How hard is it to get into corporate banking?
I am in high school right now and it is unlikely that I will be able to go to a top target school, possibly UT or UVA. With this schools in mind I don't think I have very good chances of becoming an investment banker without network a ton, a skill that I'm not too confident in. I was wondering if getting into corporate banking would be any easier. Additionally I have heard that the main down sides of getting into corporate banking is a lack of outs. Would going back to school at a target to get an MBA after a few years of work experience help allow me to move into other jobs such as investment banking or private equity?
You make it sound like UVA or UT are community colleges. Both are great schools and place really well across different areas of finance and industries. Don't worry about the MBA yet. Focus on getting into UVA or UT and kill it there. You can break in from either.
Yeah I know I kinda down played the colleges but I'm still not sure about it. I could do well but I feel like it wont be enough compared to all the people that went to Ivy league schools. I guess I'll just see how it goes.
Get good grades, plan your path, join a few finance clubs and you'll get into IB. Both schools place well
Don't worry about your competition, focus on what you can change. If it's what you really want to do, just get involved on campus, meet people in the industry, and absorb everything you can. I'm from a non-target, but busted ass for a few years and landed a nice PE analyst gig. School doesn't matter, sure it makes it a hell of a lot easier, but doesn't automatically disqualify you by any means. In my opinion, if they won't look at me because of the school I went to, I probably won't fit the culture there anyways...
IB offers a lot of things, but work/life balance isn't one of them. Exits are important to IB because so many people want out. You're definitely not going to get the same exits in terms of prestige or compensation from corporate banking, but consider also that many people don't feel the need to exit corporate banking in the first place. As an MD you can pull in $400k and work 40-45 hour weeks. Lots of people will take that over $1MM/year and working all the time.
You're in high school, so your focus should be on keeping your options as open as possible. That means get into the best school you can (UVa and UT will certainly give you the opportunity for IB, if you want), and work hard on your grades so when the time comes, you have the luxury of choosing the path you like best. But good on you for identifying early that there's more to finance than just investment banking. Learn as much as you can about the different fields finance has to offer so you can make an informed decision about your career.
Just to clarify - $400k would be base. There are CB MDs who make $1MM after bonus.
If what JuicyJuice is saying is true, why don't people go into CB as much as IB? I know part of it is probably the desire to move to PE and make even more, but there are probably other reasons, right?
Prestige. People want "investment banking" in their title.
There are a lot of people that go into CB, but they are probably underrepresented on this site as it is primarily focused on IB and PE.
Doesn't have the same cache nor the same runway into other more interesting finance jobs.
The hardest part is finding the opportunities. People in corporate banking tend to stay longer as the lifestyle is great and the pay (although less than IB) is still very good. Reach out to bankers for coffee chats to show your interest to land an interview when a position opens up and know some basics on evaluating the creditworthiness of a borrower to secure an offer
UVA is very solid for IB recruiting. It is a target school, which has a better if not the same placement as some lower ivies. Definitely better than some top20 schools like Vandy, WashU, Johns Hopkins in terms of IB. For UT, it is the best school for energy banking in Texas. So just get into those school and you'll have a solid shot.
I'm a rising 8th year in a small Florida city, what should I do to break into Private Equity?
Rising 8th year as in you'll be a freshman starting in 2019? Let's just say I hope you go to a target middle school...
Getting to the point where Wall Street recruiting starts this young.
UVA and UT (assuming you mean Texas and not Tennessee) are target schools and place well in IB recruiting every year. If you can get into either one you will be fine.
It's not "easy" to get in, but it is easier than IB in my opinion. As an example, while most of the senior people on my team have MBAs from top schools, none of the junior people came from especially impressive schools, though we all had >1 year of good work experience before corporate banking.
I worked in commercial banking and am pretty in touch with corporate banking at my shop and our competitors. It's easier than in in that there's less competition and the groups are not as target school obsessed. Biggest things will be to network early with Christ bankers. They'll be focused on credit analysis skills for junior folks. Corporate banking also has intern and analyst prom Grand similar to ib. Your contacts from networking should be able to point you in the right direction and make sure you apply online come texturing season as well. Pm me if you want more info.
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