Industrial EngineeringInvestment Banking Analyst
Self-attested. The author confirmed their identity to us. The content itself is unchecked.Starting conditions
- Institution
- State University
- Major
- Industrial Engineering
- GPA band
- below-2.5
- Graduated
- 2019–2021
- Location
- Chicago, United States
- Financial need
- Non-target school
- No professional network
The sequence6 steps
- Coursework5 mo
Self-studied accounting and valuation outside the engineering curriculum
Self-studied accounting and valuation outside the engineering curriculum. This took 5 months and was harder than expected.
Obstacle
Took too heavy a load and the grades showed it.
How it was resolved
Retook the course that mattered most rather than trying to offset it elsewhere.
- Networking11 mo
Cold-emailed alumni for informational calls
Cold-emailed alumni for informational calls. This took 11 months and was harder than expected.
Evidence for this step - Project5 mo
Built a DCF model portfolio to compensate for a non-finance transcript
Built a DCF model portfolio to compensate for a non-finance transcript. This took 5 months and was slower than expected.
Evidence for this step - Application9 mo
First recruiting season
Obstacle
Applied broadly without understanding what the reviewers actually screened on.
How it was resolved
Narrowed the list and applied early in the cycle rather than late.
Start this earlier than feels necessary.
- Setback3 moPivotal
Cut after first rounds at every bulge bracket
Cut after first rounds at every bulge bracket. This took 3 months and was harder than expected.
Obstacle
The plan stalled here, and it was not obvious it would recover.
How it was resolved
Asked the people who rejected me what the specific disqualifier was, then fixed exactly that instead of everything at once.
- Internship5 moPivotal
Boutique advisory internship
Boutique advisory internship. This took 5 months and was harder than expected.
Outcome
Summer analyst converted to full time
Reflection
Would repeat
- Starting the outreach earlier than felt comfortable.
Would skip
- The first application cycle, which I entered underprepared.
Biggest obstacle
Having no contacts in the field, which made every early step slower than it needed to be.
What was luck
- One person answered a cold email who did not have to.
Estimated cost: Roughly $19,000 across the whole transition.