Post-Degree Apprenticeship Opportunities

I'm about to begin a degree apprenticeship with J.P. Morgan, which will involve studying for a BSc in Applied Finance with the University of Exeter.

I'd eventually like to land a private equity position in investment banking but it's looking highly unlikely that I'll be able to work within this division during the apprenticeship. Since investment banking graduate positions generally require a substantial amount of investment banking experience through summer internships, which I won't be able to complete on the apprenticeship, I'm considering doing a master's degree in finance/management/business administration (MBA) upon completion of the apprenticeship. This is because I will gain both the additional qualification and the opportunity to apply for summer internships before I start the degree.

My question is, assuming I achieve a 1st in my degree, how eligible will I be for one of these master's programmes at top business schools such as LBS, HBS, Oxbridge, Stanford, etc.? Will my 4 years of apprenticeship experience even be enough to meet the typical expectation of MBA candidate experience? Will the BSc Applied Finance be considered technical enough for a master's in finance?

Original post by FinanceBro

I'm about to begin a degree apprenticeship with J.P. Morgan, which will involve studying for a BSc in Applied Finance with the University of Exeter.

I'd eventually like to land a private equity position in investment banking but it's looking highly unlikely that I'll be able to work within this division during the apprenticeship. Since investment banking graduate positions generally require a substantial amount of investment banking experience through summer internships, which I won't be able to complete on the apprenticeship, I'm considering doing a master's degree in finance/management/business administration (MBA) upon completion of the apprenticeship. This is because I will gain both the additional qualification and the opportunity to apply for summer internships before I start the degree.

My question is, assuming I achieve a 1st in my degree, how eligible will I be for one of these master's programmes at top business schools such as LBS, HBS, Oxbridge, Stanford, etc.? Will my 4 years of apprenticeship experience even be enough to meet the typical expectation of MBA candidate experience? Will the BSc Applied Finance be considered technical enough for a master's in finance?

Think there are a couple of things worth noting. First, have you checked the prices of these courses? They're prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of people. For example, MBAs at top UK universities will set you back around 60-100k plus living costs and the income you're not able to earn while studying. US unis are typically even more (and they're usually two year programs, so two years of lost pay on top of super expensive courses).

Secondly, MBAs typically require at least 2-3 years of post-graduation experience, so your experience during the degree apprenticeship wouldn't count towards this. So I'm not sure what you're meaning when thinking about utilising summer internships before starting an MBA, as you'd already be working?

Regarding master's in finance options, some of the top unis have two strands of courses. The first is a post-experience course (e.g. Cambridge's MFin, LBS' master's in finance, etc), which have similar experience requirements as MBAs. But there are also some pre- experience finance master's which you can do straight after graduation and are normally a bit cheaper (esp Cambridge's) such as Cambridge's MPhil Finance and LBS' MSc Financial Analysis, same applies with management master's courses.

Anyhow, I find the whole post slightly confusing. You say that you're worried about not being able to move into a PE division of an IB after your apprenticeship as you won't have the experience that comes from summer internships.... But isn't the whole point of a degree apprenticeship to give you more real work experience than you get via the university route? I think your access to the lucrative and competitive front office graduate positions will depend on what division you do your apprenticeship in. But unless your family is loaded, or you're able to save around 100k during your apprenticeship, finance/MBA courses at the top unis are too expensive for most.

Reply 2

FinanceBro

OP

2

Thank you for your response. IB roles typically require IB experience, which cannot be gained from back/middle office positions, such as those I'll likely be named to on the apprenticeship. If the apprenticeship experience does not count towards the requirements for post-experience master's, I'll apply for pre-experience programmes, so your point regarding this is helpful, thank you.
To address your confusion, enrollment on either a bachelor's degree or a master's degree is required for summer internships. This means that on completion of the apprenticeship and graduation of the BSc, to then be eligible for IB summer internships, I would need to enroll on a master's programme. Following graduation from the master's and completion of a summer internship, I'll be far more eligible for a full time analyst role.
I've disregarded the MBA plan for now as this clearly requires far more experience than I'd have at this point. However, assuming money is not an issue for one of these master's courses, do you think that between a(n assumed 1st class) BSc in Applied Finance from the University of Exeter and the 4 years of middle/back office experience at J.P. Morgan, I would be a strong candidate for a master's course? e.g. LBS's MSc in Financial Analysis.
...or do you think I should focus on finding additional qualifications/experiences to complete alongside the apprenticeship to beef up my application?

Post-Degree Apprenticeship Opportunities

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you