Intern
Joined: 28 Jun 2011
Posts: 42
Given Kudos: 2
Concentration: Finance, General Management
GPA: 3.76
WE:Corporate Finance (Energy and Utilities)
Advice Needed - Financial Services
[#permalink]
30 Jan 2012, 13:33
I am seeking advice regarding my personal situation from all of you experts in the forums.
I will be beginning my MBA journey this Fall (either UT Austin-McCombs or Duke). I have 4 years of Company Finance experience for an oil supermajor, and am looking to change career paths into Financial Services.
I am particularly interested in ibanking (Corp Fin or M&A), however, I am not yet stuck on it quite yet. Given my GMAT is low for a BB (690) and Duke and Texas aren't exactly "Finance powerhouses", I'm worried about my chances in the recruiting process. I feel confident I can prove myself the right "fit" in networking and interviewing situations, however, I'm worried my resum might just be thrown out before I get much of a chance to prove myself (given my GMAT and non-related experience).
I'm interested in the opportunities within regional or smaller "boutique" banks from these programs (I am specifically interested in targeting the Dallas/FW area). What are the differences in recruiting and how good of a shot as a career switcher would I have when targeting smaller firms? Do some people ignore the whole BB scene all together and focus more on targeting lesser known firms? Since I hear banking recruiting takes all your time, how do prospective bankers hedge their bet and leave other options open in case they don't land something in banking?
When I look at the career reports for most top MBAs, I see a very, very large percentage of graduates going into Financial Services, but I only see a very small number of people getting offers at the top firms. I'm curious as to how many people seek jobs outside of the "household name" companies. Also, do the majority graduates that go into Fin Services go into ibanking?
I know I listed a lot of questions, Thanks very much for help.