So unless you're a main character, I wouldn't dream of it.
Don't do this. But I do know someone who went from temping in an admin role at a 3rd tier consulting firm, to an analyst-type role, to MBB.
I've seen / heard of this happening 3-4 times but the odds are long. I've also seen a personal assistant to a famous investor get a shot on the investment team but that is also extremely rare. The larger the firm, the lower your chances are. If it were a smaller or medium sized firm it might be an okay chance in the absence of anything better, but only because you might be able to make a positive impression on the founder / principal of the firm and move up that way. In a large firm no one gives a shit about you and the political headwinds will be much stronger.
I know of one lady who successfully transitioned from an assistant role to client service. That's the best related success story I can think of.
going from a personal assistant to a front office analyst at a PE firm is nearly impossible, Unless you're the hottest girl in all of new york city, or unless the firm virtually guarantees you a "graduation" from your assistant role sometime in the future.
To add to this: The only case I've heard of, is a well-qualified Exec Assistant moving into investment research.
Would you enter as admin. assist. for a chance at analyst? (Originally Posted: 10/07/2011)
We all know it can be done. Old boys have done it. Going from mail man to analyst and beyond is not unprecedented. What about now? If you were unemployed and the only thing you found was a job posting for administrative assistant (or anything along that line) at a top BB, would you consider it in hopes of getting promoted to analyst somehow? Thoughts?
Isn't administrative assistant the PC way of saying secretary?
no. best bet at an analyst gig is applying for an analyst gig.
It beats being unemployed, and you can spin the shit out of it if you have to. Still though, you've got plenty of time to find something before May.
It would be better than joining the OWS crew, but I would probably figure something else out.
This used to work better when hiring programs were less structured
Never heard of it happening at a BB though
I'm not saying I'm considering this. Fortunately i have an analyst gig (although at a shitty place, shitty job). I was just wondering if it's still feasible strategy these days. Guess not.
The guy I replaced came out of the mail room. A VP here started as a filing clerk. I came out of ops. The MD was an admin.
Everyone did night courses (I'm going to school at night starting next month)
Be smart, work hard, buy your opponents ten rounds of shots the day night before big meetings, make friends in high places, and anything is possible.
Oh yeah, one last thing......resist the urge to push the ivy kids down the elevator shaft if you can.
Good luck.
it would have to be a "pursuit of happiness" -esque rags to riches story. or you'd have to be interviewing for a personal assistant role for a BSD who could place you anywhere on recommendation alone. other than that, i can't imagine anyone coming in as a secretary / assistant and being offered an analyst job. not with the structured campus recruiting and 2 year programs out there nowadays.
I know a guy who did not go to college (grew up poor in the Bronx) and got a temp job filing/scanning trade tickets for a top BB. After a couple of years, he impressed people enough with his work ethic that they gave him a spot in the Ops analyst class. This was within the past 10 years.
It definitely happens.
But as speedmerchant has pointed out, you gotta be in the right place and the right time to make this work out for you - So far I've known 3 people who've made from (essentially) back office roles to front office trading positions.
Case 1: She was in Ops position for 5 years, sitting next to the traders on the floor and doing some god-knows-what roles. I really have no idea what she did and how she impressed her bosses, but when one trader had to quit she was made an analyst trader. Heard she's doing fine
Case 2 & 3: Two guys I knew were in middle office risk management for complicated options stuff. Made into traders roughly after 4-5 years each. It probably would've been more difficult for these dudes since they were sitting in a different building (although 5 minutes apart from the main office), and those option exotics trading is a highly coveted area at my frim. One more thing: unlike the girl above, these dudes got some proper education (cambridge and stuff) so it probably helped a lot along the away.
That said I agree that if you want to be an analyst the best (and the shortest) way is to apply for analyst gig. If there are 2-3 people who eventually break into trading or anything front office, there are still hundreds of people who stay in BO.
Forgot to mention that these stories are relatively recent ones (happened in
Can an Admin Position Lead to Analyst Role Offer? (Originally Posted: 07/13/2012)
Hey all,
I am going to be entering my Senior year at a non-target with a 3.9 GPA and have been offered a job at a HF as a Fall "Investor Relations" Assistant. As stated in the title I'm pretty sure its an admin job. By the way, the hedge fund is Tudor Investment.
The people I've talked to there know I am also interested in an analyst position. Is there any chance of this turning into one when I graduate?
Investor relations is more akin to a PR job. Have fun with your telephone.
The chance of your offer magically changing into an offer for an entirely different job in the span of a year? Not likely. I guess you could reapply for an actual analyst position within the firm but not sure what impression that would give.
I figured this much. Good thing I don't need to take it.
Then again IR is pretty up there in the hierachy. Try to network possibly see if you can talk to the MDs or heads when you have IR work to do and see if you can get them to like you.
It's another one of those BO/MO -> FO situations, isn't it? Not impossible, but not going to happen unless you have some impressive shit going for you. If you're really interested try doing that magical thing everyone talks about (networking) and go from there.
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