MM IB - Name vs City
I'm deciding between several MM IB FT analyst offers, and am stuck choosing between the bank and the cities these opportunities are in:
- Macquarie TMT - NY/CHI
- SunTrust TMT - SF
- Raymond James industry coverage - not naming the group, but it's 3rd tier city or worse (not St. Pete)
Correct me if I'm wrong, RJ seems like the best name in terms of experience, comp and exit opps, but it's in a city that I don't particularly want to be in. On the flip side, SunTrust is in the best city for Tech, but I'm unsure of their rep although I hear it is climbing. Macquarie is the wildcard and I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts.
How should I go about deciding which is best careerwise?
If Macquarie is in Chicago and SA, I'd highly recommend avoiding it. They didn't return any interns last summer.
Thanks, I'll update to reflect that these are for FT. Besides the SA return, any other info on their group?
I don't know much about NYC but from what I've heard their office in Chicago is super new and still building up deal flow. They guys who started that office came from a super respectable Chicago bulge.
interesting question. here's the cities I found RayJay in that could be considered below 1st tier (most of the off the wall ones are FI trading)
Haha I thought you'd come in a thoughtful analysis. I probably could have saved you some time, this IB op is somewhere within the first 5...
Still curious as to whether the location will affect bonus structure. From what I've seen RJ has strong retention from their ~roughly street bonuses, but this may just be the case with the TPA/NY offices.
if it's baton rouge or birmingham, I wouldn't do. if it's austin ATL or Baltimore, I'd do.
but relative to the other decisions, I'd strongly consider STRH TMT
I would go with RJ. Just because they have the best brand in terms of experience, comp, and exit opps. Had a couple of friends who went on to BB after a year or two at RJ.
How important is the brand name of a company vs the location you work in? (Originally Posted: 02/28/2018)
Having a debate with a friend over the importance of a firm name vs the city/location you work in.
Hypothetically speaking would it be better for CV, contacts, reputation etc to work for an MBB in a smaller markets e.g. McKinsey Angola or Bain Ukraine vs a lower level firm in a large market city e.g. Arthur D Little London or Hong Kong?
Same question applies to banker with regards to BBs in smaller markets vs low level MMs in London, New York or Hong Kong?
Hey G-I the pharma guy, I'm the WSO Monkey Bot and I am sad to say, but this thread is lonely, so thought I'd post in here to try and help out. Some potential topics that might help:
Any pros willing to rescue this discussion? benzMeredith Kevin-Rohrer cc66
Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.
big name at small city vs. small name at big city (Originally Posted: 03/06/2007)
wanted to get people opinions on this...
say i can pick between two summer offers, (hypothetically speaking) one is from a prestigious name (think GS, MS) but in a city that you wouldn't exactly consider a great financial center (ie. not NYC, SF, etc. in the US and not HK in Asia), and the other one is a lower-tier bulge bracket (think Bear Stearns, DB, etc.) but is in a better location (think SF, LA, Chicago, etc.)... which one would set me up better for full time?
this is under the assumption that the first office is a very small branch office that works with the HQ (like NYC or HK), where i'm guessing (but don't know) the experience might not be as good. in other words, go for the name or the experience?
i'm guessing the name will get me the interviews, but the experience will give me more to talk about after getting interviews...
sorry if that was unclear. any input is greatly appreciated.
Name trumps city.
why ask such a long and dumb hypothetical question? so many things go into getting a BB job. Nobody here can give you anything else but what they read on vault.com. Maybe if you had an offer this would make more sense. if you do, then .. well... everybody loves a brand name...
if you dont have an offer, than thats the dumbest thing I have ever read.
peace
Name trumps city if it is GS/MS imo. If it it close/uncertain on name (i.e. two of CS/LEH/ML/UBS), then take bigger city with comparable name quality.
Do you have offers from both? If so, perhaps try leveraging yourself to a better office for the better brand, but without more info I don't think too many of us can be that helpful. Which group in both? Do you actually want to go through the whole process again in the fall?
If it's GS/MS though, they can be hard to turn down. Btw if it's MS Menlo Park you're talking about, that is actually a very good office.
surfmv, sorry if my question rubbed you the wrong way, i don't know why there's all this hostility from you, i'm gonna assume you are just having a bad day at work.
basically i have an offer with an office in the second category (lower bulge bracket in SF), and im currently interviewing for GS taipei. i'm wondering if it's even worth considering since taipei is just a small branch office, and most of the asia deals go through HK.
i don't know this for sure, but right now i'm guessing my experience at GS taipei will not be as "good" as my experience at the other firm in SF...
i'm obviously still going to finish the interview process with them and then decide if i do get an offer, but i didnt want to wait until after i get the offer to ask for people's opinions because i have to take my offer pretty soon.
anyway, thanks for whoever has helpful insight on the subject. any knowledge on GS taipei would be appreciated as well, although i don't expect people to know much about them.
Def go with GS Taipei if you get it.
GS Taipei.
The deals you work on matter when you're full time and as you said GS brand will get you the 1st interview. You'll do your homework anyway before FT interviews.
But how many people can talk about life in IB in emerging markets, especially Taiwan? Should be a good differentiator and an excellent "life" experience. Good luck with the interview.
No brainer. GS Taipei.
Would you not want to work in Taipei for FT? Unless you prefer the culture at MS/Laz/Bstone, not sure why you would be interviewing for FT coming from GS.
y dont u get an offer first b4 playing hypothetical games?
read before you start hurling insults man.
bad day with the stock market.and I'm an ass. Much love and congrads on your job offers.
Most of you people are so clueless it's painful. First, experience trumps name almost always. To use a consulting example, McKinsey Cleveland. Great name, bad location and bad experience. And the McKinsey name is not all that matters, because everyone knows you were in the Cleveland office, so they discount you. Same goes for investment banks. After 2-3 yrs of working if you try to change shops you will NOT be judged on the name of the bank you're coming from, but what you actually did for the past few years. And second, the OP should not even be debating name, you should be debating where the hell you want to live. If you don't want to start your career in Asia then I don't care if you get a damn double offer from MS and GS at the same time--dont' go! This is a US vs. non-US decision first. Then it is a matter of the best experience. Name is way, way behind that. And the fact that most of the posters on this board don't realize that just shows that most of you have zero real-life work experience and are going to be in for a rude awakening when some guy from a 2nd-tier shops walks in and takes your job away because he's been busting his ass on high profile deals for the past few years while you've been sitting in your cubicle pontificating on how cool you are because you work for Goldman....
McKinsey Cleveland is a somewhat ridiculous example. He isn't talking about taking a First Boston offer in Idaho. Yes people will discount the F out of the city of Cleveland, but most banks operate in large enough cities that this isn't an issue.
Your changing shops example above is true if you're moving laterally between banks. But if you're looking to switch to PE/HF, some jobs might not be open to you if you're not top tier at MS/GS or will be much more difficult to get.
I agree US vs. Non-US should be the first decision here (didn't know it was non-US city before).
Lastly, good experience at GS/MS trumps good experience at a "2nd tier shop" as you put it. And for the record, I know a LOT more people at top HF/PE who came from GS/MS than from all the other really good banks combined.
u have to weigh this...u may actually have greater scope of growth and learning with a smaller name in a big city.... what u learn n ur avenues for growth score over just a just great name
the ans given above by skins1 is pretty comprehensive....good answer
Of course skins is right about experience, GS Taipei wouldn't be the way to go as an analyst. But this just a summer internship, where deal experience isn't so important and the experience in Taipei would be unique.
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