Too old to enter I-banking? As this is the field for the very young?Finance is a field that is notoriously for young people. I had a fairly successful software development career and most recently worked for Microsoft. However, I have a passion for finance that I cannot curb. In my 30s I took the risk and went back to a top B-school for a career change. Now at mid 30, though I... |
Not sure if you got a BS or MBA. If an MBA, then you're definitely not too old to join IB. I have a friend with an MBA and experience in engineering and operations who got hired into an IB job as an associate at age 33 (or maybe 34, can't remember). Firms won't discriminate based on age -- they'll always consider you based on skill.
If you're at a top school, then most big firms will come on campus in Sep/Oct for full time jobs and Jan/Feb for summer internships. Try applying through school for a job -- much better chances than applying online (although that's still possible). Also, call the HR dept at the firms you are interested in and ask if you can speak with an analyst or associate in IB. They'll generally find an alumni from your school and pass on the contact info. That person can give you a feel for the day to day, and allow you to ask questions before your interview so you'll know what to expect. We find that candidates who make contact before the interview do much better at the interview because they are knowledgeable.
Just a word of caution -- have you researched the lifestyle? It's a fairly competitive area with long work hours. People sometimes survive on 3 hrs sleep for several days at a time. Doesn't matter what area of IB that you're in -- munis, M&A, corporate, etc. Personally speaking, I think that you must have a lot of passion to want to do this job.
I work at a large financial services firm in NY, and have been there for 10.5 years, none of which were in IB. If you have a passion for finance, be sure to check out all the areas of the firm. In particular, you could look into technology management -- use your tech background to make decisions on strategy for various products -- or operations -- consider a project mgmt role partnering with sales/trading/strats/tech to roll out new products or systems. You could also look into tech research or asset mgmt.
Good luck in your job hunt!
