Please educate me on Merrill Lynch

Great strategy! I'm sure they'll love you if you come in with a bunch of why ML "tag lines"...

"The Merrill Lynch Principles" - (memorize these)
Client Focus
Respect for the Individual
Teamwork
Responsible Citizenship
Integrity

Merrill has a solid real estate group. One quality they especially pride themselves on is teamwork.

Thanks for the responses:

To monkeypoker:

I know tag lines are corny, but some firms are in love with themselves and love to hear their recruiting presentations reiterated by their candidates.

Perfect example:
I was interviewing for JPM, the guy asked me, "Why JPM?"
So I told him how I met with a lot of the people, they were all really helpful, I fit in w/ the culture, etc. etc.
So they guy asks me, "Is there any other reason you want to work for JPM? Something about our business model perhaps?"
And I knew exactly what he was hinting at.
I reply, "Oh, I favor the idea of the one-stop supershop, I just read how JPM's IBD profits were down 70% this year, but it was more than able to compensate from its other divisions. Obviously this model is better than having a smaller shop dedicated solely to a few areas."

He loved the answer. Most firms are in love with themselves; you just need to position yourself to flatter their egos w/o outright doing so.

To bankerchic:
Aside from teamwork, is there anything else that makes the firm stand out? Most firms like to emphasize they are big with teamwork (whether this is true is another question...)

Merrill Lynch, negative perception??

Huh?

Seriously, so much propaganda on these boards nowadays... ML is a great firm to work for.

ML has a decent consumer practice as well. If you want product, just go with M&A.

In terms of why ML - mention the BlackRock acquisition, rapid growth of the investment bank, collegial environment, teamwork, reputation etc.

If you really want a cheesey line though, just state its the bank that brought wall street to main street.

If you say your affiliates have told you things that gave you a negative perception of the firm, what did they have to say? I agree with ideating.

If you are interviewing with IBK and start saying you like ML because of Blackrock, you need to put it in the right context.

Let's think here... You are interested in working within an IB group. ML is considered one of the best investment banks out there (official rankings aside). You can speak towards management's better decisions including the acq. of Blackrock, and how you envision a bright future. Praise the culture in some way that you actually value. Teamwork, smart co-workers, solid deal flow, people you've met that you admire... think about it for a bit.

I agree that I should have taken all viewpoints with a grain of salt. It was foolish of me to write off the firm based on a few hear-says. My friends who interned in IBD just said that ML worked them harder than all the other firms work their summers, and that the place was the most sweatshop-like place on the street. Buysideguy, those are all excellent suggestions, thanks!

A couple of follow-up questions, if I may:

-I want to do M&A because I've heard it provides the best modeling experience and gives employees more analytical tasks and marketable skill sets than other groups. Additionally, I am very interested in working on large deals that change the dynamics of the business environment. Aside from this, is there any other validation for "Why M&A?"? Ultimately I am hoping for good exit opps into PE, but I will not mention this in the interview.
-Obviously ML got hit hard by the subprime crisis. I am ready to talk about the crisis, should the topic arise, but how should I handle ML's hit during this situation? Just steer clear of it as much as possible or can I somehow spin the situation positively?

Thanks!

Something that seemed to work in my interviews: "Investment banking is the best place to start a career in business, and I have a passion for developing a thorough understanding for business." Look at senior staffers resumes (IB, buyside, sell side analysts, hedge fund guys, consultants, business owners, you fucking name it) and many have some sort of IB background. This is a huge generalization, so let me speak more specifically. I have looked at a lot of senior resumes (senior position, not senior in college), and I have notice a lot have an IB background. If you are passionate about business, then IB is a good place to start. Some may disagree, but it worked for me.

I might be wrong about this, but in my opinion, it might be a bad idea to say you want to get into IB because of the exit opps.

I know that's not exactly what you said, but that's what I interpreted it as.

You can always use the exit opps euphemism: "portable skillset"

I'm not a huge fan of Merrill, it has something to do with a residual prejudice I picked up while following their equity underwriting conduct during the dotcom boom. Probably unjustified at this point. That said, Merrill does originate some sick deals -- the (winning) bidding consortium concept during the ABN Amro deal was Merrill's idea and the fees were ludicrous.

My Merrill IBD friends give me the impression that the culture is somewhat more frat-like and outgoing than at other banks -- I say this said with total neutrality.

Thanks! I was going to talk about the ABN deal... didn't realize that Merrill originated the idea for the consortium.

Two questions:
1. Is there anywhere I can read about major deals that Merrill took part in? Most firms have this information on their website, but Merrill's site is sparse and difficult to navigate...

2. Is it dangerous to say, during the interview, something along the lines of, "I know Merrill was hit pretty hard by the sub-prime crisis, but I believe that the firm will rebound quickly, especially under the leadership of John Thain..." and then discuss previous work with which Thain was involved? Or just avoid the subject altogether?

1. Try thedeal.com
2. Wouldn't go there unless they point you there. More of a topic to (very subtly) bring up during Q&A. If you say something corny like "I believe that the firm will rebound quickly, especially under the leadership of John Thain", there's a 10% chance your interviewer will think something along the lines of "so this kid, with his collective 5 months of summer work experience 'believes' in a 'rebound' Thain?"

The subprime issue writedown issue is probably a WAY smaller deal to the IBD folk than you think. If I were you, I'd ask an adjacent question such as "Have you noticed any major changes to your day-to-day experiences at the firm lately?"

- I'm shutting down now.

Excellent info - Thanks everyone! Any other pointers between now and Thursday morning, please feel free to share!

Butter them up, and if it doesn't work, shove it down their throats.

"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-

Does anyone have any other comments?

I just landed an interview with their healthcare group after becoming a casualty of Bear Stearns!

why do banks prefer to hire an external 1styr associate instead of promoting analysts who did the work for 3years..

look at these answers.. this guy must be a joke
summer associate hahahahha

isn't it ridiculous to work for such an associate who doesn't know a shit ,analysts who became associate deserve much more respect