Investment banking, the big four and London

Jocksy

This is going to be a bit of a mess of a thread so apologies in advance.

The story..
I've a year left in my Ph.D in physics and I'm looking at getting a job in London in some financial institution.

Who exactly are the big 4? Which are the better companies to work for?
I'm a good worker and generally excel at jobs and college but I don't enjoy working hard/ long hours at least not for extended periods. What should I expect in these sorts of companies?
Whats it like moving to London?
What sort of pay/benefits can I expect?

mikemac

www.efinancialcareers.co.uk

Very helpful site-worth a look

damnyanks

Really depends on what area you go into. Specific recruiting for phd's at an investment bank is as a quant. You'll look to price products or build financial models.

In some cases they really dont care about anything other then your ability to crunch numbers. I know this as I worked with a chinese lady at one stage who spoke NO ENGLISH - none at all. It was crazy - but she was indeed amazing with numbers (Or so I was told).

If it was an investment bank you were going for they usually try to recruit phd's into market positions and will look to put you onto a structured product which could be some really complex product that the bank sells maybe 2 of a week.

Depending on what area they put you into and your exact role (Trading, Structering, Sales, Risk, Product control) your hours will differ but minimum hours on a very simple product is usually around 11 - 12 hours a day.

Friend does structering for Deriv's something that they'd probably want to put you into. She works 16 -20 hours a day. Few weekends as well.


But like I said it really depends on what sort of product and role they are putting you up for. You also fall into the hole that you should be highly trained thus they wont want to waste you on a simple product.

seamus

damnyanks wrote:

But like I said it really depends on what sort of product and role they are putting you up for.

Indeed.
The big four are the the four largest accountancy companies in the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_auditors

I work for one of these companies in a non-Client role. So my role is 9-5.30, 5 days a week. I get well paid overtime, and decent benefits.

Client-facing roles are quite tough across all of the big four from what I've heard, particularly at a trainee level. Think of it like trainee doctors. In order to succeed you will need to work well above the 37.5 hour week. In most of these companies, trainees are "discouraged" from claiming overtime on a job. That is, you may work till 11pm on a client one night, but if you say that you only worked till 8pm, then the client gets charged less (good for the company), and you make it appear like you're a trojan worker. This has a knock-on effect on your career. There's no rule about this, it's a systemic thing which is propagated by seriously competitive peers, desperate to climb the corporate ladder.
Depending on the department, you may also not be eligible for paid overtime, only time in lieu.

This kind of work ethic continues well into the career. Once you hit management level, you'll continue to do more than the normal hours, but you'll no longer be paid overtime.

The companies are accountants. So benefits are very standard, and they count their pennies quite heavily. You won't be in a miserable job, but you can't expect massive bonuses or generous bosses.

With a Ph.D. in Physics, are you looking for something in I.T., or research, or are you looking to take a very different career?

Running Bing

Jocksy wrote:

This is going to be a bit of a mess of a thread so apologies in advance.

The story..
I've a year left in my Ph.D in physics and I'm looking at getting a job in London in some financial institution.

Who exactly are the big 4? Which are the better companies to work for?
I'm a good worker and generally excel at jobs and college but I don't enjoy working hard/ long hours at least not for extended periods. What should I expect in these sorts of companies?
Whats it like moving to London?
What sort of pay/benefits can I expect?

Then I dont think Investment banking is for you:D . Think 100+ hour weeks with weekends off a rarity and 24 hour days not unheard of. This is true of corporate finance anyway(which most people refer to when they say Investment banking).

Then there is the trading side of it where hours are more closely tied to the markets so weekend work is a rarity and hours are much more manageable. Physics would also be more suited to the markets side of things but you will really have to have a top cv(good grades, work experience and good extra-currics) and really know your stuff if you want to make it.

Jocksy

**** that then. You're not really earning enough in these jobs if they expect you to put in 100 hours a week. Thanks for you replys.

damnyanks

Depends on what you expect to be enough. The above person got some where around 200k sterling and she's been working 4 - 5 years.

Tax man will take it if you spend it in the UK but if you have accounts abroad you can have a work around.

If you are looking into these sorts of "high flying" jobs do not expect an easy cushy job.