Accounting to IB
Has this been done before? I haven't really heard of a lot of accounting backgrounds in IB. If you have this experience please chime in on what made you decide to get into investment banking, and how you did it.
MBA is a great route to make this transition. The IBs love candidates with strong accounting backgrounds.
My friend started as Big 4 audit out of college and worked his ass off for 3 years and transferred to TAS team within his company. Did that for another 2 years while preparing for MBA and got his foot into top tier MBA school. He is still in school, but he told me that it is the only way to transition into IB from accounting unless you have a legit connection lol. Hope he gets his dream job cuz he worked hard.
I see many who were at Big4 financial advisories switched to IB M&A advisories or small boutiques. I guess its up to what division you are in the accounting firm.
I know of people who have made the switch directly, but it’s uncommon. The more common route is to use an MBA to make the switch. As an MBA student, you’ll do well in recruiting because bankers generally respect the similarities between Big 4 and banking. It’s a longer, more expensive path, but it’s generally a worthwhile effort if you plan to stay in banking / finance for a moderate to long period of time