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Claire

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Hello,

I have a general commercial banking background, and I am wondering how I can best leverage this to move into the world of Investment Banking. Does anyone know how I could leverage my experience to make a transition into Goldman Sachs or any similar organisation. My background is pretty much that of a generalist or "general manager".

My CV looks roughly like this:

Business Experience - "BIG BANK"

- Customer Service & Operations role - Manager level, approximately 50 staff and their managers report into me.

- Investor Relations role - analyst level, wrote briefings for snr. managers

- Marketing role - developed marketing campaigns. asst manager lvl.

- Business Development. iinvolved in strategy development and product roll outs.

- Innovation. developed new ideas for propositions at Group level and brought them to market. project manager level.

Other experience:

degree educated
I have had previous analyst roles in relation to macroeconomics and consulting, but i have no investment banking, corp. finance experience or similar.
 
A transition to i-banking at Goldman sounds very very ambitious. You should check out the link to Warton resumes and determine if you are in that league. These will be the people that you'll be competing against.
 
Yeah, I browsed the Darden resumes and the answer is yes, I am in definitely in the same league or above work experience wise, but I lack an MBA.

The question is how do I transition from a commercial banking background to one of the global investment banks? Where would these skills be most useful?

Reason for asking is that I am not sure how my generalist background (consulting, innovation, management) could fit in, as Goldman and Merrill seem to hire ultra-specialists only. Correct me if I am wrong and please give me some guidance :-)
 
its going to be very tough to break into an IB program at any bank let alone Goldman. you are too experienced for an analyst role so no one will give you a look there and you wont get hired as an associate. to be honest your best hope without knowing someone on the inside is a top tier mba.
 
From what I hear, if you want to go into Investment Banking, you better be prepared for 80-hour work weeks the first 5 years you are in IB.
 
do you know what kind of money you make though? if you get into corporate advisory, you will retire by the time you're 45 with a lot of money in the bank.

but don't do it just for the money. you need a type A personality to succeed.

its as simple as that.
 
Guys, you are doing everything but answering the question.

Can someone with insight into the world of investment banking please explain where a generalist management background could fit in?

I have had a look at venture cap/merchant banking given my previous experience in innovation and taking products/ideas to market.
 
sure, IBs have their own products, they distribute that product, they need people to sell these products and set up platforms for distribution, etc... go talk to an IB if you're interested, might as well get the information from the source.
 
sydneybound makes a good point.

You haven't said what kind of role it is that you are looking for. Do you want to do corporate finance deals at GS, trade at GS, work in HR or what?

The requirements and your chances would be dependant on what role you are looking for.
 
What sort of role to do you want in I-Banking? You may have been a generalist, but you won't be one if you get where you want to go. Do you want to be in project/product management, back office management, or Corporate Advisory doing deals? In any case a top-flight MBA is your best bet, and it's almost certainly required for a front office banker role.
 
bottom line is that you probably wont be able to break in without either knowing someone, or going and getting a top MBA. I dont know how much more you need to know. You've been around too long for an analyst position, and dont have the education for an associate position.
 
Crunchy, she hasn't said what position she's looking for. If she wants to be in a non-fron office IBD role she might be able to do it without the MBA. We don't know where she did her undergrad, how long ago it was and what firm she works for now.
 
true, but there are other roles. Investor relations, business development, corporate HQ roles, etc...
 
HEY, compliance is great. i love the hours, people kiss my as5 so that they can get stuff signed off.
 
Hello,

Goldman Sachs is the preminent investment bank. Their hiring standards are high in the Corporate Finance / Advisory practices.

Only the top students are Wharton, Darden etc are able to get jobs there. BTW, they are already ahead of you by having the MBA - there is a reason they recruit at those schools.

In their eyes commericial banking is not applicable, marketing and opps are not applicable - maybe the corp dev or strat consulting are usable.....

I would shoot for entering the field at a UBS / Bear / ML level, and try to ante up, when you have proven yourself.

I did recruiting at a BB IB for several years at both my undergrad and grad, the resumes we saw were bulletproof, and we still only gave 10% interviews and then made offers to 15-25% of those (in a good year).

Don't kid yourself you up against fierce, qualified competition.

"Let's face it son, some people just don't belong"
 
Hi all

I just graduate college in Israel and planning on coming to NYC and work in the finance industry. I guess not many have heard about my college hence thinking of getting an american credential such as CFA designation. I plan to do MBA anyway (I have top grades) and need an advice from people who work in the industry.
To what extent will it help me to do CFA if I'll have an MBA? Do I even have a chance to get a job, given that I graduate a nonamerican school and english is not my mother tongue? I'm not picky and ready to take any job related to investments.
Also, I've heard one need work experience in order to get into a good MBA program,is it true?

Thanks in advance
 
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