Hi fellow Monkeys,
I am 25 years old from continental Europe and I am currently working in London in a commercial bank (think RBS/Santander/Lloyds) on a 2 year grad scheme (currently in my 2nd year). I am looking for alternative options in my career and just got an offer from Imperial College for the MSc Finance programme. I would like to work in IB (ideally BB) and I have 1yr front office experience however due to the limited appetite for such business at my institution internal opportunities are very limited.
My question is, if I take the Imperial's offer, would I be able to apply to grad schemes at BBs again despite my experience (most of the class will have 0 experience)? Or should I view my experience as an advantage? If I stay where I am there there is risk of me getting a non FO role. Assuming this happens, would 1yr more experience (although not as relevant) be viewed favourable vs 1yr spent outside the industry in academia?
Really don't know what to do, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.