<p>I am currently just finishing up my first year as an engineering student and have no idea really what I want to do after I graduate yet. I am planning on majoring in ECE and have considered everything from jobs in engineering, doing research now and going for a PhD, switching to computer science, getting a 1-year MEng or SM/MS after graduating and then going to industry, etc, etc. </p>
<p>So anyway, does anyone have any good book recommendations for this summer that would give me a better idea of what career options I'd have in investment banking/finance as an engineering major here? Or what, exactly, investment bankers do (yeah, yeah, I've read the Wikipedia entry and stuff like that, but something more specific, less general). The workweek is long but does everyone really do it just for the money? Or is there something more "multidisciplinary"
about it that would make it attractive to someone who has interests in not only finance/economics but also in technology and who loves math? Obviously I have an interest in electrical/computer engineering but I could just have happily majored in operations research or economics or math, and have been watching CNBC and reading Fortune/Businessweek/Kiplinger's/Forbes for as long as I can remember (my dad loves all that stuff).</p>
<p>Any recommendations or advice even would be great. I've done a few searches but there seems to be a ton of books out there and I can only read so much in a single summer.</p>
<p>first figure out what you're more interested in.</p>
<p>deals or trading</p>
<p>if you're interested in deals, that means working on mergers, leveraged buyouts, debt offerings, IPOs, etc. you can check out a book called Monkey Business, it's about 2 guys who go to work at a bank as associates, it kind of paints the job in a bad light.</p>
<p>then there's a book called Running of the Bulls, it chronicles a few wharton kids as they go into recruiting and all that. It's actually a great book because you get to see what different jobs are out there, each person in the book gets their own sections that talks about their experience, everything from recruiting to the actual job.</p>
<p>then there's Big Deal by Bruce Wasserstein, this is a history of mergers and acquistions. pretty interesting stuff, you learn about the different trends corporate america has went through.</p>
<p>if you're interested in trading...</p>
<p>read liar's poker
when genius failed (this is about a hedge fund blow up)</p>
<p>Def. Read Liars Poker- its not only a good read but insightful.</p>
<p>If you want something more about the career itself the best book I have read about it is "The Fast Track" by miriam Nafircy. A williams grad who talks about both consulting and Ibanking. (The time before hedges were as large as they are now)</p>
<p>Though afew years old it still breaks down IBanking into something easy to comprehend (By devision ex. sales/M&A, ect)</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies dfca and MagsTrin11; I'll definitely look into those books. I read the introduction to Monkey Business on Amazon and it definitely looks like an interesting book.</p>
<p>Monkey Business is a fun and interesting read. I would also highly suggest "The Accidental Investment Banker" by Jonathan Knee. I learned much more about investment banking from that book than I did from Monkey Business, and Knee also gives a rundown of GS and MS's cultures.</p>
<p>"Barbarians at the Gate" is absolutely fantastic. Probably the most well-written book about investment banking, although it's less directly informative as, say, Monkey Business, Liar's Poker, or Running of the Bulls. I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet. It's a great read, period -- more exciting than most suspense-thrillers.</p>
<p>While not exactly insightful in regards to trading or ibanking, the legendary Benjamin Graham's "The Intelligent Investor" really provides the foundations for the investing mentality. Warren Buffet is a very outspoken supporter for this book.</p>