Success Story: Pre med graduate with no finance experience to I Banking m&a offer from networking

Hi everyone,

I wanted to give back to this community since it helped me so much in my current journey by telling my story/tips for anyone else trying to do the same thing/inspo for those non-traditional applicants out there.

Background:

I graduated from a top public school in California a year early and took the MCAT, fully prepared to apply to medical school. My experiences up until this moment were medical research, volunteering, and related internships. No finance experience whatsoever, however, I did study public health economics during University (no finance or accounting).

I realized after graduating that I was unsure about medical school and I wanted to explore other options. Unfortunately, it was late October by this point and the recruiting season for most jobs was over and I had no idea about the timeline/process for finance or consulting.

Hoping to make money while I continued to apply to jobs, I took on a temp job doing pretty low-level data entry type work at a top private equity fund in California. At this point, I didn't even know what private equity really even was....embarrassing I know.

This is where my finance journey starts.

At the firm:

I got coffee with absolutely everyone. I cold emailed people, I walked up to them in the kitchen, I visited them at their cube, etc. I even ran into the COO in the elevator and got coffee with him too. I learned that by listening to each person's unique experience I could learn a lot about the industry and figure out my next steps.

During the mornings and evenings I listened to finance and news podcasts, read the Wall Street Journal or FT, watched youtube or coursera videos on finance and accounting and reached out to friends working at banks for coffee chats/advice. I knew my role was temporary, but I tried to learn as much as possible about the firm and get as much work as possible while I was there.

Meanwhile, I utilized Linked-In. I started messaging my school Alumni and setting up calls or coffee chats. These often led to interviews or referrals.

Owing to it being late November by this point, without an IB internship, I was not really qualified for any FT roles in the States. I decided to take a crack at going abroad (more relaxed recruiting, longer recruiting timeline, and I've never lived abroad). I asked some of the network I built while temping if they would send my resume, and they did.

I flew over to London and spent over a month meeting people for coffee. It started with just 3 but then eventually ended up at about 20 or so meetings (met one person and they connected me on etc). The entire time I continued to study finance because I ruined quite a few opportunities with my lack of knowledge!

Eventually, I finally got an offer for a boutique but very successful IB in London to join their SA program and then convert to their FT program during the year.

My biggest takeaways for anyone reading this:

  • if this is your passion, don't give up! Show and prove that it is what you love
  • the more people you speak to, the more you will learn and understand the culture of finance
  • podcasts and newspapers are your best friends
  • this experience was my first time networking and I learned that often times people want to help you. Know what you want and what they can do for you. You can return the favor in the future (or by doing it for someone else).
  • Leverage your unique experience. I spoke about my experiences in healthcare and why I switched to finance
  • Don't be afraid to get good experience at a boutique, you can eventually convert to BB if you want. Despite my bank being small, companies like Google, Apple, and PE funds have reached out to me.

PM or comment if you have any questions!

 

I never pursued networking during undergrad so I can't really comment!

There will always be people who are unresponsive or people who will meet you or talk to you then disappear. I think this is just part of networking in general.

I was actually very surprised how many people from "top" firms were willing to take time to meet with me.

The key to getting that first conversation, in my opinion, was connecting over something similar (interest, a person we know, University) and then being direct about your interest in their company/career journey.

I was honest about the fact that I already graduated, and most people did not seem to care.

 

Congrats and just had a quick question. Did you ask people to refer you to others or did they just refer you without you asking? How did you go about saying that? Was it just a simple "Is there anyone else you would recommend I speak to?"

 

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