Hey all,
So like a lot of people on this forum, I'm a college students, trying to learn a bit more.
After reading about people already interviewing for SA positions for 2008, I figured it couldn't hurt to get start on the whole process.
While I go to a non-target school, I grew up in a pretty nice area (think around top 2 ivies), and have some pretty senior contacts in the industry.
I was planning on sending an email/call to a really close family friend, who works at Prudential's Capital Group and manages a few billion in corporate finance and lease investments, and I know works with a lot of senior traders at BBs.
More importantly though, he was my neighbor for about 17 years, and was always more than happy to help me/family out (got my sister interviews at Lazard).
Because we were fairly close, I felt that calling him would be a lot more respectful, especially since I've been a bit out of touch for the last year.
My question is, how do I get the point across that I would like him to pass my resume on (obiously never directly), without sounding too blunt? Ultimatley, I'm sure he would be more than happy too, but I don't want him to look at me as just a close family friend, but rather someone who is actually motivated and driven.
In addition, at the Summer Analyst level, I don't know 100% whether I'd want to do ibanking or S&T, however I know I have a strong interest in the banking field. Does having such a broad interest set me back? I can't imagine how people know for a fact ibanking is for them until they do the summer internship or something.
My GPA/work experience would make me a fairly competitive candidate, but nothing like a sure thing.
Any thoughts would be apprecaited,
Thanks
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Make sure to sound very enthusiastic and do everything to set up a personal informal interview where you can show what you are made of. You need to tell him everything as he only knows you as the little neighbor boy. And prepre for the interview a lot!!! That is key. Be informed on the company, the market and so on...and on him too, if you can get some background info.
Pick one or the other. Whether it is S&T or traditional IBD, just pick one.
Then, call up your neighbor. Chat it up with him and let him bring up your time at college/thoughts about a career. Basically any adult is going to ask the old, "How is college?" and "What are you thinking of doing when you graduate?" questions.
When he does ask this, steer the conversation into your interests, how you are doing at school (hopefully 3.8+ GPA, coming from a nontarget), etc. If he helped your sister out, I'm sure that he'll jump at the opportunity to help you if you are eager and have done well at school. If you live near a guy who works at Prudential Capital, I assume you live in/near Princeton, NJ? If so, do you know any buddies who went to Princeton or go there now? They can also be useful assets to get in touch with.
Don't limit yourself JUST to your neighbor. Get in contact with anyone who works in banking from your school. Even at a nontarget there will be handful of grads from your school that are in the business, unless you go somewhere obscure.
If you have good grades and reach out to as many people as possible, you have a good shot IMHO. Depending on how motivated you are to do this career of course. I'd say the first thing you should do is go out and get as many books on the topics as possible, and ask as many questions to friends/family in the field as possible. Find out which of S&T or IBD you want to do, which will then narrow your focus.
Hey Gnomes,
Thanks for the advice (in the past as well), and you are correct about being from Princeton. I have a ton of friends there, but unfortunatley they are the kinda that are not so interested in banking (more liberal arts than anything), so they are not quite as helpful.
On the other hand, you make a good point about using that university, as I am acquainted with a lot of older friends who have gone into banking. Thanks for the reminder though. Unfortunatley I don't know them THAT well, but I've been told I've got a thick skin so we'll see.
As for grades, I fall more between 3.5-3.6, so that doesn't help me too much, but I think I have some strong work experience to help that (obviously only to some extent)
thanka agin
Well I'd say get back into contact with as many of your old friends who went to Princeton as possible. At the very least, they could be a great resource to learn the in's and out's of various different BBs, as well as give you some insight into whether you want to go into IBD or S&T.
Your GPA is solid but from a nontarget I'd do everything you can to get it up to a 3.8. At that level it should get you a good shot. IMHO the difference between 3.6 and 3.8 is enormous compared to 3.8 and 4.0. I think anything above 3.8 will let them know you work hard and do well, but a 3.9+ with no ECs and no social skills is pretty useless to them.
What's your work experience? Do you work during school? If so, how many hours? I worked about 20+ a week between two jobs during school and most recruiters I've spoken to saw that as a strong point in my resume. Do you have a finance-related internship lined up for the fall? Getting something in PWM or asset management is better than nothing, but see if there is a boutique bank that would take you on for internship credit at your school.
You have to be willing to handle rejection if you want to work in IB. I've sent out dozens upon dozens of emails to friends, alumni, etc. and only a handful will return them, much less give you real help. However, if you can get 2-3 solid industry contacts willing to go to bat for you, that will greatly increase your chances.
Good luck.
As for the S&T vs IBD thing.
My main interest was to try to get an internship on a sales desk, but from my research, it seems that S&T internships are not really on a trading or sales desk, but are rotations through about 10 different ones, so as to get the experience.
My only hesitance with that is that I am not as quantitative as I would guess trading candidates would be (since you interview for S&T, NOT S or T). Any suggestions on how to approach this? I have taken the general math courses, but I don't see myself dealing with intense algorithms too well.
My cousin just finished up an 8 week internship with Oppenheimer on the sales & trading floor in Boston. Hardly BB in NYC, but it was still a good experience. He went to a small LAC in western MA and had almost no math experience (stopped taking math his senior year in high school). His internship was very non-technical and mostly getting familiar with the floor and how things run. I'd have to imagine that the BB rotationals are similar.
The one place you might have trouble is in your interviews. I am sure they will throw some technical questions at you. What is your major? If it is finance then be prepared for more technical Qs than if you were a economics or liberal arts major.
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