Career Switch to Investment Banking

During her internship in the "City That Never Sleeps," Cindy Warren isn't getting much shut-eye.

Twelve- to sixteen-hour days at Deutsche Bank leave little time for sleeping. But she's willing to work long hours-and spend the summer 700 miles away from her husband—for an opportunity with one of the world's leading financial services providers.

"I really love it," she says. "It's very much an adrenaline rush." The rush comes from what she describes as investment banking's central role in the economy: "Companies need capital to grow, and investment banks provide advice and access to the capital markets, which allows companies to put their business plans in place."

Warren came to Kelley to earn her MBA and transition from a career in management consulting to investment banking. Kelley's Investment Banking Academy and strong finance curriculum were big draws for her.

"I liked that there was a focused academy that was tailored to the skills you need in investment banking," she says. "I also liked the academic approach, the hands-on nature of the professors, and how accessible they are. I found that to be really helpful during my first year as I was preparing for interviews. They were willing to give resume advice and do mock interviews, even professors who had no direct relationship with the Graduate Career Services office."

She grew very close to her classmates in her first year, due in part to the intimacy of Bloomington. "We all live close to campus, and we all hang out," she says. "You really get to know your colleagues."

The Investment Banking Academy introduced her to investment banking terminology and concepts, prepared her for interviews with employers, and gave her experience preparing a case and presenting it to executives. And in her first semester, she and the other first-year students traveled to New York City to visit investment banks and network.

Her networking led to her internship in Deutsche Bank's natural resources group, which advises utilities and companies that work in metals, mining, oil and gas, and other industries. Warren's team is helping a chemical company complete an acquisition.

"Even as an intern, you're in meetings hearing senior bankers talk about strategies for how we're advising a company that's trying to make an acquisition," she says. "I just love getting exposure to that."

Natural resources are a natural fit for Warren, who grew up on a farm in southern Illinois, studied agricultural finance at the University of Illinois, and earned a master's degree in agricultural economics in the Netherlands. Before coming to Kelley, she worked for a management consulting firm called ABG that focused on agribusiness and the food industry. One day she hopes to work in renewable energy.

Wall Street is a long way from the Midwest, but Warren enjoys New York's energy and variety. And, in a way, she's never far from Kelley—she regularly gets together with classmates who are interning in the Big Apple and Kelley alumni who work there.

"I hope to end up in New York after I graduate, at least for a couple years," she says. "It would be nice to be back in the Midwest eventually, but definitely in the beginning I want to be in New York."

In Brief

On my resume: Chair, Kelley Compliance Committee. Vice president of professional development, Kelley Association of Women MBAs. Member, Curriculum Advisory Council and Student Admissions Council. Helping plan the National Association of Women MBAs 2009 conference. Started a career mentoring program for new Kelley international students.

Favorite Kelley experience so far: Kelley International Perspectives, in which second-year MBAs lead first-years on a 10-day international trip. Warren's group visited Chile and Argentina, where they learned about financial markets by visiting stock exchanges, central banks, and investment firms. They saved time for fun too, like horseback riding and whitewater rafting.