<p>1. what are some aspects about the job that you wish you had known before you entered the industry?</p>
<p>Not much (I know that's unhelpful) - but for me, I was very well prepared - knew it's what I wanted to do coming out of undergrad. Speak to as many people as you can (as you are doing now) to get a feel for the business and assess if it's really right for you.</p>
<p>2. which part of your college education do you think prepared you the most with entering this industry?</p>
<p>Academically? Not much. There is a misconception that i-banking involves rocket science. For certain very specific departments (e.g. such as derivatives, prop trading, etc. which require certain analytical strengths) there is a significant advantage for those who are comfortable around / have strong math skills. But for your typical analyst - you'll generally learn "on the job" and get the necessary basic skills during analyst training. That said, if you are very "math"-phobic - finance in general will be a tough road for you - particularly if you end up in a "number crunching" department like M&A. The analyst program is generally about logging in serious hours, number crunching, and its very intense and can become very routine and rote.</p>
<p>3. what are some of most important skills (including academical) that you wish you learned more in college?</p>
<p>If you can, I'd suggest accounting rather than economics. Why? Simply because most of your days will be spent looking at a company's financials - balance sheet, cash flow, income statement - you'll need to understand how those three link together and what each will tell you separately - for example, a company can be throwing off massive positive free cash flow but could be saddled with massive debt (balance sheet) or could actually be losing money (income statement).... etc. In other words, your ability to determine interest rates (economics) is less relevant than your ability to understand the financial health of a company (accounting).</p>
<p>4. what was your real reason for choosing this career?
Career opportunities, money and prestige - in that order.</p>
<p>5. how does your career foster you personal and intellectual develpment?</p>
<p>Intellectually? More so from a "high finance" point of view. I can value companies and I can value stocks (IMO) better than most people out there. Does that mean I always pick winners? Hell no, I nearly lost my shirt during the 2000 bubble along with everyone else, but still, finance is still a game about fundamentals and that I will always have. </p>
<p>Personally? Learning to deal with a very intense, high stress environment. Nothing will ever be as intense (work-wise) IMO and all that that entails (including dealing with demanding clients and bosses).</p>
<p>6. do you truly enjoy you job?</p>
<p>I'm out of the game. Did I "enjoy" it? There were definite highs and lows - just like most jobs - the difference? The highs were higher than most jobs and the lows were lower than most jobs. It's not a place for the meek.</p>
<p>7. What types of hours you work?</p>
<p>As an analyst? I practically lived in the office. As you get more senior you log in less hours but the stress level starts to sky-rocket. I was pretty burnt out by the time I left and I've never looked back. Bottom line? I got out of it what I wanted and I don't have many regrets about it.</p>
<p>8. How hard is it to be successful in the cut-throat business?</p>
<p>What's your definition of "success"? Mine was leveraging my analyst experience to get into a top b-school ("check") and then after b-school it was leveraging my experience to work in private equity ("check"). So for me it was mission accomplished. Do you want to make a long-term career out of it? Good luck, it's a long, hard trecherous road - but the upside can be absolutely fabulous.</p>
<p>"Success" is what you define it to be. But keep this in mind, just like anything else in life, it's all a mixture of timing, hard work and luck. Hard work is a given - you won't last long if you aren't pulling your own weight (and then some). But if you can land a situation with a good team and / or mentor - it'll go a long way in insulating you from some of the "externalities" of the business - downsizing, dealing with a-holes from other groups, etc. At a certain point (I'd say past Associate level) it's much more about "who" you know rather than "what" you know - basically, if you've made it past the Associate level (i.e. VP / Director) than you're either very good or very lucky - rarely can one be THAT lucky - so you're pretty good. So at this point it's not a question of whether you can do the work - you must have proven that over the years as either an analyst or associate. So it's really about impressing your seniors - do they like you? do they want to promote you? are you "one of them"? Office politics start playing a huge role after a certain point. But don't think for a moment that you can stop being "good" - quite the contrary - they'll expect you to be even better - and even then it's no guarantee that you'll end up as a Managing Director.</p>