It is my understanding that in NY/Toronto the norm is to leave IB after 2 years, but is it the same in other cities or countries? I have a goal of getting into O&G IB but want to have a clear picture of what's the usual path in Houston/Calgary.
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2 year Up-and-Out PE treadmill is the same in Houston as it is in other major finance hubs. The only difference is that most of these kids are going to the big Energy funds (NGP, Riverstone, EnCap, etc. - although I have heard of some land MF in both NYC and the H). There are a handful of A2A's that I met during the MBA recruiting process, but they were few and far between.
Interesting. Are the banks pushing out the kids after 2 years or is it just the path that everyone aims to follow? I'm curious about this because I have a friend who did IB for 2 years in London and then got transferred to NY, but he ended up quitting after 6 months. According to him, they don't have that PE treadmill in London.
Most boutique banks tend to push and support the buy-side path that most analysts dream of during their stint. It really depends on which bank/group you work for and how flexible the upper management is.
Seems that I need to keep researching about what to do after I get my 2 years in IB. I think this is a perfect question to throw during networking events.
I wouldn't go around asking about exit opps during networking events.
Surely they would want staff they like to stay?
What causes the difference?
.
DCM
If you’re interested in what might drive someone to stay in IB because you’re considering it, PM me. I’m an A2A promoted this summer, always thought I wanted to do IB long term. Happy to discuss if you’re trying to figure out your path.
I don’t want to leave banking either. On a risk-adjusted basis, and if you’re a good performer, you might earn as much in a banking career than in a top MM PE fund. Of course not as much than in the very large funds but then again those will only recruit people with very special backgrounds from top teams in top banks. If like me you’re in an Ok team in an OK bank, and if you don’t care too much about quality of life, staying in banking makes sense (key-word being risk-adjusted basis).
This post made me sad.
Good morning to potentially anyone reading,
I am curently in my masters of data science and I've been working at building my network of like minded individuals. Where I live, St. Louis, does not have many individuals that are savvy in this area.
Also, I've been trying to work my way into the investment banking industry. Wealth management and investing is a huge interest and hobby of mine. I've been in control of my funds and have been successful for the last 4 years. It's got to the point where I've had friends ask me to manage their money.
I'm a couple of years out of school (undergrad) and have worked with Anhueser Busch as an hr analyst and have now moved on to Wells Fargo as a business systems consultant.
I'm not stuck by any means but some advice from anyone in the investment banking industry would be awesome.
Will my knowledge from my masters of data science give me a leg up with looking for a firm to work for? What should I do or try and go for?
My undergrad isn't finance but business administration with an emphasis in hr. This has made getting noticed for positions I'm interested in tough. That is why I'm going for my masters in data science. I see it as a valuable skill set and that in addition to my analytical mindset, could become a powerful set of skills for me.
Im a straight shooter and have a lot of irons in the fire
Any advice from anybody willing to give this guy some direction would be amazing.
Hearing from a investment banker, broker, or research/equity analyst, etc would be very cool.
Thanks,
Ross F.
Hey Ross,
Thanks for the note. I would like to offer you a job in investment banking. We are looking for a straight shooter with a lot of irons in the fire. Please reply with how much money you would like to be paid.
Max,
I would be comfortable with 65,xxx give or take depending on position and location.
I would love to send over my resume.
Direct message me and we can exchange personal information.
I look forward to connecting with you.
Regards,
Ross,
In this particular situation a resume will not be necessary. Rather, a precise calculation of the azimuth of your shot in addition to your best estimate of your total number of irons in the fire will suffice. Please provide by COB today.
Tx
Hey man,
Definitely would recommend doing more research on IB (and how this forum works in general) - it sounds like you have a decent background, however there are a few misconceptions you have that I think need to be cleared up. Make sure to google around and use the search bar to find more information on this.
First, in general, anonymous online forums are a terrible place to network (why people are jokingly offering you a job). If you're serious about IB, try finding some school alumni/people with similar backgrounds on LinkedIn and shooting them a well thought out email asking to speak with them - tons of guides and email templates online to learn how to go about doing this.
Second, while managing money is a great finance "spark" and valuable experience for some post banking exit ops (Hedgefund, PE, Asset management), IB is based on advising companies on deals (M&A) and capital raising (capital markets, think ECM, DCM, LevFin), so banks will not really take that experience seriously for wanting to hire you.
Lastly, unfortunately, a masters of data science will not be very helpful at all for landing an IB gig. While there certainly are analytical parts of IB, you'll come to learn its fairly basic math (excel modeling is as technical as it gets), and the industry on a whole is driven by relationships (and to some extent presentation/communication skills). In your position, the best (and probably only viable) option to get into IB/ER would be a top tier MBA program. Your business background is certainly adequate for a lot of great schools, I don't know about you UG degree and GPA, but with a good GMAT score, i think MBA will work for you.
Hope this made sense and good luck!
Thank you. Yeah, I definitely took it with a grain of salt. You never know who's on the other end, so I gave it limited benefit of the doubt haha. Thanks for the advice. Have a good one.
Hit up Jos A Bank and check if they're thinking about implementing an IBD divison.
Can't speak for Calgary, but in Houston it's fairly typical for 2 and out at most of the better quality firms. It's not that the A to A path doesn't exist at these firms, but the analysts get high quality buyside job opportunities that are difficult to turn down. It's a well beaten path, and most (try to) follow it.
You also shouldn't assume you'll be pigeon holed to strictly energy firms. Plenty of people do energy focused PE, but others move on to generalist or industrial firms, especially if they have OFS experience.
ibanking more than 2-3 years = kill self? (Originally Posted: 03/13/2007)
Seriously, anyone that wants to continue in ibanking after 2-3 years should kill self.
I love it.
Would do it forever.
From the ghetto....
I guess you could if you have no friends, family, or enjoy having fun.
It's not for everybody, but look at this way.
Your friends all get married and boring.
Family = you get married and boring + later divorced and broke
Having fun? well if your buddies are all married, what are you gonna do for fun? Be the 40 year old guy in the college bar singing Bon Jovi when you play it on the jukebox?
Nope, you're gonna need that banker money to pay for all the golddiggers, which will be your only outlet for fun. And being a banker you won't have to see them very often, so that too will make you happy.
Lifetime banker it is.
That is about the dumbest thing I have ever read. Of course your family life will be borin and you will end up divorce, I guess not everyone was loved as a kid.
You think banking sucks so much and you know it all..
pray tell, what is the ideal career and personal life as you envisage them?
The longer you stay in banking the better it gets. Hours go down, pay goes up, work gets more interesting. Like any path to riches, short of inheritance, you have to put in a lot of hard work. Top CEOs still work long weeks, even well known pop musicians and famous actors had to slave away at thankless jobs before being discovered and then endure grueling schedules to make it big. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Banking is a good path to wealth for those of us who lack athletic or entertainment skills, or who lack the creativity or risk tolerance to be entrepreneurs. If getting rich is not your goal, then take an easier job. Nothing wrong with that, but don’t slam banking as a bad way to make it big.
If you only bank for 2-3 years, you've wasted your time. That's when real money is start to be made and your hours and decent enough that we don't have a problem anymore.
I've been it for nearly 3 years and good thing I'm leaving this June, or else I would kill myself.
Life is miserable regardless of your career path. There are people who struggle to pay their mortgage on their crappy house who ALSO work long hours, are unhappily married or divorced, and end up being the 40 year old guy in the college bar.
Most people work hard in life. Its not like everyone who isnt a banker drops acid in Santa Cruz and lives life to the fullest. There are plenty of crappy jobs/lives out there. Why not get well compensated for your crappy banking job/life?
What are you going to do after LB Banker ?
Buyside w/ one of our clients and can't wait to rain down work to my vp's and associates once I'm on the other side. I'd like to see EBITDA multiples quarterly going back 10 years, please. tks.
Haha. God, the pain.
"could u snd me rev. build-out quartrly 4 all 5 cases incl. recap? tx.
Sent from my wireless handheld. Friday, 6:35 PM"
Haha, I laughed out loud when I read that shit.
I did it for 1 year. Couldn't do it longer.
buyside baby, buyside.
My VP happens to scrub all the numbers himself.
WOW. That's impressive.
My most frequent VP lately is a lateral hire from industry. He understands stuff, but he ain't scrubbing shit.
In the end, though, he gives me a ton of autonomy, so I think it's worth it in the end.
Sure it's impressive--he's super anal about making sure everything perfect. The only downside is that the earliest he'll ever leave the office is around 11pm, when he usually has an idea or two about things we need to get done by the AM.
this is more a question of personal beliefs and philosophy than anything
alex: Either law, PE, trading, or something all seem good, I perfer law.. I can understand using ibanking as a means to an end, however as a career or for longer than 3 years, I would kill self.
streetluck, you are a fag. Yes I was offered 40k in Ops in non-nyc and I turned it down. Point? My goal is law, not ibanking.
A lot of people I know would kill themselves before doing the type of work lawyers do. In fact, I have heard many an analyst say "Man, my life sucks, but at least I'm not a big-law associate".
Point is, I know lawyers who have tried to get into banking after working at a top corplaw firm, but I don't know anyone who was an analyst that said they hated banking so much and wish they could be a lawyer.
How many people do you know that went from IBD Analyst => Law School? I don't know a single one.
Edit: This LSO post should drive the point home.. http://www.leveragedsellout.com/2006/08/biglaw-bigschmaw/
You sound very bitter. Is it because you didn't/can't get into IB?
street, you are retarded. ibanking analysts is probably the #1 job before law school other than poly sci type stuff. of course many bankers dont wish they were lawyers, it was be very difficult to give up 3 years of income and go to school to learn a new trade and start all over after being in ibanking for a while, so many never consider it.
Some lawyers try to go into ibanking or something of course because the pay is better and those are normally the people who tried to enter law just for the money, which is dumb.
mini, no way am I bitter about not getting into ibanking, I am for trading, I wish I could get into that, but I have absolute no desire for ibanking.
Why on gods green earth would you work your ass off to get into a career only to stay in it for 2 - 3 years.
This is the typical problem with people trying to get into IB. They see / have no future in it.
If you are about the money but dont want to stay beyond 2 - 3 years go into an industry you love. You'll get the money and some more if you are in any way good.
You have greed and then you have stupidity.
well said, nrc_chicago
all paths to riches require hard work. don't be so naive
maybe someone would want to work in IBD so they can get into a good MBA school (Top 5) and then start their own business or work for a F-500? given they have employer references and essays and 720+ gmat and good undergrad and community service and ...well you get the point
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