How do I break into BB ?
I am a grad student at Cornell majored in engineering, GPA is around only 3.1. Undergrad was finished in a top 10 university in China but major was also non-related to finance/economy. I had experience working in an Asset Management company (not a famous one) in China, and for this summer I am going to work in a hedge fund startup with MIT phD to create trading strategy using computer techniques.
Looking at people's profiles in linkedin who are able to break into BB, I feel I am still not good enough compared to them. I am thinking of applying to the technology analyst position in BB as I feel it's less competitive than business analyst position. Is there any suggestion?
So do you want to work at a BB no matter what? Or do you want to work at a BB in IB?
Yes, I don't care about positions, the only thing matters right now is to successfully break into a BB.
Okay I'm just going to be brutally honest, and this is coming from a Cornell student who knows a fair amount about the MEng program.
1) It is dumb to say that you don't care about positions. A back/mid office analyst is much different than a front office analyst. They both require and provide COMPLETELY different skills. It sounds very superficial that you do not care about position.
2) The Meng program is not recruited at all for front office positions (IB/S&T/etc.). The reason is two fold; first, you cannot have an internship as it is only a one year program, so you are going to be recruiting for full time opportunities. Second, you are not going to be an analyst as you have an advanced degree, but you are also not going to be an associate because your advanced degree is largely irrelevant for front office positions (in addition to the Meng program having lax admission requirements -- it is Cornell's cash cow). Source: http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/resources/career_services/students/s…
3) I am skeptical of what you say because you are using the words "break into a BB." When people use the word "break," it often means front office positions, particularly S&T and IB, because it is difficult to transfer in from other fields (due to the apprenticeship-type of work). However, back/middle office positions are not "broken" into; if you work at a technology firm or have an operations position at a non-BB firm, it is relatively easy to transfer in-- no need for an additional degree. There is no significant prestige/difficulty to "breaking" into ANY position at a BB, and your wording just seems to suggest that you believe otherwise.
My main recommendation is to actually learn different positions at a BB bank to find where your background best fits AND what is feasible. I would also venture to say that the best positions that MEng students can get are typically not at BB banks (unless if you are a Fin Eng student going into Quant trading). Meng's get very little love from the established recruiters on campus who are dishing out the most desirable positions, so I would start networking and figure out the POSITION, not the COMPANY, you want to work at, and start developing a decent story.
Are you in the Meng program at Cornell?
What is this meng? I feel lame asf lol one of my buddies always says that and I usually just ignore him :/
Masters of Engineering.
Yes. It's a relatively short program with 1-2 years, so I have to hurry up before graduation. I consider myself being the lucky one to have internship interview experience with Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, even though I failed both of them. The problem was I had few interview experience with IB, and I answered their question in a less impressive way. However I have learned my lessons, and I have one more chance to go in this fall when the big BBs coming to the career fair.
Also I will be working in a Hedge Fund startup in MIT in this summer, hopefully I will learn as much as I can to show on my resume and in the later interviews.
I'm sure you could get into BB ops with a 3.0 - why don't you try that if you don't care about what position?
You are far too obsessed with BBs.
no offense, but this post reeks Asian fob
wow lol, somebody's got serious judgement here lol
also agreed
It's just a way of doing things. You can say its asian fob in ugly way, but I say its willingness to achieve something. BUT DON'T JUDGE PEOPLE BEFORE YOU GET TO KNOW THEM. Since most people view this forum are not asian people, its obvious I am outnumbered. If you look at Donald Trump whos being a stupid clown on TV then you know it's pretty much the same. Trump is not stupid, it's only his way to compete with other candidates, you have to pick a best way for yourself. You want to achieve something, you care less about how you do it, the only thing matters is the goal. Now stop being racist, you know there are also ppl around you doing things in the same way. You don't like me, its ok but stop the fking judging pls.
I'm not judging you based off of your background or race. I'm judging you off of your inability to understand what a fucking career is. It isn't about "breaking" into a BB, because honestly if you want Citadel, being a Tech analyst at a BB will get you dog shit. A career is about developing skills that will get you where you need to go--not developing a name on your resume. You won't get ANYWHERE in life if you try to get ANY position at ANY OF 8 companies.
I'm judging you because despite being in a graduate program at an ivy league school (that has really lax admission standards, but whatever), you are so fucking naive and have shown zero evidence that you even know what these banks do.
Dude trust me it's not a race thing. Don't deny that you're obsessed with the brand name and "prestige" associated with a BB. You fundamentally don't understand how this industry works.
Also, short note-- huge difference between Donald Trump and you: he knows what he's actually shooting for and does drives things to be successful. You appear much more interested in being a cog in something successful.
Don't compare yourself to him. He would never accept "any position in the US government." Sounds outrageous, doesn't it?
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