Help me break tnto an Investment Banker Position

Hello,

 I am looking to break into investment banking on wall street, the following is some background information on me:

 I am currently a senior at a local college I attended in my hometown. I will be graduating with a bachelor's of science in finance in the next 8 months, my Gpa is a 3.5 at the moment but I plan to graduate with a 3.7 as I finish my classes. The school is an accredited business school but it is not top-tier. I attended ************. I chose to attend here as I was granted a scholarship and was also able to live at home and save money as it is located 10 minutes from my house. It has taken me a little longer than expected to graduate (5 years instead of 4), as I had to deal with several complicated surgeries that put me out for a few semesters. I did not have any desire to break into investment banking when I was initially choosing colleges so I chose the college that presented the least amount of financial strain on myself (scholarship opportunity as well as living at home for some of college). 

 Now, I'm hoping to break into Investment Banking on Wall Street. I am not thoroughly familiar with how hard it is to break into Wall Street for one of these types of positions; however, I do have quite a bit of work experience under my belt. I am now more interested in getting the most lucrative financial career possible. I would like to start with becoming an investment banker, and ultimately move into private equity / hedge fund management. 

 My portfolio is non-existent. However, I made several thousand in bitcoin as I got into the market in 2012 when their was minimal buzz about the crypto-currency. 

Here is the following positions I've done from my resume:

Construction Project Manager

Project Controller / Accountant Intern

Purchasing Analyst Intern

Project Controller

Computer Skills
Proficient in the following software:
Business Applications: SAP, PDM, AutoCAD, DWG TrueView, Hyperion Financial Manager, Sage Timberline, QuickBooks, Word, (including V-Lookup, Pivot Tables, Macros), Access, PowerPoint, Project, Outlook, Visio, Concerto
Illustration, Imaging, and Page Layout Applications: Illustrator, PhotoShop, ImageReady, Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat, KPT Vector Tools

^
I have about a year before I plan to move to NYV and pursue a financial career in ultimately IB. I am hoping I can find an apartment to live as near to Wall Street / Midtown as possible.

With my situation and experience, what is the best advice you can give to me to make my career goals become a reality a couple years or so? What type of work experience/additional education should I get under my belt during these remaining 8 months so I am ready to start interviewing with investment firms once I graduate?

Will a 3.7 from the university allow me to get a position in top-20 school for MBA?

What job would be the most relevant experience I could take in the meantime to help build network / experience for an IB job?

Thanks, any feedback greatly appreciated.

 

First of all, get your resume and other identifying information off of here. It's best to keep things anonymous in public posts on here. Second, your girlfriend is making several thousand per week? Is she a stripper or what - just kidding. If she's on the up and up and has higher future earnings potential, just plant your seed and ride those coat tails.

In all seriousness though, it's going to be ridiculously difficult for you to break into IB through the plan you've laid out. Don't get me wrong, it could work. Frankly though, the stars would have to align for you to pull off the Gary Cohn-esque move you're contemplating. You're coming in through a very unusual route - most entry-level people have their positions squared away before graduation, regardless of school. The openings just aren't there and the ones that do pop up are going to be incredibly competitive. Not trying to dissuade you from following your dreams, just letting you know the odds are heavily stacked against you.

Also, I don't really know why you think IB is that much better than your current situation. Maybe your work sucked but it's not like formatting powerpoints for 90 hours a week is that much sexier. My advice for you would be to stick it out with the family biz for a few more years. If you learn that you like it as you move higher up, great. If not, top business schools love family business experience. If you can bring up that GPA a bit and crush the GMAT, you could likely go to a strong business school in 3-4 years, where your chances of working on Wall Street would be exponentially higher.

P.S. most banks have their offices in midtown, living close to Wall Street will just help you meet tourists.

 

Hi, thanks for the response.

Your approach sounds like a reasonable long run game-plan, however I'm certain I can make my way into Wall Street in the time frame I've specified. I have made my way into other positions I wasn't entirely qualified for, so I think I'd be able to as for IB as well. I am quite a smooth talker when need be, and would be able to get relevant work experience for IB considering my bachelors is a bachelor's of science in finance.

For personal reasons and economic reasons I am choosing not to pursue project management/construction management in the greater Detroit area, I also will not drop the capital on graduate school. I think a CFA would be personally be more impressive. The importance and cost of an MBA is overestimated in the US. Relevant work experience and your network is what really counts. Also, what my gf does for a living is not relevant to the thread.

My response question is what would be the most relevant position I could take on (securities analyst?) before applying to IB positions for my situation? I would like to get more acquainted with the field and build my network with the right people once I'm in NY. I have a personal childhood friend who is a VP / CDA at a large corporation in Manhattan which I will not name, but I'm sure he could get my foot in the door as he was in IB for several years and he moved on to higher positions. However, I'd prefer to get the position on my own rather than take a favor when I start out in IB.

So what would be a relevant job I could get that would have the most transferable skills to IB?

Thanks

 
V-Saracino:

Hi, thanks for the response.

Your approach sounds like a reasonable long run game-plan, however I'm certain I can make my way into Wall Street in the time frame I've specified. I have made my way into other positions I wasn't entirely qualified for, so I think I'd be able to as for IB as well.

You are massively underestimating how hard it is. IB is a completely different ball game. The vast majority of top target school candidates don't make it in despite have excellent extracurriculars and 1-2 IB internships.
I am quite a smooth talker when need be, and would be able to get relevant work experience for IB considering my bachelors is a bachelor's of science in finance.
Just about everyone in IB is a smooth talker, those who struggle to communicate in a coherent manner don't make it through the interviews. Again, you are really underestimating here how hard it is to land an internship even in a no name boutique, especially for someone who is a senior or has graduated.

For personal reasons and economic reasons I am choosing not to pursue project management/construction management in the greater Detroit area, I also will not drop the capital on graduate school. I think a CFA would be personally be more impressive.

Bankers for the most part don't care about the CFA. It's relevant in asset management, it's not relevant to IB. If you're not willing to pursue a grad school, how do you propose to land relevant experience and improve your resume? A non-target is a massive disadvantage. Getting into a good MFin programme massively improves your changes.
The importance and cost of an MBA is overestimated in the US. Relevant work experience and your network is what really counts.
Network yes, experience no. At Associate level, bank hires predominantly come from M7 MBA programmes. The other route is internal Analyst > Associate promotion. Feel free to call the worth of an MBA into question, this is what the banks target for their Associate recruitment.
My response question is what would be the most relevant position I could take on (securities analyst?) before applying to IB positions for my situation?
Do you even know what role you want within an IB? You say you want to be an investment banker but think securities analyst is the most relevant? What do you want to do? Do you want to be an investment banker, equity research analyst, trader, salesman etc? Investment bankers make up a small portion of the staff who work for a full service IB.
I would like to get more acquainted with the field and build my network with the right people once I'm in NY.
This is the best way to go about it. I'd recommend you start building it before you get there.
I have a personal childhood friend who is a VP / CDA at a large corporation in Manhattan which I will not name
What is a CDA?
I'm sure he could get my foot in the door as he was in IB for several years and he moved on to higher positions. However, I'd prefer to get the position on my own rather than take a favor when I start out in IB.

So what would be a relevant job I could get that would have the most transferable skills to IB?

Thanks

With all due respect, do you honestly think this guy will go to bat for you with a former employer? If you were a childhood friend of mine and called me up showing a blatant lack of knowledge of the industry, role and recruitment processes, I'd politely decline. Rather than dismissing what others are saying here, I'd highly encourage you to take it on board.

At this moment in time, as a non-target senior with no relevant IB experience and no network in place, your chances of breaking into IB (even at a local no name boutique) are incredibly small. I'd take the role at your dad's company, kill it for 3-4 years and get into a top MBA. Evidently you don't like MBAs, but they are by far the most realistic route into IB for people who didn't break in during their undergraduate studies. Trying to do what you want to do in the next 8 months will not happen. Not trying to put you down, just being blunt about the reality of the situation.

 
Best Response

You pretty much dismissed my advice so I'm just going to be brutally honest now.

At this point, it's going to be a very steep uphill battle for you to just get a job that someone at a top IB would look twice at. Okay, you have this one connection, let's say he 100% is going to go to bat for you at his former bank. With your background, there's only maybe a 10% chance you can convert that to an interview, let alone an offer. Other than this one guy, you have no other connections. It is ridiculously easier to network with people while in school than while out of school, it's going to be nearly impossible to just get people to call you back when you're in NY.

Let's say you do get some interviews (which won't happen). Any off-cycle full-time positions that pop up will be flooded with resumes of people looking to lateral from other top banks, Big 4 firms, consulting, etc. I'm sorry but it doesn't matter how ambitious and "smooth talking" you are, I can literally guarantee that there is absolutely no chance you can beat out the type of people you'd be competing with.

A CFA would be more impressive to you? Oh cool because your opinion matters, right? Anyone can get a CFA if they want to sacrifice their lives for 3 years for three fucking letters. An MBA is overstated in the U.S., okay fair, but you're planning to work in the U.S. soo... Regardless, a top 20 MBA is life-changing for someone with a 3.5 from a college that no one has ever heard of.

You have way too many misconceptions about the finance world and you're not going to be successful until you get a strong dose of reality.

 

I laughed at the "proficiency" in different OSes. The average eight year old can navigate any operating system including linux (unless you're talking about running it strictly from the command line). If I saw that on your resume, I'd automatically assume that you were a technical novice.

Also, you don't need tech proficiency above MS office products to become a banker. Others have much better insight into the specific issues, but I think you'd really benefit from uploading your resume to the "resume review" section (as a pdf). After your resume is cleaned up, I think you need to reevaluate what a realistic goal is this late in the game. It's entirely possible to land a banking gig, but I think you'd have a lot higher success rate setting yourself up in a position that could lead to a banking gig down the line.

 
The Real Max:

I laughed at the "proficiency" in different OSes. The average eight year old can navigate any operating system including linux (unless you're talking about running it strictly from the command line). If I saw that on your resume, I'd automatically assume that you were a technical novice.

Also, you don't need tech proficiency above office products to become a banker. Others have much better insight into the specific issues, but I think you'd really benefit from uploading your resume to the "

What would be a realistic goal this late in the game that would be a position that could lead to a banking gig down the line?
 
The Real Max:

I laughed at the "proficiency" in different OSes. The average eight year old can navigate any operating system including linux (unless you're talking about running it strictly from the command line). If I saw that on your resume, I'd automatically assume that you were a technical novice.

Also, you don't need tech proficiency above office products to become a banker. Others have much better insight into the specific issues, but I think you'd really benefit from uploading your resume to the "section (as a pdf). After your resume is cleaned up, I think you need to reevaluate what a realistic goal is this late in the game. It's entirely possible to land a banking gig, but I think you'd have a lot higher success rate setting yourself up in a position that could lead to a banking gig down the line.

Alot of FES have trouble with some of the older OS, that's why I added those, a lot of corporations generally run an older platform. I guess I'll take those out though as apparently everyone on this site thinks they are goofy.

 

If you are a senior with a 3.5 average for three years. How can you get that up to a 3.7-3.8 in 1 year?

You have no realistic chance right now. Several people told you your best chance, which is to take the best job you can now, kick ass for a few years and then go get an MBA. However, you apparently didn't want to hear that.

 

Gary Cohn never did IBD - he was an options or commodities trader. In fact most of the FICC traders at GS / J Aron did well but he wasn't a banker - just saying

 

Dolore ab numquam consequuntur animi sit perspiciatis. Voluptas excepturi dignissimos libero nemo corrupti vitae. Quasi omnis minus iste nemo aut non dolorum.

Corrupti et similique ducimus inventore eum ut voluptatum. Veritatis molestiae saepe ab qui similique aut et animi. Facilis inventore ab dicta quasi error. Eveniet omnis molestiae asperiores. Deserunt omnis qui aut similique est ipsum. Harum molestiae distinctio mollitia ut perferendis sit adipisci.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”