Michael M
Studied at University of Illinois at Chicago
Hiring Manager at Barclays
Available Saturday
Starting at 2:00 PM UTC
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About Michael
I broke into investment banking from a non-target school — no legacy connections, no target-school pipeline, just a lot of persistence and the right strategy at the right moments. Fifteen-plus years later, I’m a Director at a bulge bracket bank, and I’ve sat on both sides of the recruiting table: as the candidate fighting for a seat, and as the banker deciding who gets one. I coach students and career switchers through the real mechanics of IB recruiting — not generic advice, but the specific things that separate an offer from a rejection: how to network without sounding like everyone else, how to actually nail the technical questions instead of memorizing scripts, and how to carry yourself in a superday so it feels less like an interrogation and more like a conversation between future colleagues. If you’re being counted out because of where you went to school, I get it — I was too. Let’s fix that.
Why do I coach?
I coach because I remember exactly what it felt like to be on the outside looking in — no target-school pipeline, no warm introductions, just cold emails that went unanswered and interviews where I could tell the interviewer had already decided I didn’t belong before I said a word. I didn’t have anyone who’d actually done it walking me through the process. I figured it out the hard way, through trial, error, and a lot of rejection before things clicked. Fifteen-plus years later, I’ve been on the other side of the table too — reviewing resumes, running interviews, deciding who gets the offer — and I know exactly what separates a candidate who gets passed over from one who gets picked. I coach because that gap is fixable. Nobody should have to guess their way through recruiting the way I did. If I can compress someone else’s learning curve and help them walk into a superday with real confidence instead of just hope, that’s the whole point.
Work Experience
Director
Barclays
April 2012 - Present
Hiring Manager
Returned Peace Corps Vounteer
Peace Corps
February 2006 - May 2008
Education
University of Illinois at Chicago
Master of Public Administration - MPA
2010 - 2012
George Washington University
Bachelor of Arts - BA, International Affairs
2001 - 2005