Most stimulating entry-level position?

What position/function at the entry level is the most intellectually stimulating, one that allows you to use your creativity? I understand these things are limited at the junior level, but hey, it's all relative.. Please include the broadest range of entry level positions, including the impossible to achieve ones.

12 Comments
 

It's i-banking dude. Unless you think mastering Excel models is "stimulating" you're looking into the wrong business.

I guess the closest thing to what you are looking for would be a research position, but those are also heavily technical and not really "intellectual."

 

kind of a weird question, b/c it depends on what stimulates you. If you like action and intensity, nothing can be better than trading.

If you like taking out companies, re-structuring them and re-floating the company, that would be IBD.

If you want to analyze the stock market and be an expert on a sector you're interested in, that's research.

really all over the board.

 
Best Response

It's not a weird question, as ratul says - it's a stupid question.

You should know what you find interesting - I find M&A stimulating while others would say prop. trading is much more "in the thick of it," so to say. And yet others might find it stimulating to get on the phone, call some random guy is Nebraska and get a rush pitching him assorted equities and looking to close a fresh account. They might find it intellectually stimulating to come up with new ideas for their pitch or assorted rebuttals. Others find the technical aspect of research stimulating - diving into immense depth of an industry to figure out the why's and how's of the industry and its participants. It's all about what you find the most exciting.

And also, after you ask such an asinine question, you should refrain from telling people that they are thinking too narrow when they give you their opinion which you asked for.

 

I work on big RE Development projects, which is pretty neat stuff. You get exposed to some modeling, some legal doc abstraction, you have to give presentations, you travel a little (not too bad), etc.... You have to really have a solid macro-level understanding of each deal to do your job, even at the analyst level.

It's not IBD comp, but it isn't bad either, and the progression can be fantastic. You can also do a lot of things with it, either stay with a developer, or do asset management for RE PE, or acquisitions somewhere, etc....

There's also the added benefit of not necessarily needing to be in NYC to do it, along with the fact that the hours aren't even close to IBD, at least not for me.

 

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