Big name firms on resume?

IBD->IBD. I have international background though so probably that's sth to stand out.

..oil/energy. depends on what you want to do i guess.

let me put my answer in perspective.

JPMorgan private banker versus boutique investment banker for a job at a buyout/private investment fund. banker has the appropriate skillset for an investment/deal-oriented role, private banker could be good with investor relations, each that pay significant bonuses/commission, etc.

volatility trader from a small hedge fund versus a fixed income operations staffer from Goldman for a position as another volatility trader. Who has the more relevant skillset?

its all about where you want to advance to..

"its all about job creation, also"

We're about to enter a Great Depression. Don't you want a president who's already dressed for it?

depends on a lot of things - if you are more specific, can comment

would rather be at low ranked bank in ib/s&t than goldman in opps

name is important IF you can leverage it to what you want/spin it - question is whether you have a high enough gpa/stardust to get interviews without a name brand, or whether it will mean something.

also important is the summer conversion factor as in this environment, most companies/banks wont be going back much for full time hires, they'll just pick the interns they like and thats pretty much it...

It also depends on when you are in your career. At the intern level, I think its wiser to take an internship at Goldman Opps rather than lower tier IB simply because you can try to network your way into a Goldman IB spot. However, its better to take the lower tier IB over Goldman Opps so you can get tons of experience, go to a top B-school and then go into a Goldman IB spot.

i would take experience over name good luck with your decision

Yeah, with internet anonymity, I don't want to go too much into specifics, lol. It was basically...think of a banking internship - rewarding and good experience, but admittedly, it's not my passion. The other option was a corporate strategy position that makes me look forward to starting where I would be working right with the executives making significant decisions. The good name, I don't think, would have a high full-time conversion ratio - definitely leverage and contacts though - whereas the corp. position, I was basically told if I do well, I would have a full-time position when I graduate. Both in same city. Both, full-time, would have comparable base salary, and obviously, the corp. position would have little-to-no bonus, but a better work/life ratio.

Also, since I'm here, is it mandatory to put the name of the company on my resume? Can I just list it as something like "large entertainment company" or would people think I'm hiding something?

By the way, I wish you all luck with your summers and full-times this season!

Even a no-name is more well known than "large entertainment company," and they'll be suspicious that maybe you don't want them calling, etc.

In my opinion, it depends on whether the big name role is front office or back office. If it is front office and you just don't like grunt work, then maybe banking isn't for you. If it is back office, I'd say a meaningful role in a corporation is preferable. Of course, if you plan on going corporate strategy FT that's probably what your play should be here.

As an SA in a back office position (risk management) at Goldman, what kind of schedule and pay should one expect?

Risk management isn't exactly back office, it's more respected than ops. It'd generally be classified as middle office. Hours should be comparable to ops or S+T though, definitely not as much as IBD.

I took a job with a major ib that was starting a new group. So it was kind of best/worse of both worlds. Very much a start up feel.

When I was interviewing to leave I had to spin it to why I would choose such a place with no track record.

Most people did not know the name of my firm.

Disagree. I would hire someone who knew what they were talking about over someone who had a name on their resume. With that in mind, if the knowledge level is the same than yes, the name matters. So in that sense, a BB/elite boutique recruit would probably fare better.

Totally agree. I suppose SA internship in no-name place within a small group of people teaches you better to handle responsibilities. Same with the teamwork experience.

Did you get the 72 virgins?

I disagree. Name matters much more than the experience you get for full-time recruiting. Thats for getting interviews. There is a similar post on M&I and he mentions a couple of good reason for that.

It depends on your overall resume and individual circumstances. If this is freshman summer, then name is more important. If this is a sophomore summer or junior summer than getting an internship in the area that you want for FT is more important than the name. A junior IBD internship at a no name (or MM smallish bank) would be better for FT recruting than having a non-banking internship if your goal is to get IBD. Banker's look at the name, but then they look at your bulletpoints....haveing some solid and noteworthy bulletpoints/experiences can easily beat out name.

Every situation is different however and its depends on the individual resume (GPA, EC, prior work experience, BB PWM internship, ect) and the networking range of the individual...Do you have a lot of alumni who can look at this resume, ect. Fewer alumni connections means you need a better experinece to stand out, but if you have a lot of networking connections you might be able to get by with a name brand internship. Of course, we are talking about name brand FO positions i.e. JPM AM when you want IBD. If you are a junior and have the option between a BB MO or a MM FO postions, take the MM postion without hesitation. You have no idea how many people took at MO positon at BB thinking they could switch over to FO, but no one wanted them because they did not do meaningful/relevant tasks during their internship while the guy at the MM firm did relevant tasks and got an interview.

I do not have experience with PE recruiting, but putting myself in the recruiter's shoe, I suppose their decision is a function of the level of experience you gained for those 50 vs. 10 deals. But my guess would be that greater deal exposure would be preferred.

Coming from a brand-name shop will continue to draw more attention than coming from a lesser known MM bank.

Even if fewer deals get done, there is still a ton of relevant work experience that can be gained by working at a BB.

I'm not sure your example of 5 $1bn dollar deals vs. 1 $5bn dollar deal really coincides with your question. If the question is "given the current market environment, should I work at Blair/Sagent/HLHZ/etc. vs. a bulge if my ultimate end-goal is mid to large cap PE," then I would say no. While more deal experience in a variety of transactions is very good, many analysts at bulge bracket banks land jobs at top funds without closing a single deal before their interviews. Oftentimes, one large, relatively complex transaction is all that is needed to speak to. Additionally, never underestimate the importance of building relationships with senior bankers with contacts at buyside firms. A few phone calls can help you immensely.

Thats not say that if you truly enjoy the boutique culture that you won't get a good experience and land at a great shop in 2 years. I would definitely say it's significantly harder, no matter what the economic environment. And trust me, the bigger banks are moving downstream to smaller deals, and have been for some time.

I guess to look at it from my scenario, I am in Toronto, so it's not Blair/Sagent, it is other shops, but I am working at a boutique. SO I wonder whether 1 yr down the line I should move to a large CDN bank or a BB, vs getting a lot of small M&A deals, IPO's and even VC type seed investing deals is better for me to move to PE.

BB > MM if you want to get to a top PE or even a good PE. If you start out in MM banking, you will get MM PE jobs. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it is what it is. If it turns out you want to go to a smaller PE shop, you still can from a BB. However, it's very hard to get to a top PE place from a MM bank.

Folks coming out of MM or BB banks should feel fortunate to get MM PE jobs (if that's what they're looking for).

For all the talk about large-cap PE funds, less than 100 candidates (and probably closer to 60-75, depending on one's definition of fund size) per year will actually land jobs in the large-cap buyout world.

Coming from a BB certainly opens up a lot of doors at top shops.

I have however, seen many people from well known middle-markets land jobs with firms like Carlyle. It's certainly not IMPOSSIBLE to land one of these jobs from an MM

Depends on the group and your future goals. If you wanna go in IBD and have PWM, not much. If you wanna go in PWM and have PWM, huge!

Yes, the brand names would be of help. Won't get you a job, but might stop the interviewer from tossing your resume at first glance. Won't open huge amount of doors, but sounds like it would help in your situation.

Probably helpful to have for sure.

It helps - A LOT. While many people on this forum will dismiss anything that's not front office, most people in the world and outside Wall Street (some even inside) see names like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, etc. and some sort of relevant experience (even if not client facing, but acquiring relevant skills) and they think you're legit.

Yes, absolutely. Most of the people on this site would kill for a MM SA for their junior year summer, let alone sophomore. If you can get that, you're absolutely golden junior year recruiting.

best way to get noticed for IBD is to do IBD. If you have a sophomore summer internship at an even decent MM you'll get a ton of looks for junior year summer.

The thing is, though, that I'm also reconsidering ibanking. I started college really wanting to go into ibanking. However, with all the rules and regulations on top of a shitty economy, I think my optimal career choice may be better elsewhere. Does having an ibanking in general look good for anything business or finance related?

Yeah, I'm not thinking of doing the analyst->associate->VP->MD route at the bank. I'm just doing IB to hopefully get into HF or PE. Does anybody have a rough estimate of successful analysts who go on to lucrative hedge funds or private equity?

I know one person who did an NYC PWM internship at a BB his sophomore summer and networked his way into an IBD SA position at the same firm before OCR even started.

That said, the MM internship is amazing for a soph and may benefit you with a broader pool of firms come junior year.

NO! I actually didn't get a MM IBD haha. I was just wondering if I should be complacent with using my family friend connect for PWM BB and not need to exert so much effort (possibly at the expense of my school grades) in getting MM IBD.

If you can land an internship at a good MM or elite boutique, that's as good as BB. It doesn't necessarily mean that you'd be exerting less effort, especially if you look at firms in the range of evercore, greenhill, lazard

Definitely go PWM BB in my opinion, I have two friends who went that route this summer, interviewed at the end of the summer for IBD at the same firm, and entered this year with a summer internship already secured.