Leaders in Investment Banking Workshop Review

I wanted to do a quick writeup of the Leaders in Investment Banking (http://www.leadersinib.com/) workshop that just took place at Columbia in New York. I believe they will be presenting in UCLA and UCSF next, and recently held the workshop at Harvard, Stanford, Toronto, and several locations Asia. Were any of you at those, by chance? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

It goes without saying that I'm in no way affiliated with Leaders in IB. A week ago, after signing up, I was looking for reviews, and couldn't really find anything extensive, so I wanted to briefly offer my perspectives if you're thinking about signing up. I'm not trying to divulge all the material presented, just describe what you can expect from the experience.

The workshop costs $20, which is refunded upon attendance. In the organizers' words, the fee is just there to ensure you show up on time. To be fair, I haven't gotten my refund yet - expecting within a week - but I don't imagine it'll be a problem. Even at $20, the workshop is a steal. The seminar takes two days, and is organized in four official parts: Behavioral Interviews, Technical Interviews, Resumes (+ Cover Letters), and Networking.

The workshop is presented by the founder, Sherjan Husainie, who was the only investment banker there. In general, while you may meet some great fellow candidates, it's not a place to network your way into banking - with over 300 attendees, many fawning over Sherjan - don't expect him to pass your resume to HR. More on connections later, though. The main point of the seminar is to learn, not network your way in.

The first day consisted of resume + cover letter prep, networking, and behavioral interview prep, with lots of stories thrown in. Sherjan is a capable public speaker, and kept the audience laughing, with just enough personal stories to keep the material alive. The resume format he uses is very similar to the M&I format, with a couple of small changes. I use the M&I format, but I definitely picked up a few new things from him. He also spent a short time on cover letters, but it was mostly info you can learn on M&I - again, though, I learned a few useful bits, like specific subject line options. There was also an hour long segment on networking, cold emailing, and general attitude. Finally, we spent at least two-and-a-half hours on behavioral questions: walk me through your resume, why IB, why X bank, biggest weaknesses, etc. I haven't read the M&I/WSO guides, but I imagine the content is similar. One thing that struck me is that Sherjan suggested very specific answers, which may be good - but not if everyone goes in using them. He also gave an overall approach to interviewing that was refreshing and different, and told lots of stories to illustrate his points.

The second day was very straightforward: technical interviews. There were two parts: accounting (basic financial statement analysis) and valuation (DCF, comp multiples, and past transactions.) The information was presented quickly and well, but there was a lot crammed in. Sherjan noted that this was just the introduction, and we should study on our own. If you've never done accounting before, you'll definitely need to study on your own. If you have, it's a good refresher - but be sure to pick up a book anyway for in-depth questions. He definitely doesn't cover in-depth questions, but if (like me) you've gotten shreds of accounting questions here and there (perhaps memorized Valut answers?) but never understood the big picture, it's a useful presentation. The topic was definitely dry, and taught with fewer jokes, but I thought it was presented concisely and well - definitely better than my college accounting class. Nobody promised us a comedy show.

There was some, but not a lot of, time for questions after each section. In general, it was nearly impossible to get one-on-one time, since so many people attended. My best estimate for attendees (in NYC) was: 40% Columbia students, 30% NUY students, and 30% others - CUNY Baruch, Rutgers, and other CUNYs and SUNYs (namely yours truly...) I'd guess there were about 250 people, maybe more. Most were sophomores and juniors, with a number of seniors, and a few recent grads/freshmen/MBA/older students.

All in all, for $20 - refunded, but even if it wasn't - the workshop was definitely a steal. There's also a mentorship program for the well-qualified, but that's a whole another story - you'll find out yourself if you attend.

Hope this helps those considering attending! Personally, I'd definitely recommend, especially if you're just starting out. Share your thoughts if you were there!

 

Anyone else been to this workshop? I am thinking about attending the Harvard event in Sept. 2013 and would be interested in hearing any other opinions / reviews.

 

Bump. Anyone been to this "Leaders in Investment Banking Workshop"? There's an event coming in September at Harvard and would like to know if its worthwhile.

 

I would strongly recommend anyone to go. Firstly, it gets you a short exposure whether investment banking is for you. Next, the skills taught is a quick summary of what you need to know e.g resume and it saves you a lot of time as compared if you start from scratch learning things yourself. Thirdly, the technical skills are exceptionally great especially for people with no background in finance/accounting. Lastly, you get to make friends with more like-minded people who are interested in IB.

 

I'm actually going to this event in Toronto this fall. As an incoming freshman, I feel that this conference is a great way to learn more about investment banking. If anyone has more feedback on what I can expect, please share. Thanks!

 

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