I was actually going for accounting, then started looking into other possible careers and got turned onto Wall Street (literally, boner and all)... I'd like to get into either trading or consulting (with the end goal of running/owning a business). Investing has been fascinating to me ever since I learned about Mike Illitch (from the Detroit area, so I was very very young), the guy starts out with a pizza company and now he owns the Red Wings, Tigers, and a lot of other shit in Detroit and is doing very very well for himself and is a very loved man in Detroit for all that he's done for the city. So obviously, when you're younger and you hear about some guy getting rich as hell and owning our diamond in the rough (Red Wings!) just by investing smartly (sounded easier when you were 5), it sounds very enticing.

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough. "There are two types of people in this world: People who say they pee in the shower, and dirty fucking liars."-Louis C.K.
 

^^ if you're referring to me, thanks, I'll take it as a compliment considering I haven't been reading M&I or anything like that... that's just honestly how my spark came to be and how I feel about it

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough. "There are two types of people in this world: People who say they pee in the shower, and dirty fucking liars."-Louis C.K.
 
scottj19x89:
^^ if you're referring to me, thanks, I'll take it as a compliment considering I haven't been reading M&I or anything like that... that's just honestly how my spark came to be and how I feel about it

I was actually referring to the OP, brian definitely pushes the finance spark as an integral part of your "story".

Your spark still sounds nice though...haha

 

ohhhh haha... I'm guessing brian is the op and that you know him outside of these forums cause I couldn't correlate what he said with m&i at all. I thought you were implying that my story sounded generic or something

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough. "There are two types of people in this world: People who say they pee in the shower, and dirty fucking liars."-Louis C.K.
 
scottj19x89:
ohhhh haha... I'm guessing brian is the op and that you know him outside of these forums cause I couldn't correlate what he said with m&i at all. I thought you were implying that my story sounded generic or something

Brian is the guy who runs M&I. On the site, he encourages you to know your "finance spark" as a part of your story when interviewing. That's why he said someone has been reading m&i, because the op is asking for people's "spark".

I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
 

My father has been a very entrepreneurial individual pursuing many facets of business: - Owned his own construction company - Worked in sales - Managed car dealerships for 15 years - Invented and patented a soap that get's the smell out of anything then LLC'd that bitch - Founded his own mortgage company

This is what initially drew me into business, but my "spark" came from the first time I cracked open my Microeconomics book in my first "business class". Chapter one gave a rhetorical example of a salad shop and a smoothie shoppe that operated side by side next to each other in a strip mall. Neither businesses were profitable and were months away from bankruptcy. One day the owners crossed paths going into work and decided to knock down the wall separating the businesses and combine to form a new venture. This new strategy allowed them to fully integrate a new target demographic, create economies of scale, turn profitable within 6 months, and expand to open several new locations. The fact that their interaction and strategies worked to create synergies when they would have otherwise failed just lit my face up ear to ear as I was reading it. I was sitting in the study area by myself that was attached to my dorm at the time. I literally laughed out loud, smiled, rocked back from my chair, and said:

"Yep, this is for me."

 
THE PsYcHoLoGy:
The fact that their interaction and strategies worked to create synergies when they would have otherwise failed just lit my face up ear to ear as I was reading it. I was sitting in the study area by myself that was attached to my dorm at the time. I literally laughed out loud, smiled, rocked back from my chair, and said:

"Yep, this is for me."

Do you actually say this when people ask you? Even with the cheesy:

ending?

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough. "There are two types of people in this world: People who say they pee in the shower, and dirty fucking liars."-Louis C.K.
 
scottj19x89:
THE PsYcHoLoGy:
The fact that their interaction and strategies worked to create synergies when they would have otherwise failed just lit my face up ear to ear as I was reading it. I was sitting in the study area by myself that was attached to my dorm at the time. I literally laughed out loud, smiled, rocked back from my chair, and said:

"Yep, this is for me."

Do you actually say this when people ask you? Even with the cheesy:

ending?

Yep! I actually do, because that's how it happened. Just be real with them :)

 
Best Response
THE PsYcHoLoGy:
My father has been a very entrepreneurial individual pursuing many facets of business: - Owned his own construction company - Worked in sales - Managed car dealerships for 15 years - Invented and patented a soap that get's the smell out of anything then LLC'd that bitch - Founded his own mortgage company

This is what initially drew me into business, but my "spark" came from the first time I cracked open my Microeconomics book in my first "business class". Chapter one gave a rhetorical example of a salad shop and a smoothie shoppe that operated side by side next to each other in a strip mall. Neither businesses were profitable and were months away from bankruptcy. One day the owners crossed paths going into work and decided to knock down the wall separating the businesses and combine to form a new venture. This new strategy allowed them to fully integrate a new target demographic, create economies of scale, turn profitable within 6 months, and expand to open several new locations. The fact that their interaction and strategies worked to create synergies when they would have otherwise failed just lit my face up ear to ear as I was reading it. I was sitting in the study area by myself that was attached to my dorm at the time. I literally laughed out loud, smiled, rocked back from my chair, and said:

"Yep, this is for me."

Hopefully a senior with a FT offer walked by, tipped your chair over, and told you to stop acting like a d-bag.

 
Rupert Pupkin:
THE PsYcHoLoGy:
My father has been a very entrepreneurial individual pursuing many facets of business: - Owned his own construction company - Worked in sales - Managed car dealerships for 15 years - Invented and patented a soap that get's the smell out of anything then LLC'd that bitch - Founded his own mortgage company

This is what initially drew me into business, but my "spark" came from the first time I cracked open my Microeconomics book in my first "business class". Chapter one gave a rhetorical example of a salad shop and a smoothie shoppe that operated side by side next to each other in a strip mall. Neither businesses were profitable and were months away from bankruptcy. One day the owners crossed paths going into work and decided to knock down the wall separating the businesses and combine to form a new venture. This new strategy allowed them to fully integrate a new target demographic, create economies of scale, turn profitable within 6 months, and expand to open several new locations. The fact that their interaction and strategies worked to create synergies when they would have otherwise failed just lit my face up ear to ear as I was reading it. I was sitting in the study area by myself that was attached to my dorm at the time. I literally laughed out loud, smiled, rocked back from my chair, and said:

"Yep, this is for me."

Hopefully a senior with a FT offer walked by, tipped your chair over, and told you to stop acting like a d-bag.

Well, it's my true story of what actually happened, so yes this is how I told it. Same story in three first rounds led to 3 Supderdays and a FT offer coming from a non-target. If that's how it actually happened, and they can see you are passionate about finance and banking, then they will see that you are actually sincere and look at you more realistically then other candidates that embellish in some frantically fictitious fable.

I'm just trying to help out someone seeking advice with my own experience and success. I don't really see the unnecessary knocking of my story. You can have three different deal teams valuing the same firm, and each will come out with a different number based on assumptions and tactics; however, the ultimate end result is still the same. They will all be attractive and defensible valuations.

Best regards

 

During my sophomore summer (back when I didn't even know what IB was), I worked at a firm that was basically the only large, independent, founder-run firm in its industry -- let's call it company N. Its competitors had been bought out by F100s; in fact, the only competitor ranked higher than them on the tables had been bought out in June of that year by IBM. When we at Company N heard about our competitor being acquired, the feelings at the office were ecstatic: "YES, we are now dominating the tables. We'll never get acquired, we'll grow to amazing proportions, all in the name of [Company N], and we're all inspired to move forward and work hard." I remember milling around the kitchen with developers and directors, all talking about the opportunities that this would give us.

Fast forward two weeks. IBM announces that it is also acquiring us, Company N.

The office was in a state of shock. The interns, who had fed off of the energy of the past two weeks, were dumbfounded. There was a luncheon for the interns to meet with the CEO, and when he asked for questions, we all asked the same thing - why did we get acquired? His answer was something like: "Given the amazing price we were offered and the synergies we believed could have come from such a merger, I believe this is an amazing opportunity for our firm." He went on to explain a bit about the process and what exactly the M&A deal meant in terms of the operations and branding of the firm.

Little old me, who had never really heard about M&A in her life, nor expressed any interest in finance prior to this, was struck with the most incredible sense of curiosity. What were these synergies he was talking about? How do you determine a "good" price - how do you even KNOW it's a good price if you're not public and don't have stock prices with which to compare? Did they just all sit in a boardroom and draw up this plan? How come no one knew about it?! The more questions I asked, and the more I plowed through the Internet looking for answers, I eventually stumbled upon this thing called investment banking. "Wow," I thought. "There's an entire industry and job function dedicated to making things like this happen - that's amazing. I want to do that; I want to be the person determining 'good prices' and facilitating these mergers. What a cool way to get involved with a ton of companies without having to change jobs to work at all of them."

A bit long (I definitely cut it short for interviews), but that's my spark, haha.

Currently: future neurologist, current psychotherapist Previously: investor relations (top consulting firm), M&A consulting (Big 4), M&A banking (MM)
 
FusRoDah:
What about an upper middle class white kid who just wants to make bank? Haven't founded a microfinance company in Bangladesh here.
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

Well, the people who will be interviewing you know that you are at least partially there for money; that is implicitly assumed. When they ask this question, they are trying to determine what differentiates you from all of the other prospective monkeys. At the end of the day, there is monetary motivation; however, do you have a deeper and more focused vision that is driving your insatiable craving for success?

If so, tell them about it!

 
leveRAGE.:
FusRoDah:
So for those of you who have found interview success in the world of IB, do you have any more examples of your "finance spark"? I assume most of us are like I described, middle class white kids...

why? so you can regurgitate whichever bullshit story sounds best to you in an interview?

Cmon cut the moralizing, 95% of people here have embellished bullshit stories anyways. I'm not going to copy someone's, im a fucking freshman, i'm just wondering what some of yours sound like.

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