Advice for a 28 year-old...
Hello,
Just discovered this helpful website; any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
Situation:
-Graduated Boston University School of Management ('02) w/ Concentration in Finance. 3.0 GPA.
-Analyst at Thomson Financial for 1 year
-Analyst (promoted to Senior) at a middle-market M&A boutique for 3 years
-Left boutique and spent 1 year teaching English abroad
-Now 28 years old looking for IB position while jobless
Options:
-Apply for 2nd-3rd year analyst at BB or Boutique? (Been difficult to get foot back in door...am I too old??)
-Apply for corporate finance job (got offer at Disney...should I take??), get MBA, enter BB or Boutique as an Associate?
-Apply for Big 4 job (currently interviewing at KPMG - Valuation), get MBA, enter BB or Boutique as an Associate?
If I decide to go with one of last two options, how many years before I apply for B-school? Assuming I work for 2 years, and 2 years of b-school...I'll be 32 when applying to IB's...will I be an old fart???
Sorry for long post...I'm sorta frustrated and lost on which path to take...
Whether you take Disney offer is dependent on your goals. It could be a good career path and is available to you without all the hurdles of getting back into IB.
You were out for a year or so, may I ask why you left and want to come back?
Should have stayed in asia, gotten married.
you could go straight to mba couldn't you? you've got a fair amount of experience that could be appealing to a good school...it should be easier to crack ib as an associate at that point
-Analyst (promoted to Senior) at a middle-market M&A boutique for 3 years -Left boutique and spent 1 year teaching English abroad
thats a drastic shift in careers...why didn't you stay at the boutique and tried to get into b school right after?
you seem like you can get into a good MBA school with that experience. if anything, that one year abroad has to look good on your application. then join a BB as an associate.
It appears you have two really strong options and your plan to work for 2 years and then do B-school is a good one. As long as you stick to the plan, nail that GMAT and get into a top B-school, you will have things lined up nicely.
That offer at Disney in corporate finance sounds intriguing.
KPMG - Valuation is also solid experience. I know plenty of folks who have transitioned from KPMG - Valuations to MM or BB IB. Have you already secured an interview?
Don't fret the age. It doesn't matter. 32 is not old. It's old to the 19 year olds who post here, but in truth it is not.
Take Disney. Disney is a feeder to Stanford's GSB (granted you do well on your GMAT's because your 3.0 from BU isn't too stellar). Ideally, take Disney, get good bschool exit opp, then the world is yours.
I went to Asia to teach English, not for $$$ or career path; simply to broaden my horizons. (No, I did find my wife...haha).
I can't go straight to b-school; I haven't studied for GMAT nor can I afford to take another year off just to study and apply to schools.
KPMG - Had phone interview. HR said they are trying to schedule me to meet with department this or next. I kinda prefer this opportunity over the Disney one...
About the Disney offer - it is NOT a business development or strategy offer...it is pretty much a straight up corporate finance gig. Essentially, I'd be working in the Procurement department helping the company save costs, and part of the team that compiles the annual operating plan. I'm not sure if this is what I want to get into, but if it can get me into b-school, should I just tough it out for 2 years and study my ass off for my GMAT's? Also, I have one week to accept the offer...so that's also giving me a headache since I'm trying to explore other options...
Thanks for all the help!!!
Well if you stay in Disney and it' s anything like most F500s, then they will be willing to let you move around a bit after working there for 18-24 months. They in fact probably WANT you to do that because you will get a broader knowledge of how the firm operates and where everything on the P&L is derived from. If you did real work at your boutique then I think you won't have much trouble distinguishing yourself at your corpfin group at Disney.
Do you want to get into corp dev or back into banking? If you want to get back into an ibank then I'd probably take the KPMG job. Any of the Big 4 will help you if you do well there in not only meeting a lot of F500 bigwigs but also getting into a top B-school. And with SarbOx you know that as an auditor you're always going to have a job to fall back on if the i-banking quest fails.
Well, I can certainly imagine the anxiety you must be feeling.
Have you told KPMG that you have an outstanding offer from Disney? They might expedite their process if they knew...
The timeline which Disney gave you of 1 week doesn't really help you explore other options. How long ago was their offer? No chance DIS could give you another two weeks? This is a big decision, call DIS.
I'd wait on KPMG. It sounds like the opportunity is more in line with your long-term goals and more directly applicable to IB vs. DIS.
However, you know best your circumstances, i.e. do you need to take a job now (financial pressures) or can you afford to wait.
Don't worry about the age factor, 30 is the new 20 anyways.....and 22 is the new 18, at least that's what I tell my friends when they ask why I'm still dating NYU freshman broads....
Thanks for all the responses...this website rocks!!! Shame I didn't discover it earlier...
So I just got email from KPMG 10min ago and I landed an interview next week with 5 people in the Economics and Valuation Services (EVS) group - ranging from Sr. Associates to the Partner managing the group.
I know this is an ibanking forum, but has anyone been employed at a valuation group at one of the Big 4??? If so, what should I expect during the interview process? How should I prepare??
Hopefully I can hold off Disney for as long as possible...
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