Thoughts on this: www.ibcareerpath.com - Page 2

the longer you stay unemployed, the harder it is to find a job so you really need to find something, anything and soon. sorry to break it to you, but don't have the luxury of being picky any more and you'll have to look beyond "cool" jobs.

I'll give you my perspective as somebody who's spent their entire career (~10 years) in M&A: I find this 'program' to be reprehensible, predatory, and an embarrassment to the industry (and this is an industry that's hard to embarrass).

As I see it, there are two components to this program - (1) the 'training'; and (2) the 'guaranteed' internship. Both are worthless, and I'll explain why.

(1) The 'Investment Banking Bootcamp' style companies came into the market around the time I started my career. The thing is, investment banking isn't hard. Most of the 'training' you're going to need is firm-specific, and you'll figure it out in your first six weeks (or you'll be fired). If you're smart enough to make it though the interview process, you'll be able to figure out how to build an LBO model. Third party training is an absolute waste.

(2) The 'internship' is embarrassing. If they were guaranteeing you an internship at GS, it'd be worth every penny of the $5K. Dalmore Group? I've never heard of them - and I've worked with a huge number of banks. Looking at their website, the firm is an outright joke. Calling it an investment bank is an insult to investment banks. It's like saying you want to be a Michelin-starred chef, but you can't break in, so you're going to PAY McDonalds to give you an internship on the fry machine. And work your way up from there.

I hate to be that guy, because I know you want to follow your dreams and be a banker - but this IS NOT THE WAY. You may never get a shot. But doing this program will, if anything, reduce your chances in the real job market. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, but suffice to say, my opinion is that anybody stupid enough to pay for this program won't hack it in the analysts bullpen.

Also:

The most important thing now is to GET A JOB. It doesn't have to be THE job, but just a job, period.

Go through the resume book of a top MBA program sometime. Plenty of students didn't have a great first job out of university. However, basically none of them just didn't work for two years.

Thanks for your insight. But I'm a little confused why you say this will reduce your chances in the real job market. When you talk about the Dalmore group, it seems like you're saying interning at a no-name boutique is worthless. That is completely wrong in my perspective. The reason why I think you're wrong about that is because I personally know plenty of people from my school who have interned at no-name boutiques. And they have landed full time offers at Lazard, Macquarie, Greenhill, etc. Also, these guys interned at 6-12 man shops.

Its not because its a no name boutique. Its because you are paying for a 5k internship. Honestly, I dont know why you are bothering with IB after graduation. Its probably best to get it out of your mind and focus on F500, etc etc. You are all over the place with gov jobs, supply chain management, and IB. Mention that to anyone and they will raise an eyebrow.

You don't have friends at Greenhill just like I don't have friends who play for the Boston Red Sox.

There are no-name boutiques and then there are no-name boutiques. Just because they're "no name" to a college kid doesn't mean that they're "no name" in the industry. I could probably name 50 reputable firms that most people haven't heard of.

Let me tell you what the flags are for Dalmore:

(1) No transactions listed on their website. I can't judge a firm if I can't see their track record;
(2) Their "CEO" has no investment banking experience (except at his own firm...);
(3) Their "Intermediary Licensing" thing is scary/borderline illegal.

If I were to do an iota of research, I would think less of a candidate who put this on their resume. On the other hand, I don't do a ton of background research on analyst candidates.

Define reputable university. Semi-target reputable (Georgetown, Michigan, Northwestern, Notre Dame) or Ohio State "reputable". I went to a semi-target, almost every kid who wanted a job got one and the average went to the Big4/F500. I doubt you have a bad resume and if you are getting interviews, its your interview skills.

If you're as good as you think you are and you're still unemployed, there's something wrong with you. You should figure out what that is ASAP because the clock is running.

I also find it hard to believe that none of the interviewers that interviewed you will give you any feedback.

That explains plenty about you right there. Michigan State is not a bad school by any stretch but it is far from a target for any IB anywhere. A few kids will land IB gigs out of their business school each year and if you're not one of them by now, a year and a half later, you should maybe start zeroing on the fact that the ship.....has.....SAILED.

I'm from a non-target as well. Rather than make pie-in-the-sky plans for IB/Private Equity/Pro Athlete after I graduated I focused on jobs that I could realistically get and I aggressively pursued these leads. It led to a good but far from glamorous position that I have since used as a launching pad to bigger and better things.

Your whole approach appears to be wrong and you're hurting yourself immeasurably by sitting around waiting for a plum job to fall in your lap.

Those have mostly sailed too. I hate to be dire, but you didn't get onto the train when it was leaving the station and now you have to catch up to it. That means getting your foot in the door somewhere and trying like hell to hustle your way into a job that interests you. A corporate finance gig at a F500 is not there waiting for an MSU grad who has been unemployed for a year and a half. As I said, your first order of business should be to find employment. Every day you sit at home passing on jobs that aren't up to your standards will make you that much more toxic to recruiters.