anyone applying to Bank of America?

I'm surprised that Bank of America is hiring considering that they have their own SAs plus Merrill's SAs as a hiring pool.

I know undergrads who have recieved repeated queries from Merill HR, really surprising as I expected things to at least start going through BOA. Somewhat confused about how this is supposed to work out and if/why Merill is still hiring like a nutcase.

yanks234,

i had a superday with Bank of America a couple weekends ago. so you think they flew me out, paid for my hotel and my expenses for 2 days just to keep relations with the school?

but then again this was their RE group which is their stronger group..

Yep, bigmonkey31, I do believe that they did that to keep relations with the school. It happened in Fall 07 also, as I had friends from targets who went through the same motions with B of A, RBS and MS. Yet, right after the B of A superday CEO Ken Lewis proclaims he "had all the fun in B of A's IB division for now...."

Spending the amount on flying you out, etc, is an inconsequential expense relative to bringing on a larger analyst class and expanding headcount.

Your situation could be legit, but I'm just giving my 2 cents on the situation from what happened in 2007 and 2008.

that BofA is actually hiring. I went to a superday for them 2 weeks ago, and got an offer the following week (industry group in IBD).

trojandizzle, I'm not refuting in anyway your information. I have had friends who are part of the campus recruiting teams at several BBs tell me that they go down to campus, and oftentimes do not actually have any intent on hiring people, and if they do, its maybe 1 or 2 students.

I suggest you look at the most recent 60 Minutes Clip with Ken Lewis of B of A...he predicts a need to do some $6bn of cost savings. Cost savings = elimination of redundancies in IB, S&T, etc. There will be a shakeout of former ML employees and B of A employees alike.

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/BofA-chief-sounds-confident-as-streets-fortunes-sag/

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aOTi8EMrn5gY&refer=…

From the horse's mouth

It makes no sense to me why BofA would be giving offers when it has to decide what to do with 2 summer analyst classes

And, to further substantiate my claim about firms "preserving relations with no intent of hiring." I cite this Dealbreaker post:

http://dealbreaker.com/2008/10/hiring-watch-08-mer.php

So, while 1-2 offers might be given out, the odds are LARGELY stacked against applicants. Given these odds, it's probably easier to get into Harvard/Yale u-grad or HBS.

Bottom line--Superdays are irrelevant. Last year, MS did the same thing. Sent down the campus recruiting team, wined and dined the students, superday etc. No intent of hiring. I rest my case.

In case all of you on this board seem to doubt the press clippings I've cited, that's ok. I'm not making this stuff up.

AND...here's a post on Dealbreaker on this topic:

Posted by guest, Oct 21, 2008 5:30PM

Yeah, we used to do that all the time too - run the meet & greet recruiting sessions when we had no intention of hiring. The schools/prospectives don't know that - they might think we filled the roster at a different school.

But in lean times like this, the career people really love you for giving the students some (false) hope - and it makes them look good because there are lots of big name firms coming to campus.

That can pay off in a more competitive year when you want a good slot or for the counselors to put in a good word for you.

First round thursday, told to put time aside for superday on friday.

sounds pretty safe to say i can put this one on the shelf next to the MS s&t first round.

Our group is cutting back our 2009 analyst class by about 1/4. So about half are coming from summers while the other qurater is coming from on-campus. So people are still hiring and don't let the cynics let you guys know otherwise.

BoA actually gave out a surprisingly high number of offers on-campus at Penn this year.

how common is that...to give offers out after on-campus interviews, skipping the superday process? I've heard of it happening to a few people, but never really thought much of it.

i can confirm that they are having a superday on the 31st. good luck to everyone trying to get a job w/ BofA..their new building at bryant park is absurdly sick

to give out offers after on campus interviews unless you go to a top target (by my estimates).

That being said, if you can impress a senior level member during your first round interviews their pull could be invaluable during your final rounds.

I don't know why people are so pessimistic with approaching and advising people that are trying to enter the industry. For every bank that has completely filled their class and are coming to campus with no intent on hiring, there is another that still has a few spots available.

BofA just had their superdays. They are hiring - my friend just got an offer (S&T).

Having said that, it seems as though - a ticket to BofA does not mean that it is also a ticket to Merrill. It seems as though, they are two separate entities right now, with regards to the investment bank. If you want to get into Merrill - you have to go through Merrill - not BofA.

yeah, related to the above comment: Merrill is still holding info. sessions on Penn's campus and has internship postings for students studying abroad next semester. Anyone know when Merrill & BofA are actually combining?

Friend got an offer from BofA recently as well...does not make sense why but congrats I guess.

StarAnalyst,

What do you mean ticket to BofA is not a ticket to Merrill, by February, they will be one entity, so by the time seniors start working Merrill's operations will have been integrated into BofA?

It still makes absolutely no sense to me why they would still be recruiting. Have they even spoken to their summer analyst classes to tell them their offers will be honored? I would assume that would be the last thing on their plate.

Merrill and BoA are still operating as two separate entities since both company’s' shareholders haven't voted on the merger yet. Merrill has guaranteed their SA's that their offer is still valid but BoA hasn't said anything so everything is still up in the air until the merger goes through.

Merrill and BOA's merger isn't closing until January

Given that, BOA is recruiting at top targets more than other BB's right now...maybe they feel this is their year to get top students rather than remain a safety for GS/MS/ML

look at merger arb... those guys (according to the spread) say the deal isnt' going to close at all.... so maybe the recruiting is a back up plan?

It would actually be interesting to see if the deal goes through or not. They don't have shareholder consensus yet and what if the price of Merrill's shares sky rocket above BOA's shares by Jan? I'm not so sure BOA will still be able to buy Merrill at such a price.

Isn't Merrill f-ucked if this deal does not go through? Assuming, noone else swoops in if BofA and Merrill were to end the deal.

Well if you guys saw the proposed leaders of IB and S&T in the new entity it would seem that MER guys are going to be running the show.

I have a superday on the 31st for Capital Markets. Was wondering if anybody whose been through it give me some insight would be greatly appreciated. How technical was it?

I get the whole "maintain relationships with target schools" motif but what is the rationale for inviting individuals from non-target schools to superdays, paying for their travel, hotels, etc. if BofA is not hiring?

As previous posts have stated B of A has hired people from the SuperDays, so BofA I believe IS hiring. I am from a non-target (BofA has no relationship to maintain with my school) so I think they are just legitimately interested in maybe hiring, probably very few, for some positions.

woody, went through it last year (ibanking) and a friend did as well (s&t) so not sure how it is this year but the final rounds are pretty technical.

i would recommend knowing financial statements quite thoroughly (standard) and why you want this particular role (have a good story here that shows legitimate interest -- don't come across as though you're taking any interview that comes your way and this is just another one).

know the valuation methods and be able to speak to how you've used them (or understand them, if you haven't had an ib internship).

i found that supplementing my responses by relating things i've done through school and internships to the answers of technical questions being asked was very beneficial.

i don't know too much about the s&t interview but i remember my friend commenting that he got more than one question about hedging (specific examples) so keep that in mind if you're looking at one of those positions. sorry i can't be more helpful here...

anyway, i'm sure you'll be fine -- good luck!

whats the word, you guys hear back yet?

anyone?