<p>How does such a career path come about? Do certain engineering majors tend to lead to Ibanking more than others? I'm going to the University of Michigan for nuclear engineering (#2 ranked program behind MIT), and I'd like to know what kind of opportunities I can reasonably suspect.</p>
<p>I suspect that there is a significant premium on CS/EE/CPE over most other engineering for getting into Ibanking (ie: Aero, ME, CivE, EnvE). However, Nuclear Engineering is so rare and has significant "awe factor" that your chances might still be good, everything else being equal.</p>
<p>what is all the fuss about Investment Banking? What do you actually do in IB?</p>
<p>Work 100 hour weeks+ to make between 100-150K/year. That's the gist.</p>
<p>Always listen to Payne.</p>
<p>I rather get paid less and do what I like. I think IBank is overrated.</p>
<p>ya i dont really get why you'd do something you dont like for over a 100 hours a week for money...cause last time i checked money wasnt the most important thing in life...</p>
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ya i dont really get why you'd do something you dont like for over a 100 hours a week for money...cause last time i checked money wasnt the most important thing in life...
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<p>It's what I'm doing right now. If I weren't, I'd be a psychology major. And that, my friend, is worse than death.</p>
<p>"I rather get paid less and do what I like. I think IBank is overrated."</p>
<p>Maybe its overrated because some I-bankers get payed much, much more than 150k for 100 hours. Only "some" though... hence many people tend to have dreams of million-dollar houses and cars, and try to pursue that dream.</p>
<p>I can answer this question, I went to Michigan. Check out this:</p>
<p>Engineering</a> Career Resource Center - Annual Report</p>
<p>You will have to fight a battle to get an IBanking position, I know there are lots of engineers in Ibanking, but you are much better off going to a target undergrad Business program(Wharton, Ross, etc.), because you learn stuff that's more relevant to the business, which can only help in Interviews. Plus, as an engineering major, sometimes you'll be asked "Why Ibanking?", which is more difficult to answer than if you were a Business major at a target. </p>
<p>At the end of that report, you will see a list of hiring companies of Michigan Engineers, I can tell you that Goldman Sachs/Lehman Brothers/UBS along with a few others are here at the Engineering career fair every year, the management consulting firms are here every year as well recruiting engineers . And they do hire a good amount of people every year. But I will tell you they expect a high GPA(3.5+), which is easier to get in a business major than engineering. Keep in mind that 3.2 at Michigan Engineering is the bottom Cutoff for Cum Laude.</p>
<p>Wait, a 3.2 to get Cum Laude? What's the percentile for that? I assume that cutoff is for the college of engineering only.</p>
<p>keefer thanks a lot that's extremely helpful to me.</p>
<p>Keep in mind everyone...some people (masochists) -do- enjoy ibanking so don't be so quick to whip out the "why do something you don't like?" argument.</p>
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ya i dont really get why you'd do something you dont like for over a 100 hours a week for money
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Keep in mind everyone...some people (masochists) -do- enjoy ibanking
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<p>Well, I would say that a lot of people do in fact like Ibanking, and not just masochists. Specifically, many people like the thrill of 'the deal' as well as the feeling of power. So they probably don't mind working 100 hours a week on something they like. The fact is, an Ibanking job can give you access to power that most other jobs, including engineering jobs, do not. {Let's face it, many entry-level engineering jobs are quite mundane.}</p>
<p>Like someone said, get a 3.5+ GPA and you'll be competitive. I don't understand why you're majoring in nuclear engineering if your ultimate goal is IB though.</p>
<p>It's not my "ultimate goal", it's just something that I'd like to know is open to me if I decide to down that route later. I have had -no- exposure to finance and banking, but perhaps if and when I do get exposure I'll be interested. It's just nice to know what needs to be done ahead of time if I decide to go down the Ibanking route.</p>
<p>Anecdotal story: I have a friend who was an investment banking analyst for Donaldson, Lufkin and Jeanrette...worked his tail off. Once he was asked by a VP to make him a sandwich...not because the VP was too busy, but because the VP didn't know how to make a sandwich. </p>
<p>A lot of these people have such hard-charging, Type A personalities with huge egos...they often aren't grounded in the real world. Coming out of college, you're gonna be wiping the noses and kissing the asses of your superiors...all to look good and get ahead. Oh what fun! No wonder there is a huge burnout rate in that industry.</p>
<p>Makes sense. I'm a soph IOE at Mich, and from what I've seen banks that are targeting engineers are looking to fill S&T positions as opposed to IB positions. Still, if you have the right credentials (3.5+, good ECS) and find a way to demonstrate an interest in finance/IB, you should be competitive.</p>
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It's not my "ultimate goal", it's just something that I'd like to know is open to me if I decide to down that route later.
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<p>Engineering + MBA (from a top program) = golden ticket.</p>
<p>What does a S&T position entail in a finance or banking firm? My dad works for a company that makes steering columns and he says engineers with MBAs are put through a ring of fire for a few years on a tough project...if they can't handle it they're knocked back into place as an engineer, and if they can keep their cool then they're put on the fast track to upper management.</p>
<p>
[quote]
A lot of these people have such hard-charging, Type A personalities with huge egos...they often aren't grounded in the real world. Coming out of college, you're gonna be wiping the noses and kissing the asses of your superiors...all to look good and get ahead. Oh what fun! No wonder there is a huge burnout rate in that industry.
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<p>Oh yeah, and that never happens in engineering, right? Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison: yeah, these guys aren't also hard-charging, type A personalities with huge egos and who are well-grounded in the real world. Sure.</p>
<p>Consider one unauthorized biography of Larry Ellison that has the rather inflammatorily descriptive title: *"The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison: God Doesn't Think He's Larry Ellison." * What do you think that tells you about the egos in the world of engineering? </p>
<p>12/08/97</a> PHOTO: Cover, 'The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison'</p>
<p>Or consider the descriptions affixed to Jobs:</p>
<p>"The consistent thread running through all three acts is Jobs’s singular persona. His messianism has been present from the start: “He always believed,” says Wozniak, “he was going to be a leader of mankind.” Yet the most common descriptor applied to him, by friends and foes and even Jobs himself, is “as<em>hole.” (Running neck-and-neck for second are “genius” and “sociopath.”) His abrasiveness is legendary and omnidirectional. Asked by a writer from Wired, “If you could go back and give advice to your 25-year-old self, what would you say?,” Jobs erupted, “Not to deal with stupid interviews—I have no time for this philosophical bulls</em>*t!” Given an early glimpse of the Segway high-tech people-mover, he bellowed, “I think it sucks,” then later called the company’s founder, trashed his CEO as a “butthead,” and said his marketing chief “should be selling Kleenex at a discount store in Idaho.” Implored by the government to take part in the federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, he snapped at the United States assistant attorney general, Joel Klein, “Are you going to do something serious? Or is it going to be dickless?”'</p>
<p>The</a> iPhone Inaugurates a Dangerous New Era for Apple Boss Steve Jobs -- New York Magazine</p>
<p>And Bill Gates? Suffice it to say that of all of the various adjectives affixed to Gates, I don't ever seem to recall words like "modest" or "easy-going". On the other hand, I have commonly heard descriptions such as "bullying", "rude", "arrogant", "in-your-face".</p>
<p>Consider the following description of a blogger who used to work at Microsoft:</p>
<p>"Back when I was tomev at Microsoft (1992-1994), billg managed to a large degree by bullying...At some point in your presentation billg will say “that’s the dumbest f*king idea I’ve heard since I’ve been at Microsoft.” He looks like he means it. However, since you knew he was going to say this, you can’t really let it faze you. Moreover, you can’t afford to look fazed; remember: he’s a bully." *</p>
<p>Fractals</a> of Change: Microsoft Memories</p>
<p>Look, the point is this. We shouldn't romanticize the world of engineering. Engineering has plenty of big egos too. Getting ahead in engineering also often times involves kissing butt and wiping noses.</p>