hey WSOers, i need your advice
I got an internship in commercial banking at a regional. This regional has a corporate financial division, which is where I was aiming to go when I started my internship search.
I didn't really have a grasp on the responsibilities of each level of banking when i first started. I came from an accounting background and I got the offer so early that I was relying on my advisor to guide me towards my goal. She was formerly an IB recruiter for JPMorgan so I trusted her opinion. So I signed the offer
I JUST realized that commercial banking is essentially retail banking for middle market companies. This is NOT what I wanted, and I'm SUPER F*CKING PISSED that my advisor would knowingly misguide me when she knew I wanted to go after a much larger position like within the DCM for example.
But I can't do anything now b/c it's too late to pursue corporate finance w/ a bank so I need advice going forward. How should I pursue this regional's corporate finance division while interning for commercial banking?
I'm super annoyed. I should never have strayed away from WSO
Network your balls off within the bank. You will need to feel out where each group is located when you get there. I don't understand how you didn't realize that this was happening though?
Not to be rude, but are you a freshman? (If so, no big deal and we take what we can get after freshman year.)
It would be hard too believe that you could do much better without knowing something as basic as commercial vs. investment banking, etc. Since your advisor recruited for IBD, it may be possible that she thought the same way.
That being said, it sucks to be duped by your advisor like that.
Yea, I'm a little confused as to how you didn't know this (check out Commercial Banking on wikipedia). Also, I'm assuming you mean corpfin within a company and not IB. That said, you've got options. You always have options. Anyone that tells you otherwise is a liar.
1) You can bust your ass and try and network your way into a job for this summer, though at this point I highly doubt you'll find a decent paid position. You can also try and send a few hundred emails to HR people seeing if they have a position open. Keep in mind, if you renege, this will have a very negative affect on your profile with that company. If other companies find out, they will probably not like it either.
2) You can bust your ass in this commercial banking job this summer, make everyone love you, do an amazing job, and network your ass off. Try and network your way into the bank's corporate finance division.
3) You can bust your ass in this commercial banking job this summer while networking your ass off. Then, come fall, you use that network to try and secure a corpfin job.
Those are just a few options. There are undoubtedly more. They all involve busting your ass, regardless.
PS- I'm not in industry, so take what I said at face value. These are some common sense options that you have.
If you're at Citi or DB, leverage the hell out of this and get yourself on the IBD track, they comingle interns a lot. Next time around, don't ditch the good advice here to please your advisor, find some real friends / counsel. You're on the map with a solid internship, so network and don't be stupid again.
Anyone can make a mistake, but you can't fix stupid.
Could you please describe your commercial banking role a bit more in depth? eg. exampe of comp firms
I'm getting fucked over at every turn. Consider yourself lucky to have something
OP, take this at face value: accept responsibility for your actions and own them. Admit to yourself that you were led down the garden path and made to feel like a sucker, especially considering that you knew better. Do/say whatever the hell you have to when positioning yourself for the position you want, but also make it clear to yourself what/why you let this happen to you so that you are never in this position again. You got lucky: what if this was post MBA recruiting and you were royally fucked? Learn from your mistakes.
I totally agree with you guys. I should have looked further into it. My misstep was that I got confused by all the differing definitions for CB
I was only in my second month of my MBA program when I got the offer, which was only 2 weeks valid. I'm not from the banking world so I tried to look up as much info I could. I checked out commercial banking on wikipedia. One line said that many "commercial banks have investment banking arms." I thought it was a generic term...made sense to me (remember, at that time I wasn't familiar with the fluid definition of banking terms). That's why I agreed to it. I thought I would be applying to a commercial bank for their IB, or in my case the corporate banking division, which would be a halfway point between IB and sales/trading.
UFOInsider - I'm an MBA candidate so this hurts. It's even worse that an MBA isn't even necessary for Commercial banking. Gonna try to make up for it without having to admit that I was confused
Streetwannabe - I'm sorry to hear that. I do realize I shouldn't be bitching in comparison to some others. Even my own classmates (with better backgrounds and grades than myself) are pissing in the wind right now. I just hate that my advisor (whom I'm supposed to trust) led me away from my own goal. Now I need to find a way to make the jump while not admitting I didn't know wtf I was getting into.
Chobanimonki - I'm new to the game. It was all confusion from the many differing structures and roles between banks. Anyways, a little bit more about the gig: equipment loans, treasury services, risk management, etc etc for middle market firms. I can handle DCM analysis. That's not a problem here. Btw, good sh*t that chobani
luckynum7 - I'm a first year MBA. Shortness of the program makes urgency a priority unfortunately. I'd never be at this level if I were just UG fresh. If she thought that way, she's not doing her job. She needs to clarify, explain and guide. I just hope we get to evaluate her. I'm gonna rip into her. It's not just me either...everyone that took her advice said it never helped. Essentially everyone in my class that has internships did it purely on networking. The silver lining here is I got the skills to get something I knew nothing about. that's comforting somewhat
can you range your MBA school for us? yeah you're responsible ultimately, but your advisor sounds like a complete twit, and she did fail in her essential function.
10-20 Business week Mid 50 US News and Report
Quit placing the blame on your advisor. Blame this on your own ignorance and lack of information. If you try using that excuse while networking you will be laughed out of the room.
Now you know the difference and you know what you have to do. Bust your butt, work hard and learn from this mistake.
I get the tough love bit. I'm not gonna use that as an excuse. Read what i wrote above before you start responding
Looks like I'm not the only one reacting before I have all the info
@Revolution - The point of an adviser is to advise students in case of misdirection. She failed to do so and now I have to find a way to improve my situation. That's the point of this whole post. At this point it seems like I have no choice BUT to work my ass off and network like I'm tryna win prom king. That's fine...what I REALLY need is to know is structural networking. Who's the most important contact to get in touch with and most likely that I can even get in touch with as a lowly intern
Your advisor is a dumb twit and WOW this sucks. Get on the horn immediately and start pestering alums.
Why the hell did you listen to her??? Report that dumbass and end their career in academia. Their job is to help you reach your goals, not settle for something they approve of....you'd be surprised how many dumbfuck advisors don't know the difference.
Holy shit dude, network your balls off and throw the hail mary. Your job isn't that bad and you can definitely do cool things, so know that you'll never go hungry. But step up the pressure 24/7 on the stuff you want.
This is a function of networking so hustle
Agreed
Ooo, didn't know this was for MBA-level. A lot of the same things I said still apply, but I'd be much more careful about reneging. Really you are just going to need to network your ass off this summer/next year. Not just within the company, but also throughout the city/nearby cities. I'm guessing your school is regional, so try and set up as many informational interviews as you can this summer. Get WSO's networking guide. Make sure you let people know what you're doing now and where you want to be, and ask their opinion on how to get there.
thanks boys. no need to worry, i'll still work my ass off for the commercial banking internship, but i'll double time it on the networking
this will be a bz ass summer for me
and yes, ufo, i'm looking for a way to effectively voice my displeasure. i doubt it'll end her career, but I'll be lobbying all my classmates that have found her equally helpful
thanks DM. I'll use that as well as i can
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