As the end approaches (I’m a few short weeks away from finishing up my investment banking “career”), I keep receiving interesting questions every day.   My email volume doubles each week (or at least it seems that way), and while that’s bad for my free time, I could now do endless Q&A columns and never [...]

As you said, it would definitely be a mistake to get an MBA without work experience first; it won’t help you get into finance at all if you go to a lower-tier school.

The Master’s program you mention will not give you a significant advantage; although it is at a good school, it’s not equivalent to an MBA.

In this week’s edition of reader Q&A, I cover questions about tailoring a resume for sales & trading instead of investment banking, breaking into finance from pharmaceuticals and the relative importance of international experience, in this case experience in China.