<p>There is probably a thread similar to this already but I figured I'd start a new one anyways. I am an English Major at SUNY Binghamton right now and I would really like to get into investment banking. I have heard mixed reviews about liberal arts students trying to get into I-banking.. I've heard major doesn't really matter.. and I've heard the opposite - it's all about your major. I have talked to people who are actually in the field who work at Merrill Lynch, and they say major doesn't matter that much as long as you have some good basic math skills you are fine because you will be trained once you start learning more complicated stuff.</p>
<p>Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, etc... will be at my school this fall for a job fair, and interviews for summer internships and jobs are open for ALL majors. I know it says that but do I still have a chance if I'm an English Major? I have taken calculus and got a B. This is a new interest of mine, so please don't bash me if I sound misinformed or uneducated about this field. I understand there are many different areas of I-Banking, just not sure which one's I'd have a chance in. If I knew SO much about investment banking I wouldn't be on here asking questions lol. So if anyone could just give me some advice I'd appreciate it.</p>
<p>the problem isn’t your major, it’s more your school. I doubt banks like the ones you mentioned will be recruiting for front office positions, I would imagine it’s BO stuff.</p>
<p>Um actually they do recruit front end positions from my school. I would know because i go to my school not you. SUNY Binghamton has a very reputable reputation so you’re misinformed.</p>
<p>JerseyGuy925–You say they recruit front office. That would be a big surprise given Binghamton is not a target school for front office.</p>
<p>But if they are recruiting for back office, like operations, it would still be a great internship, especially for an English major.</p>
<p>I work at a SUNY to your east and we just placed 3 students majoring in business/economics at JPM back office this summer. We got this because of an alumni connection. He told our students that it would be very, very difficult to get a front office internship. But even getting a back office internship was a major accomplishment.</p>
<p>Getting a front office internship in IB at a top BB is probably as hard as getting into HYPSM. It takes a very high GPA from a target school (HYPSM and the other Ivy’s and a few others) to just maybe get an interview. Then you have to go through a longer interview process and maybe get an offer.</p>
<p>Our SUNY students being recruited for back office did not have to go through quite as much. But they weren’t even considered w/o at least a 3.5 gpa.</p>
<p>So jerseyguy-- to even be considered you should have at least a 3.5 gpa and some extra-curricular activities. If you get an interview, you should have a lot of knowledge about what is going on in the business world. You might be offered an internship in a back office position. And congratulations to you if that occurs.</p>
major doesn’t really matter. But your school does, and I have to agree that Buegie is correct. </p>
<p>
there are many different areas of a bank (front office stuff like sales and trading, investment banking, global markets, etc. - and then back office like operations, tech, HR, systems, finance, risk, legal, compliance), but not really different areas of investment banking from a recruiting standpoint. For IB, you are recruited for one position (IB, obviously) and then from there you break out into different groups (ie. product groups such as M&A, Equity Cap. Markets, Leveraged Finance, etc. - or Coverage groups such as Telecom, Industrials, RE, Power & Chemicals, etc.). Some banks may do it differently, but I’ve never seen resume drops for specific IB groups, it’s always one for IB, one for Sales and Trading, one for Risk, one for Finance, and they all recruit differently as mentioned earlier.</p>
<p>I agree that it’s very unlikely that JBM and GS are recruiting actual investment banking jobs at SUNY Bing, it’s much more likely that it’s back office work. I’m sure you’ll see this when they post the actual job descriptions.</p>
<p>lol JerseyGuy first you say you dont know much about investment banking and their recruitment and then you aren’t willing to listen to the people telling you the truth. If you’re so sure and opinionated then why bother asking anyone</p>
<p>It annoys me that people just think that they can become bankers with no real business knowledge. I understand if you are some brilliant mind who learns and adapts fast, if that was the case you would be HPYMS, but an English major at SUNY, it is highly unlikely. There are business majors in HPYMS and other targets who cant land internships, why would a bank choose you over them?</p>
<p>Banking is one of the most prestigious fields in business, especially at a BB. So with out connections or prior knowledge it would be hard to break in. It is similar to a pharmacist trying to land a gig as a neurosurgeon.</p>
<p>Seriously you guys *<strong><em>ing suck. I said I didn’t know much about BANKING. I do however know that they recruit people from my school for FRONT office. I know that for a fact. I have been to job fairs and spoken to people at my school and that is verified. I know it’s not *</em></strong>ing Harvard, but it’s true. Do ANY of you attend my school now? Do any of you recruit on my campus? If the answer to those questions are no they you actually have no *<strong><em>ing idea what is being recruiting on my campus, do you? Stop making me out to be a person who can’t take the truth and is opinionated. All I wanted was some simple, polite advice as to if I had a chance breaking into this field. I did not need some old middle-aged *</em></strong><strong><em>s to tell me I have no *</em></strong>ing chance and call me stupid. Thanks for ****ing nothing guys</p>
<p>I am going to agree with the previous posters; your school is probably not a target for IBD positions (maybe it is for sales or private wealth, which is also considered FO). Just fyi, some schools are targets for IBD and not S&T or PWM and some are the other way around. Because of this, it is important to be a business major (the people who break into banking with English majors are the people from HPYS).</p>
<p>I know somebody who had a 4.0 GPA at my school (semi-target) and was great at interviews (really put in a lot of effort and had the technicals and behaviorals down as good as anybody) but did not land an internship because they did not have a business major.</p>
<p>Jerseyguy–rather than just yelling and swearing, why don’t you just state which BB banks recruit at your schools job fairs for front office , or back office for that matter for English majors.</p>
<p>Just explain why you want a job in I-Banking and maybe either you can minor in Economics, or what you can do is get certificates in Banking, Accounting, Finance and Real Estate. That is what you can do.</p>