<p>I am a sophomore studying at UC Berkeley, and recently I have become really interested in entering the ibanking field. I am actually a pre-med, but with the current healthcare crap going on, I want to have another option available. So, my question is, coming with a Molecular and Cellular Biology degree (with emphasis on Biochem) will I even have a chance to get a job at an I banking firm? I have no work experience, so does that mean that I need to do an internship or something before applying to jobs? I am ready to go to business school if needed, but I am just looking at different options. I was told by one off my friends in Haas that it doesn't matter what you major in...is this true? </p>
<p>Also, I have a 3.7 gpa and I am a president of a student organizations here ( non profit organization like UNICEF)...my other activites are more pre-med related like research. so how do i go about guys? sorry for all the questions, but I just want to pave a path for myself.</p>
<p>Lastly, I really want to work for big ibanking firms like Goldman </p>
<p>It will be very hard getting an ibanking analyst position at goldman if you’re not haas and don’t have any finance work experience. You might have a shot at a regional SF office, but even that would require a lot of networking. Also, your premed background is going to raise questions about how serious you are about doing finance</p>
<p>If you can bring your GPA to 3.9+, then you would have a shot at Goldman IBD in New York, but even then it would be very tough to land an offer since you have no finance related experience.</p>
<p>I’m interested in any a job that is high paying and requires you to be good with number. not to brag, but I am really good with numbers and can work with numbers very quickly and solve problems that would probably require a calculator. I was also looking at other jobs, but Investment banking is the highest paid.</p>
<p>Look up investment banks where you want to work and look at the backgrounds of the professionals there. Most have Finance and Business backgrounds. Then it goes to Industry specialty. We want bio-chemists working in pharma, and IT working in technology, engineers in power, or journalists in broadcasting.</p>
<p>IB is not as simple as take 1 magic major and they want you. It’s about what industry each company focuses on and whether they have any openings for your skill set. </p>
<p>I think that you’re misunderstanding how quantitative banking is. The truth is that it is not very quantitative at all. As an analyst, you’ll spend most of your time playing around with Excel sheets and Powerpoint slides. There’s no heavy math, nothing beyond addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. And be aware that banking is a client-driven services business. MD’s spend their time schmoozing with clients in order to bring in dealflow. Senior bankers are essentially glorified salesmen. If you’re not good at socializing with people and persuading them to do business with you, you won’t have a successful career in banking. Quantitative skills are largely irrelevant.</p>
<p>I’d advise looking into trading and quant positions at banks, hedge funds, and prop trading shops. Those types of positions tend to be more quantitative, and are also more conducive to the “I only care about money” attitude.</p>