Summer Options - OPS / Unpaid

Also adding on.

In OPS, is there any group in either bank that I should be gunning for, perhaps something MO?

Thanks for your comment, I posted expecting a few of those.

I wanted to get some advice from individuals in IB, and what options to choose from the ones I DO have at hand. And from then working my way in.

Any useful advice would be great.

Thanks

Thanks, any specific reason why?

The reason I was leaning toward Nomura ops, was the fact that their office has doubled in size in 5 months and are expanding as such, so I may have an opportunity to lateral in easier as they need more individuals. (They also pay more, which matters least for now)

Whereas in Citi, I would be with the 120,000 others in operations, and am unsure of lateraling there.

I'm not going to pretend like I'm an authority on this, but my impression, after reading a ton of threads that are similar to yours, is that you want to get the IB experience. It seems like if you take the BO SA position, you're going to have a really hard time explaining why you did it instead of sticking with the boutique. I mean, not being paid is tough, but as long as the internship is substantial, I think you'll be able to leverage it into a decent FT IB offer. But on a more general note, I think you have to take some risks if banking is really something that you want to do. Taking an ops position could sidetrack you from getting to where you want to be for a couple years or more.

Also, I would imagine that networking is actually easier with the boutique. Sure you might be working at the same firm with a bunch of Citi bankers, but how often are you going to interact with them in any meaningful way that would open doors for you down the road? If you don't think the boutique will be hiring FT, ask the people there if they have any contacts at other banks who are looking to hire. As long as you do a good job, and they like you, I'm sure they'd be happy to help you find something.

I personally would just take the IB boutique (even if its unpaid), then network for the rest of the summer for a FT offer at a better shop. I wouldn't take an OPs position following a IB stint because it would look weird on a resume going from IB to Ops, an Ops position wouldnt help too much for IB anyways.

But obviously it would depend on your own risk tolerance (you mentioned on numerous occasions that you like the security of a FT offer)...

Before receiving these offers, I thought the unpaid bank would be the best way to go as well. But now that the offers are on the table I feel the decision is alot tougher. I will definitely be networking as I do the SA positions, and from what it seems, I will be on the marketing side of the boutique, unsure if I will be working with senior people.

Because I don't come from a target, the risk of not having an offer by taking an unpaid job is a bit higher and may be too much for me to stomach.

Any thoughts between Citi and Nomura. Any chance of going lateral at Nomura because of it's small but expanding size?

Thanks for the help entendu. I am definitely not banking on lateraling into Citi, as I know BO -> FO is very difficult especially at such a big place. Would citi look better in terms of FT boutiques? Would there be more middle office positions as well?

Thanks

I would do the boutique. The fact that it's unpaid should not not really matter unless you are strapped for cash - since this is an internship you should focus on getting the best experience possible and setting yourself up for the best position come next year and FT recruiting. I think you could much better spin your experience at a boutique IB than any OPS position (assuming your ultimate goal is FO)

I would do Citi Ops. It is a brand name and its paid. Be careful, many "real estate investment banks" are just commercial real estate brokerages. This is very common, and more often than not, "real estate investment banks" are commercial real estate brokerages. I would look into that.

Go for Citi Ops. At least people have heard of it rather than a no-name real estate firm. Get the ops full-time job, and at least you have a backup during full-time recruiting.

^ Thats a good point about alot of RE Ibanks being commercial RE brokerages. Anyone know a good way to distinguish between legit RE Ibanks and a commercial brokerage, cause to me it seems they can easily market themselves either way. Maybe having some sort of sales and trading or distribution capabilities?

I'm surprised that many of you are choosing Citi over Nomura.

From my standpoint and what I could judge from the interviewers, CIti seemed like a place where one could basically hide and blend in, especially in operations. Whereas, because Nomura is expanding rapidly, I would be one of the few interns in the NY office. I also felt like I had a better feeling towards Nomura after the conversation.

Does anyone know about Nomura's SA program? I was told that it was basically brand new. I am trying to gauge where I would be better off in the long run, and it seems like Nomura because of its growth factor / need for more people.

any more input between citi and nomura?

Will being in a brand new BO SA program actually help you in the long run? I could potentially see some benefit there if you were in a FO position where differentiating yourself would be feasible, but I just don't see too much personal benefit in choosing a SA program on the basis of it being new. I feel like unless you're going to be doing significantly different things at Nomura, you're going to come out with the same experience and less of a brand name.

Well, Citi NY certainly look better on your resume compare to the other ones~ the problem is that Citi opt is no longer an official Citi SA program. They aren't even doing the super day thing anymore.. recruiters just came to my school for 2 days and that was the first and second round... I don't know what happened there, but make sure you will be learning something during the internship, not just data entries and staff.

I accepted an offer at Citi doing GTS client sales management~ so make sure you know what you will be doing, Citi opt is a giant department too.

Which boutique is it? If it's unpaid I'd rather go for ops ...

I did ops for a summer and it was boring but surprisingly I did learn. I also had lots of free time (got off work at 7pm every day) that i used to network with people in the firm. I spent 2 hoursa day during my internship shadowing traders and sales on the floor ... that's something you can't od if you were working at a ghetto boutique

the boutique is the Carlton group.

I received the paperwork today and the offers differ quite a bit

nomura 60k +3k citi. 55k +0

Should I still be taking the brand name, as it won't matter as much in the long run?

I would spend 8g (which is around 4g after tax) to have CIti NY on my resume than nomura... which Im not gonna lie - never heard of.

As a matter of fact, if those were my choices, I would work for citi even if its unpaid.. Its just me~

people in operation work shorter hours, so you probably have a lot of free time network with guys in different divisions.

In addition, Its probably easier for you to drop out from Citi and work for Nomura than the other way round..

Congrat on the offers doesn't matter which one you choose.

Hey short just wondering what school you go to if you don't mind, because I am also considering a nomura offer due to the housing and pretty good compensation. Also some of the people I have spoken to really like the firm a lot.

didn't know that the boutique is during spring/early summer. def. do that and then go to whichever you like more citi or normura. it will look like it is on your resume.... able to land a spring ib spot during school and extend into summer a bit, but because recruiting is earlier you were not able to leverage it for this upcoming summer. def. do both and get an offer so when they ask in your ibd interviews you can say yes.

-but if you can extend the boutique throughout summer and get a confirm on this then i would just do it all summer

What are the chances that I can land something middle office in citi, perhaps helping the trading floor or IB?

Nomura has told me that whichever section that I may choose, I will most likely get into, whether it be FI/Equities/Core

Also, not that it may matter alot but Nomura was voted the #1 place to workin London, over many of the BB.

Can anyone with experience in Citi ops provide some advice or feedback on the SA position?

Hello, My situation is kinda tricky, so I really need you guys' advice. I had an internship interview (sort of ’cause it wasn’t very technical or fit ) with a boutique last month (probably unpaid). At the end of the phone conversation, the MD told me to let her know my decision at the end of this month to work things out. So I assume that I got the opportunity (she didn’t specifically say I was accepted or anything like that). I told her my decision that I’m very happy to intern at the firm this summer yesterday and asked for the start date and stuff. But she replied and said “still thinking about it and will let me know right when she decides”. What does that “still thinking ’bout it” mean? Is that about just the start-date or about me being offered to work at the boutique? This is tricky and I’m a bit worried ’cause if she was just tryin’ to avoid telling me that I can’t work, then I would have to start doing other boutiques all over again n it’s kinda late now. What do you guys think?

either she forgot what she said before and doesn't want u to start ever (u said that u should let her know that , basically u got the unpaid internship...my understanding) or she doesnt know the start date...

i would get to work on another spot somewhere else just incase