Tips for getting into IB?

Career Opportunities & Internships Investment Banking
1

<p>Hey, guys, I'm only a High School senior, but it's a bit late to worry too much about colleges now, so I want to start thinking about the future. I'm basically going to be working from this year forward on preparing myself to get an IB job at a BB firm. I know, I know, its arrogant to assume I can do it, but its not a bad thing to strive for :P</p>

<p>So basically: what do I need besides a Good GPA?
I've already started to do a lot of networking. I know lots of people at this risk management firm I worked at and I'm meeting a lot of people at my internship at Merrill Lynch. I've also begun extensive research on Investment Banking, various firms, departments they have, and i've been teaching myself some financial terms (teaching myself to understand the ML Global Research Highlights xD) </p>

<p>Also, do EC's matter? What kind? Any other tips I may not have touched upon? </p>

<p>Sorry I'm such a noob xD
Thanks for the halp!</p>

2

<p>1) Your focus right now should be to get into the best college you can. Get into and enroll in a target school if you can.
2) Do well in school. First round resume cuts are largely GPA-driven.
3) Start building a finance-focused resume. This means getting involved in finance clubs (or starting your own), case competitions, etc. Stay involved and gain leadership experience.
4) Network. This doesn’t just mean cold calling random MD’s. Get to know YOUNG alums who are in banking. The early recruiting process is largely driven by analysts, so if you happen to be college buddies with them, you can be virtually guaranteed first round interviews.
5) The first 4 steps will only get you to the interview. Once you’re there, you have to not only click with the interviewers (the behavioral portion of the interviews) but also have to rock the technical portions (knowledge of finance). There are plenty of guides that help with both. Most university OCR centers give you free access to the Vault guides, which are the gold standard for interview prep.</p>

<p>Take the above steps in moderation, though. It’s nice that you’re interested in banking, but I strongly urge you to branch out and explore other options as well, and to avoid becoming too one-dimensional. I know way too many kids who enter school 100% focused on getting into banking, take only finance classes and involve themselves only in finance EC’s. Many burn out long before they graduate. Enjoy yourself, especially your freshman year. Most people I know doing banking had no clue about the industry until they were juniors. I was a CS major with no finance background whatsoever and still got a BB offer. As long as you do well, academically and extracurricularly, and if you’re at a target school, you’ll be well prepared for any career.</p>

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<p>ECs matter more when you have less work experience</p>

4

<p>Get the highest possible GPA you can. Try and work during your summers (or during the semester if you have time) at some sort of financial institution. Anything related to banking, PE, VC, etc. will be more preferable than a wealth management internship (but that’s better than nothing).</p>

5

<p>If you’re saying that it’s too late to worry about college, then I’m assuming you’ve already selected a college and it is not a target - if it is, great, you will have more readily available opportunity, if it isn’t, stay the course and don’t lose hope. To your questions, first, you’ve got your head on right, and you are doing many of the right things - although I hope you are remembering to enjoy yourself as well - people often don’t realize this, but the smartest person is not always the one who gets the job - fit plays a HUGE part in the selection process, so don’t become so consumed with the technical aspects that you lose anything resembling a likable personality. </p>

<p>Beyond that, focus on a few key things (many of which you already mentioned): 1) keep your GPA way up, don’t slack on that assuming your networking will carry you - utilize both; it’s not a one or the other type of thing, 2) network your tail off - you don’t need to be ultra-aggressive with it now, as you are still in HS, but little by little begin to build a strong support system and networking base so that as opportunities present themselves, and you look towards summer internships, you aren’t completely starting from scratch. Remember, with a network, more is often key as many contacts will not come through when application season hits in terms of much assistance. 3) When you go for internships, as a previous poster stated, try to stay as close to IB as possible - meaning anything IB, PE, VC, Corp fin, etc are ideal - beyond that, look towards finance and accounting related positions that at least involve some sort of analysis and light modeling to show some sort of connection to IB as you progress up the internship chain and build your experiences. 4) Regarding ECs, I would stick with non-profit organizational involvement, sports involvement, and, absolutely, IB-related college club involvement (IB club, PE club, finance club, etc) - additionally, shoot for leadership or officer positions/roles in these organizations as the combination is often impressive to bankers - especially when you lack professional experience. 5) Don’t worry so much about learning what you think you need to learn in terms of technical info - focus on reading the Journal, FT, and various online news sites such as Clusterstock to stay current on all of the relevant news. Beyond that, try to take some finance and accounting courses in college if you want to further build your technical skill set. </p>

<p>Good luck and if you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.</p>

<p>IBanker</p>

6

<p>Jobs will be hard to get for several years. If you can’t attend a target, plan on a top MBA, meaning excelling wherever you attend undergrad.</p>

7

<p>“Jobs will be hard to get for several years. If you can’t attend a target, plan on a top MBA, meaning excelling wherever you attend undergrad.”</p>

<p>Hmom, I respect your knowledge and I usually agree with what you say. But I think people tend to overstate the difficulty of getting into a BB.</p>

<p>I was a sophomore last year, attend a non-target (Michigan Engineering), bad gpa (3.6 when I applied last year), not much relevant experience/ECs (except for an investment internship overseas at my uncle’s PE firm), no connection, did not network, and still got a first round… From that point on I just did well in my interviews and got the FO internship. That was sophomore year, also the worst hiring year according to almost everyone. </p>

<p>Before someone saying that I am an outlier, there were a bunch of kids like me in my intern class.</p>

8

<p>^Was it actually and IBD internship, and was it at a BB?</p>

9

<p>I agree that it people often exaggerate the difficulty level of breaking into IB, especially if they are talking about IB in general and not elite BB IB (GS, MS, etc). That said, I do find it a bit hard to believe that there were a bunch of sophs in SA IB positions with a BB - breaking in as a junior is the standard, and it is difficult, but not the most challenging thing in the world if you network, keep up the GPA, have a solid resume and be ready for the interview. </p>

<p>Breaking in a soph, however, is far more challenging and often requires a strong target pedigree as well as a hell of a lot of networking and connections. I’d like to know the BB that was hiring a bunch of sophs for IB SA positions - in fact, I think every soph interested in IB would like to know that.</p>

<p>Oh, and for the record, a 3.6 cumulative GPA is NOT bad - people need to stop saying that - all it does is give every applicant the same stupid inferiority complex - honestly, if you go into an interview and say that your GPA sucks at a 3.6 or that you are sorry it isn’t better, you are not going to be seen in a very positive light (and that is the nicest way I can put it).</p>

<p>IBanker</p>

10

<p>it was in S&T at a lower tier BB</p>

<p>“I do find it a bit hard to believe that there were a bunch of sophs in SA IB positions with a BB”
Sorry I wasn’t clear. I wasnt referring to my sophomore standing. I was referring to hmom’s statement “If you cant attend a target, plan on a top MBA…” I meant there were a bunch of non-targets like Michigan Engineering, CMU, UT Austins, even a kid from Penn State…</p>

11

<p>Oh ok, that makes more sense then - sorry about the confusion. Getting in from a non-target is definitely harder than a target, but if you can build a network, and get the 1st round interview - the playing field becomes far more level and your interview performance becomes the most important aspect of your candidacy. </p>

<p>IBanker</p>

12

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<p>The ten Bulge Bracket firms on Wall Street prior to late 2008 were, alphabetically: Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and UBS.</p>

<p>This list shrank to nine as a result of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, with Bear Stearns being purchased by JPMorgan Chase, Lehman Brothers having filed for bankruptcy (later having their core US investment bank acquired by Barclays), Merrill Lynch being purchased by Bank of America. Barclays Capital and Bank of America Merrill Lynch gained Bulge Bracket status after their acquisitions.</p>

<p>There is no lower tier BB. Either it is a BB, or not.</p>

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<p>well then it’s a BB, I just meant it wasnt GS, MS or JPM, one of the “less desirable” ones as they say… even though I really could care less… the job is the same everywhere (unless it’s like GS prop) and I am looking to stay in trading for as long as possible anyway, not like I need the “exit ops”</p>

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<p>So you and many others were hired as rising juniors, after your soph year?</p>

15

<p>no… read my previous post, post#10. I clarified that I was referring to the fact that there was a good number of non-targets. I wasnt referring to sophomore standing</p>

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<p>Bearcats, weren’t there family connections? If no, you stood out, most with what you decribe wouldn’t make it in now, even at the less desireables, even in S & T. A couple of years ago no problem.</p>

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<p>Is a 3.5 gpa enough for the BB, because for my college program I need a 3.5 to pass. It seems silly to just get the minimum to pass my program. I’m a freshman so I’ll have a chance to bring it up.</p>

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<p>Always focus on getting the highest GPA possible. A 3.5 is not a GPA, by any means, that will keep you out of banking, but it isn’t one that will call out either. You’ve got the time to bring it up, so bring it up - get it up to a 3.7+. Also, since I am assuming you attend Baruch, a non-target for IB, you will really want to get your GPA up as a high GPA will not only help you with the BBs, but it will also help you potentially land internships with small boutiques to build your experience. Bottom line, a 3.5 is fine, but coming from a non-target especially, if you’ve got the time, which you do, bring it up. PM me if you have any other questions.</p>

<p>IBanker</p>

19

<p>Thank you very much, I’ll sure to help others in the future</p>