Have a friend in Merrill Lynch, Need help

Career Opportunities & Internships
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<p>I have a friend whose brother is a financial advisor for Merrill Lynch. I asked my friend if he could ask his brother put in a word or recommendation for me in finding any type of work (intern, assistant) at ML. </p>

<p>However he said that his brother probably couldn't do that since ML doesn't work that way and the most he could do is tell me about any open positions. </p>

<p>This is in contrast to what I've always been hearing on job hunting advice. I've always been told to make contacts so that they could give your application a boost. Now that I've finally found a contact inside ML, my friend tells me that it is pretty much worthless. </p>

<p>So is my friend wrong here? Should I ask for his brother's phone number directly? How are you suppose to close in on the job once you've found someone in your network.</p>

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<p>"financial advisor for Merrill Lynch"</p>

<p>that's like an entry position.</p>

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<p>So you're saying he doesn't really have any power in swaying employment decisions? I believe he's been there for at least a couple years.</p>

<p>How high up would you have to be then?</p>

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<p>A couple of years means he's an analyst, probably straight hired from college. Unless he's HR, he won't have any say. I'm with BlackRock/MLIM (Merrill Lynch Investment Managers) right now, and we do have a talent referral program: certain amount of money is paid out for new hires, whether Admins, Interns, or Analysts/Assoc./VP/MD etc. </p>

<p>I'd say unless your friend is a VP, he won't have any pull. Ibanks don't work this way. You go through recruitment, HR, or Monster.com that has open positions, and then you compete. </p>

<p>Here's a figure I learned from a MD here:</p>

<p>To be a portfolio manager... 12,000 applicants. 3 open positions.</p>

<p>There's no free lunch at ibanks</p>

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<p>Oh and don't call that friend directly--it's considered rude.</p>

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<p>it shouldn't be hard at all to intern at the financial advisory part of ML you can probably do it yourself w/out contacts</p>

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<p>Yes, it's not like it's Private Equity</p>

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<p>i tried, i emailed a md who replied and said she forwarded my email to a few financial advisors, and no reply :(</p>

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<p>Usually, they won't do anything. Unless you know them personally. </p>

<p>MD's are very busy and have low patience (understandable). Go through HR because there's no free lunch and MD's can't just hire you without knowing what your experience is or if you're going to embezzle money or not. HR will do that. As for getting an interview, know that many currnet firm employees get a commission bonus if you get hired..</p>

<p>Meaning, if your friends are eager to get you a job. Most likely, they're not being altruistic. They are getting around $1500-2000 average for AA's, Interns, etc--and $5,000-7,000 for full time positions such as analysts, associates, directors, etc.</p>

<p>Try monster.com again, craigslist.org, vault.com</p>

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<p>wolfy i sometimes dont understand that like Ibanks look for experience but i mean there has gotta be first time for everyone....so whats your advice about breaking into the ibanking for the first time (Interning i.e.)...and usually which year students do banks take as interns.....</p>

<p>Also i wanted to ask since my school is not exactly on the radar of ibanks...how good are these methods (monster,craiglist) for getting an ibanking related internship...because if its decided that my school will be rejected its better i look for some other internship..</p>

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<p>If you can survive the interview, then you're pretty much set for "a first time." </p>

<p>Usually, for big banks, you'd have to go through 4-5 rounds (initial to weed people out, second for persoanlity, third for say talent, 4th + 5th are sell days or super saturdays).</p>

<p>A good year students do ibanking as interns is Junior year, because if they get invited back Senior Year, they'll fit in with the culture more easily and already have known their co-workers, perhaps even got the attention of a MD or two. Usually, the company you intern with Junior year is the full time job you will be getting.</p>

<p>I've had internships every year, and it's not rare for some kid to get a Citigroup internship after their freshman year in college. It all depends on how ambitious you are and how well you know the subject.</p>

<p>Even philosophy majors do ibanking after reading a Vault guide or two.</p>

<p>It's not what you answer to questions like, how many red cars are there in America, or what part of a hamburger do you want to be, or you know, what's 14 cubed (classic question). It's your process of thinking, how to get to the answer, the exploration of other possibilities, research platforms, and keeping your cool that helps your ascendency into the ibank world.</p>

<p>We come from similar backgrounds wherein we don't have the CIA or Google or Goldman Sachs, Lehman, and the bulge brackets lined up in a row in a sea of linoleum. The highest profile firm I've seen at mine was Putnam.. utterly sad.</p>

<p>Anyway, work experience is key. I was at a talk with MS directors, and they said work experience triumphs over an Ivy stamp on your head. </p>

<p>Network, network, network. But don't just get a job just because your friend's mom is the CEO. I guess there's a difference between skillful networking and then just... getting it because of connections and no skills.</p>

<p>Keep your grades up. I always try to keep a 3.7. Because we go to lesser known schools, we have to keep it perhaps even higher. 3.8 is usually good enough for ibanks who are looking at kids from state schools. A 3.8 at Cornell EE would be amazing... but yeah we have a handicap.</p>

<p>And that's about it I guess... ask away if you have any other questions. I got a client meeting to go to, so PM me or something.</p>

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<p>haha I know how you feel. I will be starting university next year and I tried real hard to get an internship this summer but got nothing. I even asked my parents who knew people in different banks and none of them replied. And alot of those weren't even in Ibanking. </p>

<p>P.S why do a lot of people regard Citigroup as an easy company to get a job in? I thought they were a top Ibank. I heard that in alot of the best schools people kid that Citigroup will hire anyone.</p>

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<p>btw when he says he's a financial advisor that means he doesn't work in the investment banking division it means he works as a broker that your grandma can call up...</p>

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<p>bigbadwolfy, ibanks recruit from state schools as well?</p>

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<p>caa5042.. Yes they do. Check out some of the banks' websites to see their recruiting calendars.</p>

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<p>Yes they do. But we're talking about top state schools. Heck, the analyst class right now where my friend is working IBD @ Goldman Sachs, there's a girl who came from Ohio State. However, she's lateral movement and worked in CSFB and UBS before.</p>

<p>Ibanks will want you if you pass the interview.</p>

<p>But remember, you need high GPA from a state school of offset the Ivy competition.</p>

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<p>Btw, I've heard the Citigroup jokes many times... it depends on which division. Remember that there's a difference between Citigroup and Citibank--the IBD and the Credit Card divisions are very different</p>

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<p>THIS IS NOT FOR A BANKING POSITION PEOPLE...the contact that the OP has is not a banker in any way, shape, or form. He is a financial advisor...which has nothing to do with banking (they are the ones that sell annuities, mutual funds, etc. to your grandma, dad, uncle, etc). The guy probably knows very few bankers and on a day to day basis has 0 interaction with bankers. Stop talking IBD...</p>

<p>and it's pretty easy to get a job in the financial advisory division like dcfca said. Call up your local branch of UBS, Morgan Stanley, ML, etc. and ask if any of their brokers need a summer intern...then someone is bound to call you back. I did this all sophomore year of h.s. at UBS...</p>

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<p>yeah these internships are really easy to get, the only time they wouldn't be is if the group at your branch for some reason doesn't want an intern -- which I've seen (the group I'm interning with is the only group in the office that has interns)</p>

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<p>Yeah I emailed Merril Lynch and the MD said she passed my message along to financial advisors, but she also said most already had interns, so, no luck.</p>