<p>While looking at the sites for ibanks, ive gotten interested in sales and trading. How do these jobs compare to ibanking, as far as hours per week, ease of entry, salary, stress (im guessing high), etc?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>something like that</p>
<p>Sales and Trading</p>
<p>Hours are better than investment banking as they are dictated by the market. You will arrive earlier than most investment bankers, but you will typically leave way before them. You do not work on the weekends. Essentially, you will still able to have a life.</p>
<p>Salary: At BB firms, the entry package is the same 60k salary+10k signing bonus+End of Year Bonus (Amount is dependent on your performance tier). Your earning potential is way higher than investment banking. If you're sick, you will make a ridiculous amount; if you're not, you won't; if you suck, you will eventually be "let go."</p>
<p>Stress: Ridiculously High. You're managing risk as a flow trader. If you're lucky to get a prop trading position, you're playing with the firm's capital. As a salesperson, you're dealing with so many different personalities. Enough said.</p>
<p>Ease of Entry: Same process as trying to become an investment banker. Try to get summer internship and then FT offer. There is greater focus on your quantitative/analytical skills during sales/trading recruitment than in investment banking recruiting.</p>
<p>So you will definitely want to take calculus, macroeconomics, and statistics</p>
<p>the pros:</p>
<p>better hours, generally more interesting work (for sales, direct client interaction, for traders, direct market connection), many s+t desks not hurt by bear markets (e.g. fixed income derivatives), whereas IBD has mass layoffs during bear markets, faster promotion, less hierarchy, at junior levels S+T pay tracks IBD pay to the dollar, but at senior levels S+T rapidly rapidly outpaces IBD (just take a look at any bank's balance sheet, and this should be obvious to you)</p>
<p>the cons:</p>
<p>more stressful than IBD, some parts of s+t MUCH more cyclical (equities cash) than IBD, some of the less sophisticated desks will be automated eventually, have to worry about a position blowing up over the weekend (for traders), have to worry about a client blowing up during any phone call (for sales), not very easy to coast by</p>
<p>Alright, sounds great so far.</p>
<p>I'm starting my sophomore year at the U of Illinois, majoring in Finance. I was a salesman at Nordstrom this summer. How do you suggest I go about getting into a s+t internship? Is the recruiting as "NYU/UPenn/etc focused" as IB? I still have 2 more summers before I graduate, so I figured that next summer maybe I would focus on just getting anything I could in sales/trading or anything in finance at a bb if possible. Then for the summer after junior year, have a stepping stone to get the s+t internship at Citibank or wherever.</p>
<p>Getting into S&T is very difficult, especially if one is coming from a non-target school. As usual, these bulge bracket firms are targeting the Harvards, Yales, etc.... </p>
<p>Try to start building a network of contacts, and begin to speak to people who already in the industry--this will help you to understand whether S&T is really what you want. In addition, I would advise you to get good with math (if you are seeking a trading position).</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>What level of math do you suggest? I have taken calculus 1 and will be taking another math class (has to be either linear algebra or calc 2) this next school year. I got a 740 math SAT score so if thats that type of math I need to be good at, then great.</p>
<p>PS- i cant believe i've made 91 threads, jeze... what a forum whore.</p>
<p>Also, what is a competitive GPA? I thought it would be at least a 3.5 but I talked with a guy in IB and he said 3.8+... I have a 3.5 after freshman year so to get a 3.8 I guess I'll just have to nail a few 4.0's</p>
<p>3.5 is the "minimum" but when I worked at a BB firm over the summer I saw GPAs in our resume book ranging from 3.1 to 3.9 with most being in the 3.5-3.7 range</p>
<p>how about those from non-target schools?</p>
<p>Yah non-targets were like 3.8+</p>
<p>the math skills you probably want to have are like multi variable calc and statistics and linear algebra maybe game theory...things like that. you have to be real comfortable with numbers and think quickly with those numbers</p>
<p>Classes like the ones thinker481 mentioned are good choices. As for GPA, try to aim for as high as possible, especially if you are coming out of a non-target. But also keep in mind, it isn't always GPA that matter. Networking, a strong resume and cover letter, as well as strong ECs and leadership will help you get in the door.</p>
<p>What is S&T?</p>
<p>S&T = Sales and Trading</p>