Noticed quite a few people on here put NYC above all else for the (valid) reason that there are much more opportunities for IB/PE/HF/etc. but I was wondering if non-nyc offices like LA, SF, Boston, Houston, even SLC would be easier to get IB from since there are FAR fewer applicants (but also less spots)?
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Not really, at BBs in those cities there are often times maybe 1-10 analysts per class for the whole IBD division as opposed to 70+ per BB in NYC. They all have strong regional schools which they use to easily pull a small handful of talented people out of (LA - UCLA, Berkeley, Stanford; Chi - Notre Dame, Northwestern, UoC, etc.) so in reality someone from outside the area trying to do what you are suggesting has no advantage. May even be tougher to convince people to pick you over locals who have connections to the area/recruiting channels.
Maybe as you go down a tier (Minneapolis, Charlotte, SLC, etc.) you could see an advantage but they don't really have top banks there to begin with.
Definitely. I've noticed the regional offices also tend to be more clanny and wary of outsiders.
I thought I'd make this thread because there are a few offices that only have FT recruiting and no summer analysts.
Which offices only have FT recruiting?
Exactly this. Take Houston for example which revolves around O&G (no surprise here). From Evercore to Credit Suisse you'll see a pattern of where Analysts are recruited from (i.e. CS - Texas A&M, Simmons & Co - Texas, TPH - Texas,) so coming in from a non-target is very difficult if not impossible.
At least for NYC you are at the epicenter for IB IMO so you have a much more saturated pool of firms to potentially break into.
No top banks in Charlotte? That's funny.
What's funny?
you are probably right but I had the opposite personal experience.
Honestly, I'd kill for piper SF right now lol.
As with anything in recruiting, your mileage may vary. My post was primarily towards undergraduate recruiting, I think there is a lot more room for outsiders on the lateral front for instance.
Honestly, I feel like your best bet would be to recruit Boston. Pretty sure five super bowl rings will get you at least a phone screen at a few shops.
Regional (Houston In Particular) Easier To Break Into Than NYC? (Originally Posted: 05/11/2011)
Hey guys, just wondering if the regional bank locations have slightly less "cut off" standards than NYC since the Iveys are in the northeast.
I have a PWM interview Thursday and am pretty much banking to land the gig or I'm screwed. I'd be taking 2 summer classes which should boost my GPA to 3.7, and in the fall I'll be managing my university's investment fund.
I go to a completely random state school and am worried my resume won't be able to land me 1st round interviews.
Also, I'm a junior so should I apply for internships, FT, or both?
i think all PW offices are regional by their nature.
If you're talking banking, i don't think the cut offs are any different at the analyst level. There may be fewer people competing, but there are also far fewer spots.
Your competition is always relative. It's not like people in Texas have lower GPA's. There will be plenty of UT, SMU, TCU, A&M, Rice etc people with great resumes, along with the one-off kid from Texas who goes to school in the northeast and wants to work in Texas.
Honestly your biggest problem will be the rep of your school I imagine. Most kids who get interviews are going to have ~3.7+ in the analyst ranks, you will need to convince them not to discount yours relative to a candidate from a school with a stronger academic reputation.
Should've probably clarified, I'm not really interested in IBD (would take the offer though), but more into S&T or asset management
Do you think I'd be able to land first rounds? I understand at that point its all up to me
You sound like you go to UT (ATX most likely being Austin), Tech, or A&M. You should be fine with around a 3.7 looking at PWM.
If you are looking at S&T or AM, then managing the investment fund in the fall is going to be more relevant experience than a summer PWM gig. Use the fund investment opportunity to network with alumni in the business and you should be fine.
He doesn't go to UT..."random state school" is very accurate. Or the others you mentioned.
S&T is tough only because there isn't a whole lot of it in TX. Hell, every bank recruits at , even for ny, but the only s&t gigs I've seen are ml commodities. Reach out to some regional offices...primarily in Dallas. (Knight, jefferies, jones, btig, capis)
No. In fact, some locations might be even more difficult because not only do you have to have a competitive application, but you have to justify why you want to be there instead of NY. Yes, the applicant pool will be smaller in all of those cities, but you are still competing against very talented individuals. You may compete against fewer graduates from HSW, but you will still be competing against applicants who went to non-Ivy targets who have similar resumes to HSW graduates, minus the HSW brand. So, instead of the Harvard grad who spent two summers at GS, you are now competing against the UTA grad who spent two summers at Evercore.
how does recruiting for banking in other cities besides nyc work..? (Originally Posted: 07/09/2017)
I go to a target on the east coast, so when banks come on campus, I'm pretty sure they are all for the nyc office. What if I wanted to work else where? What if, for example, i wanted to work at Goldman in SF? How does that work? Do I need to look for alumni on the west coast?
That is what I had thought. I usually get a lot of questions about why NYC coming from where I am so I figured it was a good question.
I mean usually you'll get the chance to say your location preferences before the interview when applying
Regional offices usually rely heavily on their own recruiting process to get candidates. They typically get most of their candidates from local colleges. If you listen to New York HR, who will tell you to specify your location preference when you apply through the on-campus process, you will miss out because the timelines are all different. So you need to reach out to alumni in that office or ask a friend in New York to dig around for a contact that you can send your resume to. That said, unless you are specifically interested in tech or energy (Texas), I would encourage you to start off in New York. Unless you know you want to stay in that region, it will be hard for you to move back to the East Coast post-banking for PE and other opportunities (not impossible, but hard).
Culture at companies outside of NYC? (Originally Posted: 07/31/2017)
Interested in making the leap to either IB or PE at a non BB firm outside of NYC (possibly Philly). Right now, I am at a Big 4 doing TAS/Valuation. I really don't care too much about trying to get to the most prestigious institution (BBs like GS, MS, JPM, ect..) and just want to work at a solid place with a good culture that might be a good deal less chaotic than one of those BBs. Specifically, I am looking at work life balance and hours.
While I don't mind working hours, I do value my time outside of work as well. Also, entering my late 20's, my perspective is probably different than someone just leaving undergrad. My question is this: Are there companies that have more laid back cultures with scaled down hours in cities such as Philly? Obviously, the "hours" floor in IBD is going to be higher than other careers but I am curious if the MM or smaller firms in other cities are less like the stereotype you read about so much on here.
First of all, I do not really intend on moving to NYC for a variety of reasons but am open to other possibilities. I would hope that these other markets will prove less insane than NYC but I do not know much. A lot of what people say, in terms of IBD experiences, I feel relate more to the big companies in NYC. Is it any different with the kind of firms I am talking about?
This also applies to PE
Move to Poland, no IBD but more then 7000 BB Middle-Back working places
Care to elaborate?
Poland is the ghetto of Europe. Many people live on 1k or less a month
I mean the general nature of IB whether in NYC or somewhere else is probably the same i'm sure you can expect similar hours, maybe not as intense but comparable
Non-NYC offices are harder, not easier.
Is it easier to break into ibanking firms outside of NY? (Originally Posted: 11/22/2015)
I'm from SF and am attending a non-target school in California. Is obtaining internships and job offers from BB and boutique firms "easier" to do in San Francisco as opposed to NY? I would assume that the tech industry as taken a lot of potential applicants away from these companies.
not really, there's much less spots available and you're still competing with Berkeley/Stanford + h/p/w people that want to come back to the west coast
Oh ok thanks. Would you say it's harder or on par with ny?
I had a friend who worked at an office for a top their mm down south. It was harder there because they only had 3 spots and they looked gravely at unc duke Davidson Emory etc.
From what friends have told me it's also very localized in regional offices. In the southern offices, from what I've heard, it's a lot more about having gone to the right state school and having been in the right fraternity than it would be in NYC.
Boutique it'll be easier, but SF is a pretty hot major market.
It'd be different if you meant Houston, Dallas, OKC, etc. Hyper competitive still, but less prestige oriented.
i went through their recruiting process and as someone from an east coast target h/p/w, it was harder than NY
Depends. If you're shooting for Southeast coming from UNC, Duke, UVA, Emory, etc, you will have a much easier time than if you were to come from a northeast target. So many of these firms, and this falls under pretty much all non-NY firms, have local schools that they do most recruiting it and have a huge preference for.
New York vs. Regional Office (Originally Posted: 04/21/2008)
What will you lose by interning and subsequently doing your 2 year analyst program in a big regional office (think Credit Suisse LA, UBS LA, GS San Fran, etc.) as opposed to the headquarters in New York? I'm thinking networking, exit opps, salary, etc. Is there anything else? Is it true that most likely you won't be able to advance past VP by starting at the regional office?
Assuming I prefer to live in the regional city moderately more than New York, would this benefit outweigh the costs?
Thanks in advance for your comments.
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