Are you trying to break into the buyside or investment banking?
Are you trying to break into the buyside or investment banking?
Investment Banking is very very difficult to break into from any BO/MO job. it’s so rare, I’ve actually never heard of a success story. Nearly all break into IB from school, or from another front offiec job, like ER on occassion
IB to get into the buyside longer term (or just work my way up).
Yea me neither. What if you don’t even land interviews in school (and therefore have no FO job)?
I have an accounting background, and I paired that with taking the CFA and consulting. Doing PE.
It will help. Also, outside of the knowledge you get from the curriculum, it will show those companies that you’re trying to interview with that you have the persistence/motivation to do what it takes to be successful. This fact is just as important.
I’ve found that those that have their CFA or have tried to get it greatly appreciate candidates that have done the same or are trying to do the same.
One last post on this subject…
I’m not sure how you’re getting your resume to these banks, but if you’re just submitting it online through each bank’s website, you have virtually no shot at even getting considered, no matter how good you background is. You need to have a friend/acquaintance refer you for an analyst spot by sending your resume directly to the whoever it is in the office who is responsible for hiring. I have a few friends who have made the switch to IB this exact way. It’s the same at your top mgmt consulting firms.
I agree 100% with the networking route, and many do offer, but I’m not invited for interviews. I can’t seem to figure out what I can do to turn my interview odds higher. Also in the UK most people tell me to apply online (I know in the US there is a stronger networking emphasis).
I’ve enrolled for the CFA 1 as I agree it shows motivation and I don’t think its a bad thing to do generally. Much of the content is a refresh of my degree/technicals they ask in interviews so if anything its good prep!
Hmm but accounting is still very relevant vs tech. Will tech + CFA really help?
Bump
Bump it up
Happy to do the CFA + stay in tech but even TMT teams are turning me down for analyst 1 / off-cycle internship roles.
At this point, I don’t see how having more tech experience and/or an MBA changes anything. What I need is to break into IBD, work 1-2 years in M&A, and then continue as a banker or move to the buyside. But I’m struggling to catch a break.
It sucks because everyone said working in top tech will help me ‘easily’ lateral into a TMT team - I’m not even getting a first round at a 5-10 man shop yet FB/few other big tech companies are knocking on my door (for roles that typially require 1-2 years IBD experience too! so I can’t be too far off in terms of my career ambitions…).
Any ideas?
Bump
Might be a fit issue? IBD work are pretty easy in general other than the long hours at the analyst level. From what I know personally they tend to hire people who they think will be a good fit since you do have to work with that person alot. I’d suggest you networking those people before applying.
I do. In the US they are very open to networking and willing to push my application. Due to VISA restrictions they forward my application to the UK office (makes sense). However the UK follows a very cookie cutter recruiting process - people apply online, get selected, etc so the only way ‘in’ is through an internship and converting to FT (so I would need to leave my FT job for this). If I was in the US I reckon I would have been able to break in by now both because of the networking culture and there are just much more vacancies in general (and no EU language bias).
Makes sense. Don’t know too much about UK but I’ve seen people in the U.S. from tech background go into IB fulltime after a one-year master’s program. Perhaps that is a potential route in the UK?
I considered that route but its pretty pricey to do a Masters in the UK and I’m not supported by family etc so unsure how I can afford it. Otherwise yes for sure that is a good way in. I researched part-time Master’s too but I’m 1.5 years off an MBA so why not just stay here and start as an Associate? Just sucks I will have to wait that long.
^ Just read Numi’s link. Maybe one of the smartest and most useful things ever.
Case studies are what you really do on the job – you generate investment ideas, present them to the PM, and aim to profit from your ideas while mitigating risk. Often, you’re tasked with analyzing an investment opportunity with minimal guidance and hand-holding; therefore, it’s up to you to use your intellectual horsepower and investment acumen to figure out whether a particular asset is a good investment.
In hedge fund interviews, “case studies” are very informal. 90% of the time they will tell you: Come up with an investment idea you think is interesting, present it to us, and back it up with quantitative and qualitative support.
And… that’s it. It’s up to you to come up with the structure, pick the industry and find the company, and anticipate their key questions in advance. -------------------------- That sounds like a dream come true. I function best with near zero direction or expectations on how I’m “supposed” to answer. I don’t care about bureaucracy and paperwork, I just wanna get to making shrewd investments and making money. And I have endless ideas how to do that, given current market conditions, and my global macro outlook. Very handy link, I’ve got a list of six HF targets and I’ve been writing customized cover letters by studying each fund’s tactics and performance. Never had a HF interview so didn’t know they did this, going to kill it. So, I’m massively outperforming YTD vs bench and it was no accident. Can I say this? I mean the moves I’ve done this year were all “case studies”, time moved forward, and now we see the results.
To work in PE you need to do IBD or MBB consulting though. I also know some people at HF’s and they only interview candidates from top BB’s.