For my sophomore year internship I worked in back office operations at a big well known firm. Taking in and sending out fixed income trades from institutional customers. I was pretty much an data entry monkey, looking at trades and processing them making sure everything was correct. Any suggestions on how to spin this off on my resume for my junior year IB internship?
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Back Office IT -> Front Office IB ? (Originally Posted: 08/29/2012)
http://www.razume.com/documents/27258
any suggestions, merci
Oh. My. God. Is that varsity curling? You're in.
yes.. that is varsity curling. i've had few interviews last year but nobody asked me about it....i was the vice skip if it matters, though our team never made it to the playoffs lol
Ivey?
Ivey uses a % grading scheme.
sooo any advice?
How to Network from BO/MO to IBD (Originally Posted: 11/21/2014)
I recently went to a panel discussion event at my firm and met a few seniors from other firms within IB.
Had a great chat with a few of them, but how should I follow up with them and keep in touch if my end goal is eventually work for one of them or land an interview at their firm?
I graduated in the summer of 2014, started within a credit risk role at a BB and I am considering the possibility of pursuing IB again after failed attempts in college. After reading about how to lateral from BO/MO to IBD, networking is always emphasized but never truly discussed. I was hoping someone who had been through this path or has an expertise could help a fellow monkey out.
Would you be finishing an analyst stint? I can't comment on this, but I'd also like to hear experienced thoughts.
Trying to go from BO to IB - recent grad? Seeking your advice. (Originally Posted: 03/19/2013)
I wanted to ask you guys - how would you go from back office and try to break into IB?
I currently work in Toronto,Canada for a BB bank - but I am part of the BO. It is my first job after graduating and I got the job purely through networking.
However, beside for the respect I have for my colleagues and the essential service back office provides - I have become obsessed with investment banking. Over the past two/three weeks I have read/downloaded/acquired through connections every sort of information that tells me about the industry, how to break in, what is required, interview questions - anything I could immediately get my hands on (vault books, videos, M&I articles, reading forums).
I understand that the next obvious step is reaching out to my network - but before I do - I wanted to ask your opinion.
If you guys were in my shoes - how would you do it? What advice would you give me? I finished with a 3.4 CGPA, (semi-target), but graduated with distinction with a degree in Finance/Economics. I know I can use the company directory to reach the IBD, but I feel that might be overshooting it?
Maybe some clearer questions? 1) Should I take a non-payed position (some articles advise against this). 2) Should I focus solely on boutiques and MM instead of the larger firms? 3) Many articles say cold-calling - but I feel that "cold-emailing" might be better (I did this before but then again I wasn't aiming for IBD)? Am I wrong, or are they in/equally effective? 4) Iv been doing BO for about 6-7 months now, have I already been "labeled"?
Your advice is much appreciated.
Go to business school and get an MBA to re-brand yourself which will give you another shot at recruiting. Otherwise it's almost impossible. You might have a shot at a mm or a boutique, then could try breaking into a BB but that process would take longer than your MBA and you would have a better chance of success if you did the MBA in my opinion. Best of luck
Make sure you are killing it in BO right now. A lukewarm review from your BO manager will kill you.
I would go for boutiques and MM through networking. It's all how you spin it, but you should focus on moving to a smaller firm due to the fact that you don't have the skillset to move to FO at your BB (they'll go hard on you even if you're an internal transfer.)
trying to go from FO BB to IBD here...not exactly straighforward, even if you're from a target with a high GPA...gotta really rebrand yourself and do agressive networking
Do you own a pair of kneepads?
Thank you all for your inputs
1) Getting MBA seems to be the most effective way of rebranding myself - but it's also the most expensive. Not to say I wouldn't rule it out in the immediate future (I'll have to get a Masters within my 20s afterall) but I don't want to drop 180k like a boss when I am far from it. Now you might say it's worth it, the money Ill end up making will cover it - but it's also a big gamble assuming I will be able to break into the right IB environment even with an MBA. 2) Targeting smaller firms was also my intention, thank you for brightening up my day and saying I may actually have a chance. 3) BO is going well. Don't know about the reference, I don't think my managers want me (or my teammates) to leave early as our team was just recently formed. 4) Having FO instead of BO must be a bit easier. I wish you good luck. 5) F**k kneepads :)
In light of your information, I wanted to ask 1) Assuming I do not go for my MBA tomorrow, and rather network aggressively until my piss turns to coffee, - should I accept a non-payed position if it ever came my way? 2) Would you advise for/against leaving Toronto and seeking positions somewhere else (say in Alberta) - knowing that the financial capital is in Toronto?
I'm not a fan of unpaid positions, I think that companies take a view of "if you don't think you're worth anything, why should we?'.
I'm in Alberta, it's a tight market. There is some movement, but that's mostly guys with experience shuffling around and with a background in O&G. Check Bill's Buzz or StreetmovesYYC ( I like this one), also, the Calgary CFA Society's jobline is not blocked to non-members (http://www.cfasociety.org/calgary/Pages/Jobline.aspx).
An anecdote to showcase how tight it is: My buddy in IBD at a Canadian bank said they got 400 resumes for an analyst position, including a reservoir engineer with a Harvard MBA.
Thanks for the insight. It makes the end goal that much more clearer.
And I definitely can't compete with a Harvard MBA - so I have to try to find another path that ends up in the same place.
On a side note - how far does a CFA go in Alberta. CFA still has prestige in Toronto but I have heard from many older professionals that it is overbought and they advised me to pursue something else. But then again, they weren't in IB. So I am curious how the CFA is regarded in Alberta?
For banking, people could give a shit, they'd rather expereince than education, for ER, it's becoming table stakes, not prestigeous, just something that has to be done.
I looked at CBV, but it doesn't have the mass of charterholders like a CFA. Two things I'd say are pro-CFA, there are a lot of us, and we tend to like people that have them, if just to know that we've shared the suffering, secondly, it's dollar cheap, and you don't need time off work.
Very interesting. I never thought about the culture of CFA holders. That's nice to hear that you guys tend to like one another. Now CFA sounds alot more worth it.
Question to everyone: What if you already have FO internship experience prior to graduating and working FT BO?
Wouldn't it be ideal to jump as quickly as possible from the FT BO position? Do what's best for your career first, right?
I made this jump after 1.5 years of BO (went to boutique IBD). I would suggest starting your search asap, as it won't be easy. CFA did help me make the switch, but it's very bank/resume screener dependent.
Not that we like each other per se, but if you see a guy's card read: xyz, CFA, at least you share some common experience. It's like when guys did the GS analyst program ten years apart, it may have been different times and programs, but its one thing you know you have in common.
Thanks for the info, I'll be going for CFA this November after I finish the first level of FRM.
In my opinion, CFA wasn't that hard. The most common complaint I hear is that someone ran out of time, well, you know what day the test is on, how do you screw that up? Start earlier, people that order books in January don't start studying till February, whose fault is that?
Phrasing a back office internship better? (Originally Posted: 09/08/2014)
Hey guys,
I'm a sophomore and this past summer I did a back/middle office internship at a firm nearby home. I'm looking into opportunities for next summer and the summer after that, and I'm at a loss of how to phrase my internship on my resume/interviews to mitigate the fact that I was basically doing IT support. The firm name is definitely reputable and people in other industries that I've talked to/networked with all recognized the name as well; my role was, as I just said, nothing at all applicable to finance.
Do you guys have experience with this? Would it be odd to apply for internships and have my most recent internship on my resume describe the details of doing ITish stuff? (The most broadly applicable thing I did was compile a database of help queries on Excel, hardly IB type modeling haha.) Do you have any tips on talking about the experience in networking or in interviews so as to make it seem... better?
I had a couple friends look at my internship and most of them got the basic gist of what I did but, given how the role was so tech-oriented and specialized, didn't understand what I did. I'm afraid this may put me at a disadvantage compared to kids who, say, did a much more universal PWM internship.
If it helps, I am at a target.
Thanks!
Gong to bump this because I'm in a similar situation
Should I include this internship on my resume? (Originally Posted: 08/01/2013)
Hi everyone, I'm a rising senior, gonna be applying for FT positions this fall (not completely sure which division(s) yet).
Right now on my resume (under 'work and leadership experiences') I have:
I also did a finance internship at a small company a couple summers ago (nothing too special), but I'm not sure if I should include it or not.
Arguments for: Right now I only have two real internships listed on my resume, which I worry may be seen as too little.
Arguments against: But all the other companies on my resume are (while not necessarily BB) pretty recognizable banks, and I wonder if putting this random small company in there may not be too beneficial to me.
Any thoughts on whether I should include the small company will be greatly appreciated!
Put it for sure, the more experience the better, doesn't matter where it might be
bump. anyone else?
How to spin BO work on a resume for FT recruiting? (Originally Posted: 07/19/2012)
I'm going to be a senior going into FT recruiting this fall and have previously had a "front office" internship at really small boutique bank (didn't do much) and was able to BS that into something presentable for a resume.
This summer, I'm doing BO work at a decent sized PE FoF - any general tips on spinning this to sound good on my resume? There isn't a whole lot I get to work on here and the majority of it isn't really analytical.
Also, 3.1 gpa from a good non-target and decent alumn contacts - am I in decent shape for possibly getting an MM gig? I figure my chances at a BB are next to zero.
Thanks.
Hard to say because people in IB will sniff it out immediately.. Better off to come clean and just say it was BO and try not to hide it.
The only way you can dodge it is if you did anything FO, even if it were a tiny project. Find a way to do some case studies or wtv there. Ask for as much FO work you can get...
Putting BO work experience when applying for SA position (Originally Posted: 07/13/2012)
Question: Can anyone give me specific examples on how to "bankify" my resume with BO summer work experience?
Background: This is the only real work experience I have, other than a trading club and one consulting case competiton.
Will be junior this year from nontarget working my ass towards an SA at a BB in NY or SF next summer (SF for TMT because it's cool as shit).
I can't offer you an answer from experience, but I would imagine you should definitely include it. Because you are just now heading into your junior year, you aren't expected to have something incredible under work experience.
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