Hey everyone!
I just want to start off by saying to please excuse my ignorance, if any, in this post. I’m trying my hardest to learn the ropes. I currently am a junior transfer at DePaul University in Chicago.majoring in finance. As bad as this may sound my ultimate end goal is to make a lot of money. For me and for my family. I am more than willing to put the work for it. I also want to challenge myself and have a strong financial foundation. I’ve looked into investment banking as a great starting point, and it really interests me. I’ve read that you shouldn’t go in it for just the money and that it’s hard work. I know its going to consist of 90-120 hour work week, and I’m more than fucking ready to do so. It seem like very interesting work toy me. Most people from what I’ve seen only do IB for a few years and move on. That’s what I hope to do.
My issue tho is that for Investment Banking or any prestigious job they only accept students from top tier schools or Ivy League. I wasn't the best student all my life, but I've improved and still plan on improving more. DePaul is B grade at best. So my questions are:
- What should I do to help my chances to get a job in IB out of school?
- Should I continue my finance degree at DePaul and continue to get my Masters at a prestigious school then try for IB?
- Would a Bachelors in Finance from DePaul be enough? Should i double major in something else? The last think I want is to end up selling insurance with my finance degree.
- Should I steer from IB as a whole? And pursue something else? This is the last thing I want to do, but if you guys see this as my only option, i might have to pursue something else.
- What steps should I be taking now to secure a good future for myself? (Ex. Get proficient at Excel, read this book, etc...)
Thank you in advance!
If you want to maximize your chances, get a 4.0 and transfer to a semi-target/target.
Also, bankers work 70-90hrs usually not 120hr that would be unreal
Just to major in finance again?
My bad skipped the part that it says ur a junior.
Best bet at this point is to network with boutique banks and land any relevant internship
yeah sorta agree with this
Real ballers work 140 hour weeks...
Top bankers work 168 hours a week
IB at this time is unrealistic sorry. You are at a college not even in the top 100 and SA recruiting is over at this point. You might have options for the future depending on your stats. What is your SAT and GPA?
How do you mean future? Like how long down the road? My GPA is 4.0 right now. I never took the SAT
too late to transfer schools. take GMAT and apply to masters in finance
Perfectly possible to break in from a non-target with enough networking and determination, as has been proven time and time again. However, since you're a junior and only recently discovered IB, you're in a pretty tough spot. You've missed the boat on junior SA recruiting and I assume you don't have much other finance experience.
At this stage, you could either network your ass off and try to get a boutique IB internship in preparation for full-time recruiting, go for a MSc or work for a couple of years and prep yourself for top MBA programs (preferable).
Yeah, I wish I had figured this out a lot sooner. I'm trying my hardest to network, so high hopes for that. MSc? Master's in Science? Where would you suggest I work in preparation?
You're starting really late, so it may not be possible. Work hard to network with boutique and regional investment banks. Be open to other options as well. Not receiving an IB offer is nowhere near the end of the world. There are many other opportunities within finance. Look into corporate banking and corporate finance. There are especially many good opportunities within corporate finance. Definitely aim for strong Financial Management Programs (think GE).
Ok I'll start looking into other things just in case. Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it.
I agree with the above, but would also suggest Sid Dastidar's book on markets, discussed elsewhere in the forums.
I'll add that book to my list. Thank you.
You seem like an earnest kid. No one is going to say this, but your chances of making big money from banking are very low. (Not for anyone, but you particularly). With your background and school, sure, you could probably hustle an IB analyst spot at some boutique. But that does not translate to the private equity at KKR, 300k per year at 25 dream you are hoping for. If what you really care about is "to make a lot of money. For me and for my family." I would advise you to do sales or programming, both in tech. If you are dumb and likeable, do sales- your work ethic will make you money here. If you are smart and logical, do programming (spend the next 2 years in school learning how). Neither of these fields are even close to as prestige driven as banking, and you will have a good chance of actually getting that 6 figure salary you are dreaming of if you succeed.
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