Im a college senior in a small liberal college and had a couple of offers from IBs, and other random offers from insurance firms, etc. I have a big favor of the UK univ life since I was an exchange student in OX. This is why Im posting this article here rather than in the US board.
Today is the last day of my finals for this semester and Im pretty free now, therefore I hope this article might be helpful for ppl whoz looking for an entry-level position in IBs.
First, one has to figure out what area most interests him. If one wants to make a career in IBs, front offices are definitely the ultimate choice. Those offices including investment banking division (M&A, Equity Issuance, etc), sale & trading (self-explanatory: sales and traders in both fixed income and equity side, also in commodity, FX, etc), structured finance products, etc. In addition to these most popular divisions, ppl also work for asset management, prime brokerage, etc. Nevertheless, one wants to decide whether one wants to be a banker who has a better exit value with front stage professional outlook or be a trader who enjoys better working hour & better compensation package.
After one made his goal, the next stage is to apply for it. Some firms to be considered for:
Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Bear Stern, Deutsche Bank, CSFB, Citigroup, UBS, etc. For an entry-level position, any of those firms make little difference. For more info, one could visit: www.vault.com
To submit online application is really not an interesting job, especially one applies a dozen of IBs, it’s rather painful to fill out all the forms. However, one chooses to go for this career, one has to bear some burden. Open questions really don’t make any difference as I consider, as long as you answer the question. Banks are not looking for a writer, rather than someone is smart and capable to deal with sophisticated products. So, be clear, short and professional, no grammar mistake, no spelling mistake.
The exciting part comes after the resume screen - interviews. First round is always through the phone where the one called is generally some junior ppl in the department one applied for (well the funny thing is that for all the interviews I had, I never had chance to talk to any HR ppl). Questions usually relate to one’s resume, nothing specially, at the end of the conversation, one has the chance to ask some questions. I usually ask something regarding the training program. One’s ability of making conversation in English is crucial at this stage.
Second round and onwards are usually face-to-face in the company’s place. Some firms also hold so-called “superday”, in which many applicants come to the company’s office in the same days and take a number of interviews, e.g the Goldman’s superday held in NYC had 3 rounds of interviews in the set of two interviewers to one applicant. Superday is very competitive and intensive. Questions involve very specific technique ones. However, no worries about these tech questions, anyone gets to this stage holds a strong background in academic. The only thing one can possibly prepare is the current market situation – read a week of FT and WSJ is more than enough. Some firms do not have this kinda superday thing, well, the later round of the interview, the more senior ppl one expects to meet. The highest ranked ppl according to my experience is the global head of the division. The thing is, the more senior ppl they are, usually the nicer they are. Talking with senior ppl is more like a Q&A section, since in whatever section, they know much better than the applicants. Communication and personality is the essence at this stage.
Last point, whoever wants to work for IB after graduation, a summer internship there prior to the permanent job is a must! Tens of my friends will work in IBs next year, every single of them had summer experience in at least of the IBs. One may not work for the IB who had summer position, but without summer experience, almost impossible to even receive an interview call.
Oh, insurance firm, nothing specially, much easier to get an offer except for an underwriter position, which is as competitive as IBs if not more.
I hope this article helps and good luck to whoever applies. Oh, one more thing, be sure to submit the application before Dec. Offers usually made in Sep. onwards till the early Dec. for the positions starting July/Aug next year.
Connections could be extremely helpful especially for the ones from less-known uni. an associate level connection could send one’s application right through the screen process for a direct interview opportunity. An MD level connection almost guarantees the offer.
Merry Christmas!
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