<p>Ok, so I have a question. I know it's ridiculously competitive to get into an investment bank out of undergraduate college. So let's say I don't get a job offer from an ibank. And assuming my major is Finance, is it possible to work at Company A doing financial work for a few years. Then if I go back and apply for a job at an iBank. Is that the type of work experience they want?</p>
<p>Or let's say I'm an engineering major. Doing engineering work for a few years then going to an iBank possible??</p>
<p>i say you need to get your mba first if you want to jump from a different industry to a financial, especially for an investment banking position.</p>
<p>I'm at this point right now. Obviously not getting a job at an Ibank, so I think the best thing to do is land the best job that will be able to set you up in getting accepted to a Top 10 MBA. I just need to figure out what that job is, lol.</p>
<p>With all the s*it that's going on in Wall Street, particularly the investment banking industry, you STILL want to work for an ibank?</p>
<p>You still think that the <em>PRESTIGE</em> and <em>MONEY</em> at a Wall Street ibank is worth it?</p>
<p>Good luck. investment banking industry is DEAD. My friend, ibanking is f***ing dead and you know it.</p>
<p>Many ibankers are unemployed now living in their apartments playing Wii 24/7. I guess you find that alluring. I have friends who were laid off from their jobs in ibank. Ain't doing s*** right now except living in their apartments watching TV and j***ing off. </p>
<p>I guess they can afford that lifestyle.....they do have pretty nice severance packages (I hate to admit). They basically don't have to worry about money for at least 6 months or so. Some i know tell me they are trying to wait out this economic crisis right now....</p>
<p>Don't listen to IAmYourFather. Some people don't do it for money (gasp!) and if you are really interested in it, then good for you. There will always be a place for investment bankers because companies will always need to merge, make acquisitions, and raise capital. Getting hired right now is going to be tough though, but no one knows what's going to happen 2, 3, 4 years down the road from now. </p>
<p>Do your best in high school (if you're in it now) and get into a great college and get the best job you can, do your best, and get into a good MBA program. The underlying theme is doing your best.</p>
Don't listen to IAmYourFather. Some people don't do it for money (gasp!) and if you are really interested in it, then good for you. There will always be a place for investment bankers because companies will always need to merge, make acquisitions, and raise capital. Getting hired right now is going to be tough though, but no one knows what's going to happen 2, 3, 4 years down the road from now. </p>
<p>Do your best in high school (if you're in it now) and get into a great college and get the best job you can, do your best, and get into a good MBA program. The underlying theme is doing your best.
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+1.
IAmYourFather seems like he completely hates the ibanking industry for whatever industry and he's not completely wrong.
Right now, there are definitely professions and methods/paths of making more money with less risk than going into ibanking.</p>
<p>Even if you have a few years working in the financial industry, do you still need an MBA to get a job on Wall Street? And if you do get it, do you go to analyst work or you become an associate?</p>
<p>You won't be attractive to Wall Street if you go finance in house from college unless you went to Google and became the right hand to the guy in charge of acquisitions or similar. You will also not be a candidate doing a typical engineering job. Realize that few come in from industry period. This is why an MBA serves as a transition. </p>
<p>Also keep an eye on the fact that even at a top 10 MBA program, many will not be offered banking jobs, so always make certain to take classes, do jobs and participate in activities that will make you stand out and give you desired skills.</p>
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IAmYourFather seems like he completely hates the ibanking industry for whatever industry and he's not completely wrong.
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<p>I think he's stated that he was laid off from an investment bank, so am surprised how he thinks it's dead and everyone there is so stupid and would think he would be able to discuss the industry showing more knowledge.</p>
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I'm interested in this as well. worked as a consultant at a non-mbb.(not financial services industry) bump.
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<p>I am always amused by pretentious, superficial and arbitrary cut-offs like this. When I was in business school, I don't remember anyone choosing between BCG and Booze Allen concerned or even discussing such distinctions. Probably because they don't really exist except in the self-important minds of people posting on a site like this one.</p>
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I am always amused by pretentious, superficial and arbitrary cut-offs like this. When I was in business school, I don't remember anyone choosing between BCG and Booze Allen concerned or even discussing such distinctions. Probably because they don't really exist except in the self-important minds of people posting on a site like this one.
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<p>I don't understand what you are trying to say. </p>
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<li>MBB is generally now a widely used word to describe the pure-strategy big name players, Mckinsey, Bain and BCG. I didn't make up the term. </li>
<li>BAH is now much less of a strategy player than it used to be, it has huge market shares in the public sector/government contracts. A lot of their work in this day and age is in Information Technology and Process Improvements, more like a Deloitte and IBM in their service areas. </li>
<li>Did I offend you?(lol) I only said non-mbb because i know it's relatively easier for mbb consultants to get into IB.</li>
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<p>^I'm not saying that you made it up as I've seen it on this site and elsewhere, nor am I am offended by it. I'm just saying this cutoff distinction does not really exist or at least not nearly to the extent people on here make it out to be. Having graduated from a top MBA school this decade, I had never heard this term once and had ~ 20 friends go to one of these firms and another ~6-7 go to BAH. </p>
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I only said non-mbb because i know it's relatively easier for mbb consultants to get into IB.
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<p>This is the part I disagree with. It's about the person and what they were doing at the company is what helps for MBA admissions; not whether it was done at Bain or BAH. As someone who went through the process, I think it's riduclous to select what firm to work at based on perceived ameliorated chances of admission at business schools. </p>
<p>Maybe, I was nieve or lucked into a good situation or quite possibly that inherent capability shone through in my apps. Having received three offers at BB IBs, I wasn't choosing between them based on resulting perceived chances at business school nor did it occur to me that I should be trying to figure that out. Maybe, I was just lucky; maybe not. </p>
<p>It seems that competition for schools and jobs have become so vindictive and pretentious in the last few years. Part of the reason I used to like the term 'bulge-bracket' is that no one ever agreed on exactly what it was or what firms were included. Now, people seem to desire precise (and seemingly arbitrary to me) cutoffs on that kind of thing.</p>
<p>Yes, but the kind of consulting projects at pure-strategy firms usually gives you better work experiences. You said yourself in another thread that a Brown history major has more intellectual horsepower than a BC or Michigan grad regardless of major. So, I'm applying this same clear cut ranking methodology that you have used here as well, which you seem to dislike, yet you endorsed... so I'm confused about where you stand on this.</p>
<p>I think it applies to schools much more than to firms. Students are shaped by the students around them. By the time you're on the job, you've already become pretty narrowly focused. </p>
<p>Plus, on average, the Brown history major will have more intellectual horsepower than the UMichigan or BC grad; not that the dumbest Brown grad is smarter than the smartest BC grad. I'm not stating absolutes that anyone from Brown should be able to get a job in IB at Merrill Lynch and get into Wharton MBA, but no one from UMichigan or BC should be able to get these things the way I feel you are implying.</p>
<p>I don't in the least bit understand how you took what Keefer said so wrongly, gellino. He was simply adding on that he would like information, and that he worked for a non-MBB. How could you possibly take that as being pretentious?</p>
<p>I am not saying keefer is being pretentious. I am just saying that from what I've seen that it's needless to make such an important distinction between BCG and BAH that the former should be viewed as very impressive, but that the latter is a significant drop-off from this. I remember being uncertain which one was even considered better; nevermind that there was a vast difference between them. </p>
<p>There are also other consulting firms such as LEK, Parthenon and Monitor that were attracting just as impressive candidates as your precious, "MBB". Even the difference between Bain and say Deloitte or Accenture I wouldn't consider any wider than the difference in IB between Morgan Stanley and say Deutsche Bank or BofA (pre-merger).</p>
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There are also other consulting firms such as LEK, Parthenon and Monitor that were attracting just as impressive candidates as your precious, "MBB".
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<p>I'm not saying it's more "precious", I work for a non-mbb consulting firm, and I know the talents that are here, so I would never say Mckinsey people are more "precious". I'm not talking about getting a job, and how impressive the people are, I do have friends in some of the firms, and these 3 firms(MBB) pretty much compete among themselves for contracts. They are the biggest consulting firms that advertise mainly "strategy" to their clients. </p>
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Even the difference between Bain and say Deloitte or Accenture I wouldn't consider any wider than the difference in IB between Morgan Stanley and say Deutsche Bank or BofA (pre-merger).
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<p>I completely understand what you are saying. And I don't know a lot about financial services firms to comment on the analogy, but like I said before, they don't offer the same services. Of course there are divisions within Deloitte and Accenture that are "Strategy" consulting. I'm not saying one is better, but usually there's more "perceived" value to the typical Mckinsey consultant than the deloitte consultant when you switch careers. You can do a search on monster.com and you'll find that many financial services and industry companies will explicitly say requires prior investment banking experience or Mckinsey/Bain/BCG.</p>
<p>This is to a response on Page 1. So without an MBA, is it possible to get into a top BB firm?</p>
<p>Let's say I go get my undergraduate in Finance or Economics and get no offers from a BB firm but get an offer from Johnson & Johnson or Shop Rite for examples. If I do financial work there for a number of years, can I apply to a BB firm or I need to get an MBA then apply for a BB firm?</p>