Investment banking

Running Bing

Anyone here have any experience with investment banking ie actually worked for one or had an interview with one. If so could you give me a brief description of what it was like? You hear so much stuff its hard to tell whats fact and whats fiction.

damnyanks

I went for a technology role in one so possibly not the same as a front office interivew but as far as I know the rest are the same. It's pretty bog standard as far as interviews go. I did 3 interviews in total and 2 tests.

It varies on what bank you are going for. They want to make sure you are the right person for the company. Generally they like extroverted people... or thats how it appears at least

Running Bing

Was that in Ireland or abroad damnyanks?

0utshined

I used to work for one. Like damnyanks it was on the technology side but I knew a number of people on the trading side. The hours were long but the pay was very good. What area are you interested in? If you've got any specific questions I'll try and answer them for you.

Edit: I was working in London.

Running Bing

Actually outshined ive got a few questions heres a thread I posted on another forum:



Hey all Im going into the second year of a economics degree over here in ireland. Anyway I banking definately interests me as a career and Id definately consider moving to London after my degree but I have a few Q's

1) How difficult is it to get into a graduate program
2)Is there anything I should be doing to increase my chances
3) How difficult is it to get a summer intership and will this help me get hired when I finish college
4) Ive read books like liars poker and monkey business which paint a pretty grim picture of Ibanking. How accurate do they potray life within an Ibank today
5)How much would a masters improve my chances of landing a job.
6)What are the hours really like?
7) how would coming from an Irish university affect my chances

Lots of questions to keep you busy there, any help greatly appreciated. Thanks.



You might not be able to answer some of these questions outshined but any help is welcome. Cheers.


P.s. Id probably be most interested in the trading side of things but corporate finance would also interest me.

damnyanks

Babybing wrote:

1) How difficult is it to get into a graduate program

It's as difficult as other programs. Obviously if you apply for a front office role it's going to be more difficult as you have people applying from the likes of Oxford & Cambridge (At least in the UK)

2)Is there anything I should be doing to increase my chances

Yes! Get a summer internship. Huge advantage, failing that work in a commercial bank.

3) How difficult is it to get a summer intership and will this help me get hired when I finish college

It will help greatly. Getting one may be difficult but not as difficult as the grad program. In some cases if you get in on it you are offered a grad program or joiner role straight after you finish.

4) Ive read books like liars poker and monkey business which paint a pretty grim picture of Ibanking. How accurate do they potray life within an Ibank today

It's a book thats kept in fiction sections of shops i've seen...

5)How much would a masters improve my chances of landing a job.

Yes, but its not a huge difference unless an MBA

6)What are the hours really like?

Depends on what area you are in. If you are desk alligned it doesnt matter if you work in front office or middle office you will be working the hours. Traders in our place are generally in at 7 and leave around midnight. M&A are in at 7 or 8 and leave at 4(AM )

Don't be under the illusion that you get paid a lot of money for no reason. You work for it.

7) how would coming from an Irish university affect my chances

Depends on the recruitment criteria. What year are you in now? Just start applying now for summer internships.
Lots of questions to keep you busy there, any help greatly appreciated. Thanks.



You might not be able to answer some of these questions outshined but any help is welcome. Cheers.


P.s. Id probably be most interested in the trading side of things but corporate finance would also interest me.[/QUOTE]

Running Bing

Thanks damnyanks thats helped a lot.Im only going into the second year of my degree at the moment.

homeOwner

I worked in a large investment bank on wall street for 4 years in the IT department supporting a trading desk so I hope the following helps.

Babybing wrote:

1) How difficult is it to get into a graduate program .

Very difficult especially if you are aiming at the trading desks. Competition for these jobs is fierce and they have people applying with first class honous from all sorts of of degrees and from top universities. I can only speak for the US but the people going for these jobs are usually very aggressive and already know loads about trading and the markets already, they watch the market and read the likes of the WSJ or the FT on a daily basis.

Babybing wrote:

2)Is there anything I should be doing to increase my chances .

Read the papers and keep up to date with what is going on in the markets. Know what the financial instruments are and how they work. Know what the bank (you are going for the job in) excells at, what do they make the most money from etc....

Babybing wrote:

3) How difficult is it to get a summer intership and will this help me get hired when I finish college .

It is very difficult but it will definitely help you get a job when you finish college - I would go so far as to say dont bother applying to the big banks after college if you have not done an internship with a bank as you will be wasting your time! Its that competitive.

Babybing wrote:

4) Ive read books like liars poker and monkey business which paint a pretty grim picture of Ibanking. How accurate do they potray life within an Ibank today .

Liars Poker is supposedly based on fact. I havent read Monkey Business. From what I saw first hand and from I have been told it is not that far removed from reality in terms of how they treat juniors, how they treat women and how they act. Having said that I suppose you have to take everything you hear with a pinch of salt!

Babybing wrote:

5)How much would a masters improve my chances of landing a job. .

The company I worked for (and I think it was typical of the Wall Street banks - dont know about London), they hire graduates on a 2 year program after college, then they are expected to either move on somewhere else or get a MBA. They put you into a training program for 3 months after which you "apply" to departments within the company for a job. I know a guy who got put in IT even though he applied for a trading job. After a year in IT, he was allowed move to the mortgages desk. He quit the following year because he couldnt take the abuse. He has now set up his own fund management company and is just about making enough money to live on.

Babybing wrote:

6)What are the hours really like? .

Long. Very long. Maybe 16 hour days. It was not unusual for me to work 16 hour days and come in on the weekend for long periods of time. You get burnt out pretty quickly but they pay you very well.

Babybing wrote:

7) how would coming from an Irish university affect my chances .

If you get top marks, know your stuff inside out, and have the prerequisite strong personality you have a shot at getting onto a grad program. But get an internship first or you wont stand a chance. It also helps if you have done some charity work (they love that) and are a member of clubs and do team sports.

Good luck with it - its not easy.

finlma

I worked in a large investment bank in London for 2 years and hated it. You have to be prepared to work long hours, put up with a lot of big egos and kiss some ass to get anywhere.

It is only for a certain type of person - you'd want to be very career driven. I like the easy life so I got the hell out of dodge pretty quick.

Saying that the money is excellent.

finlma

homeOwner wrote:

..... But get an internship first or you wont stand a chance.....

Not necessarily true - I had no previous experience in investment banking but got an a graduate program. Most people had however done an internship but I'd definitely advise doing one to see if its for you.

Running Bing

Hey finlma. Just wondering, you say you didnt have an internship so what do you think made them choose you? Did you have any outstanding achievments or anyting like that? I know that this is kind of a personal question and you dont have to answer it if you dont want to. I fully understand.

damnyanks

Babybing if you are only in second year do an internship if you are serious about working in an investment bank. Firstly they pay you (More then you'll get in Ireland!) and its a nice break from living at home. The summer internships last 10 weeks in the bank I work. They also do year long investment banking placements.

But as fin said you really have to be career driven. My friends boyfriend works in mergers and aquasitions. His normal day is 8amto 2am. They money is great, he get's about 120k per year sterling. But once you get past the whole greed thing you notice thats a 18 hour day... money for your life Trade off

finlma

Babybing wrote:

Hey finlma. Just wondering, you say you didnt have an internship so what do you think made them choose you? Did you have any outstanding achievments or anyting like that? I know that this is kind of a personal question and you dont have to answer it if you dont want to. I fully understand.

Nothing out of the ordinary. I just passed their aptitude test and did 3 different interviews. I suppose its just a question of whether or not they like you.

I'd really recommend you do an internship in London to decide if its for you or not. It took me 2 years to realise it wasn't for me and I regretted not having done an internship.

Running Bing

damnyanks wrote:

Babybing if you are only in second year do an internship if you are serious about working in an investment bank. Firstly they pay you (More then you'll get in Ireland!) and its a nice break from living at home.

Thats what I plan to do damnyanks if i can get one. Also a lot of places say you have to be in your penultimate year(for me third year) of the course. So should I bother applying this year.

damnyanks

From my experience HR don't do their job. Just apply

www.ubs.com
www.gs.com
www.ms.com
www.jpmchase.com
www.ml.com
www.abnamro.com
www.barcap.com


Just a few off the top of my head

damnyanks

oooh and www.citigroup.com of course

finlma

Also:

www.db.com

David19

What exactly does the internship entail? What kind of things do you do? Im interested in doing one, probably in London.

finlma

It all depends on what bank and what area you work in. The internship is just to give you a feel for the work they do and for them to see if they'd like you. You won't have to work too hard.

AARRRGH

Would getting a job in fund accounting open the door to investment banking? I know they are desperately desperate for fund accountants in Ireland...

damnyanks

Depends on the bank. The likes of citigroup have 300,000 employee's so they are always looking for someone for something