After studying and/or working in India, Spain and England, Likita Chilukuri chose the MBA program at Chicago Booth to make her transition to working in the U.S. in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. In addition to a strong curriculum, Chilukuri found the well-structured recruiting process at Booth gave her the support she needed. Read on for Chilukuri’s story and advice in this installment of our Real Humans: Alumni series.
Likita Chilukuri, Chicago Booth MBA ’23, Investment Banking Associate at Goldman Sachs
Undergraduate Institution and Major: National Institute of Technology, BTech in Metallurgical and Material Science Engineering; IE Business School, Masters in Finance
Graduate Business School, Graduation Year and Concentration: University of Chicago Booth School of Business, 2023, MBA in Finance, Entrepreneurship and Accounting
Pre-MBA Work Experience: 4 years as analyst/associate at Natixis, a French investment bank
Post-MBA Work Experience: Investment Banking Associate at Goldman Sachs
Why did you choose to attend business school?
I chose to attend business school because I wanted to build my skillset across different verticals and learn real-world applications for these. Business school is a great opportunity to experiment and be exposed to things you normally wouldn’t come across. I also knew I wanted to move geographies and experience working in America.
Why Chicago Booth? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
Chicago Booth is such a great school for finance which was what I knew I wanted to continue in. The courses and programs Booth has on offer in the space was a huge factor. The faculty and guest speakers that the school has and the exposure you get to top industry practitioners was something I was really excited about. I also really liked Booth’s flexible curriculum, which allows you to explore many different areas.
What about your MBA experience prepared you for your current career?
Being such a strong finance school, Booth has a very well-structured recruiting process, which gives you all the support and guidance you need to enter a career in investment banking. The Investment Banking Group organizes everything you need, from numerous touchpoints with banks and networking prep, to helping with interviews. This is also where you see Booth’s “pay it forward” come into play, with second-year students heavily involved in supporting first-years in various ways.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice?
I did a summer internship at Goldman Sach’s New York office in their Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) group as a summer associate. I really enjoyed my experience, working alongside incredibly smart and motivated colleagues on a variety of processes and transactions. The exposure and learning I got even from just those nine weeks was a big factor in deciding to return post-MBA.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to work?
I chose Goldman Sachs (GS) for a variety of reasons. The exposure you get at GS, either in terms of client or kind of transaction is unmatched, and I was very excited to learn as much and as quickly as possible. GS is a leading advisor in the TMT space where I was looking to work and it ended up being an easy decision to join the team.
Advice to current MBA students:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
I would spend time trying to speak to as many people as possible. The worst you can hear is no, but the more touchpoints and connections you have, the more insights you get, and also potentially more advocates.
–One thing you would change or do differently as part of the job search?
I might have started prep for my technical interviews earlier to save myself some last-minute stress.
–Were there any surprises regarding your current employer’s recruiting process?
I didn’t have any big surprises about the recruiting process now that I see behind the curtain, I think it is quite consistent with what I was expecting when I was recruiting.
–What piece of advice do you wish you had been given during your MBA?
That it is alright to not be productive all the time. There is so much going on during the MBA that it is easy to feel like there is always something more you should be doing. But you don’t get this much free time to travel or just switch off later so it is more than alright to not do very much.
