I have a Bachelor's in Political Science from a target European University. I then started a master's in Marketing which I didn't finish and did the same with a master's in Finance. By that point, I had secured a full-time offer in a BB in London, in their TMT team. After a bit more than 18 months, I moved to a large bank's Merchant Banking Division, where I have worked across the capital structure (LBOs, Mezzanine, Debt) and I am now focused solely on LBOs and a few special situations investing.
I am happy to answer any questions from how to get into IB, lifestyle, TMT exit opps, to how to get a buy-side job, and the difference in investment approach for different types of instruments in the capital structure.
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@AndyLouis @WallStreetOasis.com
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Interested about the beginning, can you explain how you get to a BB from an unfinished master's in Marketing / Finance?
Thanks
I think the most important part of my pitch and of any pitch of why you don't finish something is why. During every intro pitch in any interview I explained why I didn't finish my master's in marketing. In my case, I realised the course I liked the most during my 1st year of master's in Marketing was a finance class and so it made it easy to explain why I was switching to Finance. Overall, I think if you can really explain why you decided to change path and why this is leading you to being in front of the interviewer, this should not be an issue. If you twist it well, it can also give them confidence because you're showing them you are not applying in IB because everyone around you is doing so but really because of a personal reflection.
For the unfinished master's in Finance, it was much easier. I studied in France, where most people take a gap year for internships between their 1st and 2nd year of master's. My first internship (June-December) was at a BB's Paris office and I managed to get a FT offer for their London office starting the following July.
Thanks for the kind reply.
One more question after reading other replies, if I may ask.
How do you network as a student? (I’m from continental Europe too and I’m really struggling to land coffee chats with cold mail and Linkedin messages)
Any hope from non-targets? how to make sure one maximizes the number of 1st rounds they get.
Did banks not have a problem with you dropping out so much?
Do you feel better in PE now? ( lifestyle-wise)
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