What to do during undergrad to give me the best chances for IB?
I don't think I go to a target school for IB unless I get into to a workshop that takes only 80 students. I'm starting school this fall and I want to know what I would have to do to put my self in the best situation for IB. I'm majoring in Finance should I double major in anything? I know good grades are a given but any other advice would be good.
Don't ask stupid questions.
Get good grades. Be active on campus. ** Network with anyone and everyone**.
.
Network, network.... network. In order to network you will need a good foundation (i.e. good grades, good internships, ability to communicate). The rest will be easy after that.
I really don't understand these questions. Not only have you given us zero unique points to tailor advice accordingly, but you present little in the way of your actual goal - I'll go out here on a limb and assume it's to get a Summer Analyst role and hope for a full-time offer within M&A or equivalent.
You already know what to do. Grades are key, don't dip below 3.5/4 and if you're at a non-target, aim for 3.8/4 just to be safe. Get as much exposure as you can, bite at any internship opportunities presented to you (does not have to be BB at this stage). Network like crazy, not just with those who actually work at banks but network with students. Rub shoulders with those who are on track to break into IB (I'm assuming the workshop you made reference to would be full of these students). Build up the best network you can, always be bouncing ideas off people and keeping in touch with others, it'll pay dividends down the road. Obviously I can't speak specifically to this workshop, but do what you can to get into it. In a broader sense, be as active as you can with student societies and shoot for committee roles entailing some level of responsibility. Extracurricular pursuits will help balance your resume if you struggle to get some corporate-level internships.
Best of luck, it's not easy but recruitment is very much a 'ticking the boxes' type of exercise. Smash your GPA, get some internships, be involved with a student society and be networking widely enough that come application time, you have a few people going in to bat for you.
Breaking into I-banking Sophomore year undergrad (Originally Posted: 10/13/2015)
I am looking for some advice on how to secure a summer internship in investment banking. I am a Sophomore at a top 20 public university (non-target) perusing a bachelors in finance and a minor in computer science. My GPA is okay, I am currently hovering around a 3.68 cumulative and I am actively involved on campus from club sports to the finance society. My goal is to land an IBD summer analyst position my junior year and I would like some advice on how I can position myself to get this internship.
I have been reaching out to alumni on linkedIn in various banks, some BB, and I have a few scheduled informational phone calls lined up. I also went to the career center and had my resume reviewed a few times, it's as polished as a second year undergrad can really get it. I feel my lack of school prestige is putting me at a serious disadvantage. Also most internship postings require junior year or above education to be considered, which is problematic. Any advice on what I can do to land an internship this summer to prepare me for an SA stint the following year would be greatly appreciated!
Your GPA is putting you at a disadvantage, not your school. Go for a boutique and crush it next year.
Okay, I will work on raising my GPA. Would you suggest cold-calling into a boutique as a Sophomore? It seems as though most summer analyst positions require junior/senior status.
Sucking up to a ... what's the word, the people who graduated from the same university? I've forgotten it ... is the way I've seen this done before. But the risk to the employer is that they sink time into you, but you then trade up, using the internship with their firm to access a better internship the next internship season. Most people realise that. Except ... what's the word again? Whatever the word is for those people, some of them seem to love hiring interns from their own university in the US. I don't get it. Do they get a discount on their student debt for doing that? I'd worry that you'd end up with a team that all thinks the same, an echo chamber that was produced by exactly the same education system.
bump!
The top boutiques won't take sophomores so get creative or apply to BO/commercial banking positions at BB. I would suggest hitting up local banks near your school and home with cold emails.
I got into a boutique IB during my sophomore summer w/ a 3.3 GPA from a more non-target school than you.. and I'm not even a finance major.
Reach out to every firm you can and you'll find one that'll take you in.
someones got a finance-daddy.
Undergrad considering i-banking (Originally Posted: 04/17/2007)
What can a student do to be consider competitive in this industry, if he/she did not graduate in one of the top undergrad business school??
1-Learn English perfectly 2-3.5 -> 4.0 gpa 3- EC's -Leadership, Volunteer Work, Study Abroad 4- Internships, finance related 5- BB Summer Intern 6- Network
Huh? Are you making a correlation that only immigrants go to non-targets and that all immigrants have bad english?
no the op has terrible writing.
This is probably a reference to the OPs grammar errors. He has a point though, analysts sure as hell better have a solid command of English.
I didnt think I-Banking would have been that hard to get into but this forum really has me on my feet. I am really worried guys! Its like my life is a puzzle again.
On the topic of english, I've spent time learning Mandarin as a a caucasian male and the experience was horrifying. Chinese people (as experienced in China) kind of laugh at you when you try to speak their language (I had decent enough fluency to conversate with a lot of people, but about 30-40 percent were unreceptive). At least in the USA, Canada, Europe, people are very receptive to people speaking non-native english.
My point is that even if you're english is as sub-optimal as the guy who posted this topic, he isn't at the grave disadvantage as he would be in most places.
Americans are 'language empathetic'....
Add India to that list of people being receptive to non-native language speakers. But yeah Chinese people are straight up arrogant (talking from personal experience myself). Dont confuse the remark with the other East Asians though haha
I talked to a Dell guy last week and he was very friendly and spoke very naturally. Indians are good language technicians as I've encountered.
Since you mentioned that, for computer related problems I have found that going to their online help center is much more efficient and better than calling in. I once got this lady from the Phillipines, and for every little thing she would be like "can you please hold on for a second, I have to get my tools". I was like tooolss??? were trying to fix a software problem with this computer not build a furniture hahaha
yeah, she was building a furniture alright
Is that a rhetorical question?
Undergrad aspiring for IB (m&a) (Originally Posted: 06/14/2010)
I am in Northwestern University and I am a double major in Economics and Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences!
I am also hoping to get into Kellogg's Certificate Program for Undergrads for Financial Economics! My gpa hopefully would stay up above 3.5!
I was wondering if I have a good shot of getting in a good investment bank like Morgan Stanley, GS or JP Morgan?
I know Northwestern is a good for Chicago and everything but how good is it for jobs in NY?
Oh at the present moment I am more interested in m&a, so how tough is it to get into m&a?
holy crap!
need around 3.6 or 3.7 for NY, since you are applying against Wharton, Columbia, NYU, harvard students with better grades. Sure grades don't matter as much, but if you have a pile of 1,000 resumes and the cut-off is 3.5...
Also, network.
Hm I'm under the impression that you're in class of 2014? Not familiar with your alumni base but definitely take advantage of it and network. I'm working my ass off to get my grades up to par (one semester of pre-med classes will do that to you) but in general I feel like the key is to make a lot of friends and be memorable in a good way. Haha.
You took pre-med classes??? But why?????
So GS, MS and JPM are the only "good investment banks"? College kids are so damn retarded when it comes to this shit.
I didn't say that they were the only good ones; I named them and said the likes of them! And if I am so retarded and everything then please enlighten us lowly people! :)
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