does being self-taught matters?
Or will it get you laughed out of the building?
I can't do Finance courses, But I try and learn as much as possible about the markets my own way.
Reading books, reading journals, newspapers anything.
I even went back to learn the basics of fucking Economics just to make sure. Next on the list is SELF TEACHING excel and accounting principles
Is all this Meaningless to the IBD recruiter? If you are self taught and can show you atleast KNOW the basics...
Will Bankers still throw your Resume in the trash just because it says B.A English Instead Of Quadruple major in applied math/Chem Eng/Mechatronics/Actuarial science/Physics/
You can't do a whole lot from self-teaching from a valuation standpoint. I guess that is changing, but live deal flow is 100x better.
In regard to the B.A. English vs. BS in Engineering/etc., they just know that the person worked a lot harder than you did to obtain the same results. Let's face it, English classes are a joke compared to a hard science.
Firms want analysts who can crank. They don't hire career bankers, they hire people who can crank for them for a few years .
Disclaimer: anecdotal, not in industry.
If you're getting a BA in English it better be from a top university and with a near-perfect (if not perfect) GPA. Even with this, you're going to want to network your ass off and get internships whenever/wherever you can to show interest in finance.
You better know the basics of economics, accounting, and Excel if you're trying to get a job in IB. Note: When I say "basics...of Excel" I mean you will want to know it very fucking well from the perspective of a student. If you know it very well from a student's perspective, you will have a basic understanding from a full-time analyst's perspective.
But you can definitely learn the basics and the terminology. This will help you not only in interviews, but also in training if you secure a job.
Truth.
This is kinda false. It is dependent on the firm, though it would be more true for a lot of the bulge brackets. JPM used to look for people who wanted to build a career and Perella is known for this as well, just for a couple examples (read: the only examples I know).
On the flip side, I've been picked over other candidates for an investment research internship because I had some self-help elements in my resume and the VP loved it.
The way I see it, it's a plus. But not much.
depends on where you went to college. I've seen this up close: at my brother's school (Amherst), people from his grad class who majored in liberal arts got many IB/PE/MBB jobs. Only (I stress this) from this caliber of schools (Ivy League, JHU/Duke, Little Three) can liberal arts majors get these kind of jobs. My friend, on the other hand, majored in poli sci, minored in economics, had a 3.7, had a ton of activities, but coming from BU, had trouble getting PWM interviews, and now is at a trading arcade. Why? Because yes, as shallow as this is, (even if you personally know that the only reason you didn't go to elite schools was social or disciplinary reasons negatively affected your HS performance), on paper is where things matter.
The BB, PE, and elite boutiques figure that the people who are hiring them only want the "best and brightest" and many people do just assume off the name of a school that they're smarter (its Un-PC to say this, do not EVER listen to ANYONE who says where you go to school doesn't matter because they are LYING.) If you go to those kind of schools, many people will assume you are a "genius" or whatever, your are "gifted and talented," etc, even if you majored in art history.
Short answer to the OP's question: if you went to Ivy League, JHU, Duke, or the Little Three (Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan), you're golden. They'll love you. You're an intellectual dynamo. If not, they might see you as Paul Finch from American Pie.
Is it unfair, seeing how many of these analysts at these firms are often just athletes that would not have gotten in to elite schools without their sport (which often is lacrosse), or come from rich families who the HR managers know are connected? Damn well it is. But I know a lot of people who wish someone told them this years ago.
I think at the end of the day people judge you mainly on your potential and not what you know already - they're going to teach you all you need to know. It's really hard to make up the HYP/everywhere else gap just by self-training, unless you really demonstrate grind. Reading books alone is probably not enough but it can't hurt - better things to do would be to start your own investment fund, make a bunch of detailed investment memos, or take even a menial job with a banking firm to demonstrate commitment.
To the BB IBD recruiter, they have to have a genuinely compelling reason to say to their bankers "we will look beyond our typical target schools for this person."
That typically means there is something really special about the person, but the variety of special things can be really broad. It could be leadership, or maybe you were a really good debater, or you've had articles published in prominent magazines. Point is, do something special and unique - if that involves finance, great, but it doesn't have to, and if it is finance, do it to a really high level (I recommend CFA but I'm biased on that).
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