How competitive is Investment Banking out of college?
I'm currently a freshman in college in a Minnesota state school on a partial baseball scholarship. I plan to double major in Finance and Economics. I'm very interested in I-Banking, but I know that it is very competitive, and from what I've read, is very hard to land a job if you aren't from a target school, more specifically Ivy-league. What are my chances of landing a job out of a state school? I could potentially transfer to UW-Madison's Finance, Investment, and Banking program which is more respected, but I would have to give up playing baseball, which wouldn't be the end of the world I suppose. I am confident I would be able to graduate with a 3.8+ college GPA, and I know there are many other variables that play into getting a job, but from your experiences, is it worth it to pursue a career in I-Banking, or not? I am more than aware of the strenuous commitments the job comes with. I also interested in financial advising, and have some connections in Edward Jones, so I could always fall back to that. Let me know what you guys think. Thank you.
There are no "set chances". Your ability to get a job offer or even summer experience is based upon your willingness to go out there, and network like a demon while maintaining a good GPA, and trying to have something unique that about yourself that you can "sell" to these banks.
If you can, buy the networking guide WSO offers, and sift through the hundreds of success stories on here to find a common/similar pattern that can help you with your hunt. You're a freshman so don't overstress about this, but be on top of your game. If you put the work in (the RIGHT work), you'll most likely land an IB offer. Best of Luck!
Definitely don't give up college baseball for a chance to work in investment banking...lol. If you keep a solid GPA (3.8+ is a good target), get some relevant work experience and make the right connections, you'll have no problem getting a job in IB.
Honestly I would say chances are low that you'll be able to get in to banking right out of college even with baseball unless you are on the UM-Twin Cities campus. If you are on the main campus, you will have a good shot at recruiting for any of the local firms. Not sure about chances for NYC/SF recruiting though.
Was in your shoes and made it to NY IB. Can't stress enough the importance of networking. PM me if you have questions.
If you're in MN just try and get in with either HL or Piper Jaffray. Start networking now so you can get an SA gig. If you don't like working there, leverage that into an FT offer at your target location. You'll have to hustle of course, but it is definitely doable. My question is though, why do you think you would be interested in either IB or dogshit retail financial advising? Those two things could not be further apart from each other.
I believe Harris Williams also has a Minneapolis office, as does Lazard MM.
Lazard MM yes, just forgot to mention it. I'm not aware of an HW office there, but it's entirely possible I am just ignorant of it. To the OP, among any of these you can't go wrong for a summer experience.
Try your hardest to get some IB experience either this summer or next at a regional boutique. After you have that its a lot easier to talk to bankers. your junior year summer is when you should aim for MM/EB/BB banks
I am actually from Madison, WI, but I have family that lives in the cities, so if I were to find an SA, whether it's in Madison, or the Twin Cities, I'd be able to figure out living circumstances. I'll work on trying to get in touch with some firms and see if I can do anything for free for some basic experience and a foot in the door. Thank you to all who replied, it's been extremely helpful.
Other options that haven't been mentioned already for Minneapolis include GHF (lots of ex-Piper guys there, reputable lower-MM), Craig Hallum (small), and TripleTree (even smaller).
Do banks really recruit just-out-of-college graduates ? (Originally Posted: 09/04/2017)
Just checked the website of Jeffries, and there's one tab of : students and graduates. Can recent college graduates really apply for internships/FT positions?
I don't believe that banks recruit people who just graduated. You can tell by the job qualifications. They will usually indicate that they are looking for people who will graduate in a certain time range. If you don't meet that graduation time range, then I don't think they would be interested.
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