IMF and World Bank

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't basically a requirement to have a PhD to get hired as a toilet scrubber at those institutions? I've only known two people who applied there and both were international Finance PhDs from top schools, both of which were rejected without even an interview.

But I'm not an expert on those places, just giving my 2 cents. Pretty prestigious companies to work for from what I've heard, so good luck.

So before I decided I wanted to scour the earth for an analyst stint in IBD, I wanted to work for the IFC, the arm of the World Bank that makes private investments and structures private transactions in other countries (for everything from oil/gas platforms off the coast of Bangladesh to libraries in Somalia).

In the process, I talked to many alumni from my school who now work with the World Bank. I also have alot of family in the orginzation as well.

Some things:

- Pay is more like a government agency (since it is basically one). You start out at a certain rate depending on your education and go from there. For PhDs this is generally close to around 200k, no bonus, nothing else. Raises are small, but consistent.
- lifestyle is easy (10-6 or better...or worse depending on how you see it). My boss at my PE internship in DC used to work for the IFC. "I got ahead fast because most people there are fairly lazy and have succumbed to the beauracracy, so my director would come in at 10:30am, and as long as you came in before that, you were fine. He left at 4-5pm..." Paraphrasing his words, but you get the point. Don't expect hyper-motivated people at the WB at least. Can't speak for the IMF as much but I imagine it's similar. But the people are older and so yes, there are many people wanting to do good things, but they are caught up in a culture and beauracracy that is by definition, slow and fucking sucky. Which is sad, because an organization like this could do alot more good alot quicker if it was run like a business. But alas, there are way too many hands in the pot (countries, voting rights, the US not wanting money to be used to fund projects in countries where political discourse is sour, etc.), and so things move slow, if at all.
-Exit Ops: If you are a senior guy (PhD, etc.) this is probably your last job, or you plan to make it that way.

Let's change things up and assume you are coming in as a bright-eyed kid, wanting to do some good. You're right. They don't hire fresh undergrads or recent grads with a hanful of years of experience. They mostly hire MBAs/graduate students. That said, they do have the JPA (junior position analyst). It's very competitive (network like hell or speak 3 languages) and only a few positions are given out. These analysts complete work similar to an IBD/IM analyst: macroeconomic research, writing reports and on the plus side: working for an organization known round' the world (famously or infamously is for you to decide) and they also get to work closely with investment officers, who are the ones structuring the transactions and doing the deals for the bank abroad (at least from the IFC perspective). Their pay is not good relative to let's say, anything else people here are shooting for. Think around 60-65k all in.

Hope I haven't sounded to cynical. It is an amazing organization. And while the average deal takes YEARS to close, if ever, they still do some very good things and have financed some major projects in third world countries. But I would only work there:

-for two years after IBD and before business school
-When I am 60 and want to do a little good and let the world be free, while still having enough time to go back to my 20 year old wife because I'm rich, have been three times divorced and hate others and my soul because banking stole it away from me.

So overall: great short term op if you can land it, terrible pay relative to banking/pe/etc. exit ops are business school or death from the rare disease you caught when you married that 23 year old girl you met while you were working with local builders to complete an infrastructure investment in Thailand. The prestige is there, but be careful about when/why you take it. And know what to expect from the culture, because you work closely with your teams.

Similar to what Alphaholic said above, lifestyle is pretty easy and pay is ok but not great (e.g. analyst pay without the bonus). I think he networked like hell to get the position because he was fresh out of undergrad - or maybe it's some less prestigious role.

Not 100% sure on exit opportunities but I would imagine less than IBD simply because recruiters are not likely to be calling on you if you work at one of these places. Even if you're much smarter and more capable than your banking counter-parts, if you're off the radar of recruiters you can't do too much. Think it's pretty much business school or hopefully-network-your-way-into-something-else-maybe (emphasize maybe).

I think it might be a cool opportunity but it's probably not the best thing for ambitious undergrads or young professionals... more for PhD's who don't want to go be quants at HFs but instead want to do something finance/business-related while saving the world, at least a bit at a time.

http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/
Mergers & Inquisitions

Most young professionals join the Bank at analyst level, here is the latest data on salaries (2007):

[minimum | maximum]
1. Analyst [53,920 | 98,120]
2. Professional [71,910 | 130,870]
3. Senior Professional [95,210 | 173,290]
4. Manager, Lead Professional [132,390 | 232,360]
5. Director, Senior Advisor [182,000 | 275,400]
6. Vice President [236,040 | 304,020]
7. Managing Director, Executive VP [260,260 | 324,610]

Please note that these salaries are NET OF TAXES. Some teams do receive modest bonuses (IFC, WB Treasury).
Quality of life is very high: 9am-6pm*, 26 days of annual leave (for starters), good insurance package, but be prepared to travel frequently. Culture is pretty laid back, but bureaucratic (less so at IFC).
Exit ops: depends on the team. Not many if you work in core IBRD or IDA teams, pretty good if you are at IFC (they keep losing people to Wall Street all the time).
IMF salaries have traditionally been somewhat highter, but the Board has just axed 10% of the staff (giving nice severance packages), I don't think they hire activelly these days. You will also need a top PhD in order to get there. The culture is extremely old-school and hierarchical.

*Oh, one more thing. Some people opt for so called Alternative Work Schedule, which basically means that you work 80 hours in 9 days and have every 10th day off.

I worked as a consultant in World Bank's private sector agencies, the IFC and MIGA, for a few years before B-school (FYI, a very large percentage of employees in multilateral institutions carry this title, it means you're a contract employee, receive no benefits, and don't count toward quota restrictions).

I think Alphaholic is spot on ... the bureaucracy was absolutely amazing. Deals take forever to get done, when they do it is generally not because it makes financial or economic sense, but because the board member from Ethiopia wants a project done in his country. (picture the UN Security Council running an investment bank) Also pretty much every private company goes to WB/IFC as an absolute last resort, when nobody in the private sector is crazy enough to finance the project.

I don't think exit ops are that great, most everyone in private sector finance looks down on these places, as they should. The PhD's in research are pretty sharp and do some great stuff, but it get's lost once politics get involved. I've met a few other former WB/IMF staff around investment banks, most went to B-school to transition over and all reminisced at length about the awful environment.

Again as Alpha said I would consider returning in retirement . . . come in at 10, read the paper until lunch-time when I meet my multi-lingual friends for a 2 hour meal with wine, make a few phone calls and dodge stupid meetings in the afternoon, on the golf course by 4:30.

Finally with the rise of SWF's and massive hard currency reserve balances around the world these institutions are becoming more irrelevant every day. My guess is that they will be a shadow of their former selves by the time I retire.