What do I do with my life, career wise.
Before going on this website, let's just say I never knew the concept of target and non-target schools. You can use your imagination to elaborate my ignorance on the investment baking realm.
Well I go to the University of South Florida with a GPA between a 3.48 and 3.78. What divisions at an investment bank that's are relevant to my place in the hierarchy and what sort of banks should I look at. Could I still look at bulge bracket banks.
I'm guessing you guys might say that you go to a low ranked school so know your place. Well screw you I kind of know that.
To the guys who might say with hard work and connections will take me far, thanks for your help but I just want a general stereotypical options that a typical Finance major at USF would take when it came to applying for an internship and getting a full time job when I graduate.
You can definitely land at an MM firm.
For a finance major with a middling GPA at USF, this is going to be very tricky. I recommend working for an F500 for a couple years in an industry you find interesting, and getting an MBA. Conservatively speaking, that is your best route forward.
You may shock me and land at GS IBD- in which case my hat is off to you. I am not going to discourage you from trying to get that- I am just going to say that it would be quite difficult.
I would instead focus on either trying to land a role at some regional investment bank or landing at an F500.
If you have money for grad school, you can maybe apply for an MSF, which may give you some more opportunities to get to the street. I am not going to push it that hard, though. I think the lowest risk, most cost-effective route is to try and land an MM job or go to the F500 for a few years, land a respectable gig there and network your way into banking.
Thanks for the advice, I greatly appreciate it.
Solid/realistic advice from Illi above. I totally agree. Hard work and effective networking will definitely be important in your search process, but hey, they're important for everyone.
Raymond James is in your backyard, and so are smaller business brokers/IB like Hyde Park Capital and CrossTree Partners. I would look into them and contact USF alumni, which could serve as good introductions and give you an idea of the landscape in the area.
I would recommend applying to an MSF program, such as Vanderbilt (newer program), UF (the most cost-effective solution), and UVA (Commerce Program).
All of these programs generate IB recruitment opportunities and could serve as a chance to get in. I would also look into Valuation Services opportunities (Duff and Phelps) and Transaction Services Groups (Big 4 Accounting Firms). Although these are still an uphill battle, with perseverance and strong networking, you could work your way into a regional office. These positions could serve as a strong base to switch into an IBD position a year down the line. Best of luck!
-EightAceTres
PM me. I came from a similar position
Hey everyone thanks for the advice.
I just want to point out that I'm not focusing on an investment banking division but rather an investment bank as a whole. I wouldn't mind doing something like in global investment research, equities, securities or fixed income commodities, etc.
Well, some kid at Florida State with a 3.9 GPA in Finance isn't that picky either, but he will still probably get hired into back-office Ops at Morgan Stanley unless he has an aunt at Deutsche or he is incredibly lucky.
I went a somewhat similar route to that, joining the middle office of a BB. I think the MM/Boutique route is a better way to go unless your skillset is really designed for something that an average MM firm simply does not do (IE: generate option-adjusted convexities on millions of corporate bonds.) In your case, your background is general finance, so your skillset is perfectly designed for one of these smaller firms.
I'd focus on the middle market firms and worry about the major banks later. Perhaps after an MBA. An investment banking job at most middle market firm will be able to get you into a solid MBA program. From there, you can try to go for PE or go back into IBD, perhaps as an Associate at Morgan Stanley.
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