I would appreciate if I could get some guidance on how to move from my current ops role to a sell-side role in FO. I am 23 years old & have been working for almost a year in liquidity operations at JP Morgan, and wish to break into a Front Office IB or trading. Yes I know, two vastly different roles but I have interest & would gladly take either path.
As for my background, I went to a reputable public university in NY and unfortunately graduated in financial economics with only a 3.1 (Went through some heavy personal/family issues & had no direction), but finished my last two semesters with a 4.0 and graduated early. I am currently pursuing the CFA program, and will be be taking the level 3 exam in June.
To realistically have have any chance of moving into these roles, will I basically need to enroll in a competitive MBA program? I am a very good test taker & confident that I could perform well enough on the GMAT to be considered at least by a top 15-20 school (target would be NYU), but I know my undergrad GPA is weighing me down as well.
I am also trying to network when I can internally, and have met several contacts within other groups at my firm, but no opportunities have risen yet.
Don’t just focus on the BB. Look for smaller shops. Look for buy-side opportunities. All entry level. Anything FO just to get out of Ops. Start your own investment blog, learn to model companies in excel (there are courses you can buy for this). You’ll suck at it but at least you are showing them you really want to do this.
No doubt when/if you pass Level III, that would be a big boost to your resume (hell Level II is IMO). I would not do MBA until you’ve got CFA done and have tried breaking in unsuccessfully for a couple years. Soooo expensive!
Also you’re 23 so don’t worry about timing. I didn’t get my first buy-side position until 33. It all works out if you really want it and have patience.
Thank you very much for the response Pistolpt. I do plan on learning how to model after the the level 3 Exam (friend of mine in IB gave me his Breaking into Wall Street with all of the modeling courses), and I will definitely look into doing some work on the side related to finance/investments, perhaps a blog, personal research reports, etc.
From reading this section I was/am beginning to believe that an MBA at a prestigious program is almost essential to breaking into certain roles if you do not possess the high caliber experience/undergrad pedigree that is expected. Either way I will do what I can to network and strengthen my resume before making that decision. Thanks!
IB will be hard to get into, and you probably need to get an MBA, since this division has strict hiring channels. However, I’ve seen people move directly from operations to trading, sales, research or other roles at banks including JPM. What these people had in common is demonstrated potential, motivation and achievement that is better than that of their peers. Most people who are in operations and not a front office role are there because that’s where they belong, based on their intelligence or work ethic. However, the top 10% of operations workers can probably do another job if they have the opportunity to do so.
So, my advice is for you to (hopefully continue to) be truly excellent and indispensable in your current role. Visit the desks where you would like to work often and learn about what they are doing. Then, read about the products in your spare time. This will put you in a good position to at least get an interview the next time a positions opens up.
Yeah you definitely need a MBA…going from there to IB is very doable if you network right from a reputable feeder program, especially now given a lot of people are opting for other finance roles outside of IB. You need a good story to explain away the poor undergraduate GPA.