Investment Banking Discussion Thread

[CunningSmeagol]



I'm tentatively looking at BB -> Ivy League MBA - > maybe SC/MC at MBB, back to IBD, or PE/VC.

I say this with the best of intentions - being so young with such a cookie-cutter outlook on life is kind of sad. Give yourself some room to explore and try different things. You'll get into a better MBA program because of it.

 

[pseudonym]

..but I want to makez the moneyz to buy Brioni

 

[jslade]



I say this with the best of intentions - being so young with such a cookie-cutter outlook on life is kind of sad. Give yourself some room to explore and try different things. You'll get into a better MBA program because of it.

Finance is something that genuinely interests me, though. I grew up with parents who are doing the "different things" route and actually being wildly successful at it. However, that path is not for me -- not now, anyway.

IBD offers to me the path to learn a lot about the world until I really figure out what I want to do with my life, while making a nice chunk of change in the process. I'm not averse to busting ****** 100 hours a week for the job. I figure that with an introduction to all things finance through the lens of IBD and a solid pedigree through an MBA program, I can really hop into anything I want afterwards with the right commitment and attitude.

It might be cookie cutter, but it's the best I can do right now. As unstable as the financial services industry field is, I still think that having a goal and actively working towards it is a hell of a lot more stable than just being another one of the hordes of students at my school who are "exploring their options" and taking their sweet time "finding themselves."

 

[jslade]

And yes, I want to makez the moneyz to buy Brioni.

 

[Texasmade]



Finance is something that genuinely interests me, though. I grew up with parents who are doing the "different things" route and actually being wildly successful at it. However, that path is not for me -- not now, anyway.
IBD offers to me the path to learn a lot about the world until I really figure out what I want to do with my life, while making a nice chunk of change in the process. I'm not averse to busting ****** 100 hours a week for the job. I figure that with an introduction to all things finance through the lens of IBD and a solid pedigree through an MBA program, I can really hop into anything I want afterwards with the right commitment and attitude.
It might be cookie cutter, but it's the best I can do right now. As unstable as the financial services industry field is, I still think that having a goal and actively working towards it is a hell of a lot more stable than just being another one of the hordes of students at my school who are "exploring their options" and taking their sweet time "finding themselves."

Everyone says this until they actually have to do it.

 

[gettoasty]

^ Yup.

I just think it gets worse as you pigeon hole yourself into this mind set even though it seems like you're only using IB as a stepping stone.

The stone will actually creep up behind and crush you if you're not careful.

More power to you if you already have everything setup for an IB path. It should be exciting

 

[gomestar]

+1.


regarding 100 hours a week, it's not the 100 hours a week can kill you, but it's that one day that you've set up all assignments well and are set to go at 7 or 8 and everybody is cool with it. And come 6 PM all is still great and you're just waiting for some revisions, and then you wait. And wait. And then get pissed off at the delay. And then wait. And then problems and you're pissed because you have to fix it. And then it's 2 AM.

 

[Dashaansafin]



Everyone says this until they actually have to do it.

I ******* hate idiots who think 100+ hours a week is doable and they'll somehow just tough through it. You want to kill yourself every second of waiting for comments and more comments and doing turn after turn 12:00pm on a Sunday night when your gf is in town.

**** sounds easy until you do it, all this I'm prepared for it blah blah is all bullshit, you havent even gotten an internship, much less a FT offer yet.

Oh, and you dont learn anything about the "world'. For the love of god dont say that in an interview or you'll be laughed right out of the office (assuming you make it to second rounds), or your career center. You learn meaningless **** no one cares about in whatever particular industry you are in (yes Tech sucks ass too, you arent doing LBOs on Google son).

Sure if you land in a non-marsupial group that doesnt use templates all day long you'll learn to model well after your two years, but thats about it.

And having the goal of an "Ivy league MBA" is marsupialed, do you mean m7? Half the schools in there arent in the Ivy league.

And it makes no sense to jump from IBD to MBA, to MBB back to IBD (what the ****????) then to PE/VC. Why would you go to an MBA to go back to banking? PE firms dont want marsupial MBA students (who coincidentally make marsupial associates) without prior PE exp. And VC is completely different than PE, thats like saying you want to be a dentist/neurosurgeon.

 

[Flambeur]



I ******* hate idiots who think 100+ hours a week is doable and they'll somehow just tough through it. You want to kill yourself every second of waiting for comments and more comments and doing turn after turn 12:00pm on a Sunday night when your gf is in town.
**** sounds easy until you do it, all this I'm prepared for it blah blah is all bullshit, you havent even gotten an internship, much less a FT offer yet.
Oh, and you dont learn anything about the "world'. For the love of god dont say that in an interview or you'll be laughed right out of the office (assuming you make it to second rounds), or your career center. You learn meaningless **** no one cares about in whatever particular industry you are in (yes Tech sucks ass too, you arent doing LBOs on Google son).
Sure if you land in a non-marsupial group that doesnt use templates all day long you'll learn to model well after your two years, but thats about it.
And having the goal of an "Ivy league MBA" is marsupialed, do you mean m7? Half the schools in there arent in the Ivy league.
And it makes no sense to jump from IBD to MBA, to MBB back to IBD (what the ****????) then to PE/VC. Why would you go to an MBA to go back to banking? PE firms dont want marsupial MBA students (who coincidentally make marsupial associates) without prior PE exp. And VC is completely different than PE, thats like saying you want to be a dentist/neurosurgeon.

This is a fantastic reply. But don't diss tech, bro. Tech is ******* fantastic for strategy/finance, at least once you're a bit up the ladder. Doing deals in a relaxed environment while wearing jeans is pretty fun. Going from finance to tech was eye-opening and the best transition ever.

 

[nootje]

I just love how a lot of people think that the jump to PE or VC is one you can force/work into.. Most hopes and dreams are broken right around 25, and replaced with more realistic goals.

But go ahead, strive for the top. Just dont forget to live a little in the meantime..

 

[Texasmade]



I ******* hate idiots who think 100+ hours a week is doable and they'll somehow just tough through it. You want to kill yourself every second of waiting for comments and more comments and doing turn after turn 12:00pm on a Sunday night when your gf is in town.
**** sounds easy until you do it, all this I'm prepared for it blah blah is all bullshit, you havent even gotten an internship, much less a FT offer yet.
Oh, and you dont learn anything about the "world'. For the love of god dont say that in an interview or you'll be laughed right out of the office (assuming you make it to second rounds), or your career center. You learn meaningless **** no one cares about in whatever particular industry you are in (yes Tech sucks ass too, you arent doing LBOs on Google son).
Sure if you land in a non-marsupial group that doesnt use templates all day long you'll learn to model well after your two years, but thats about it.
And having the goal of an "Ivy league MBA" is marsupialed, do you mean m7? Half the schools in there arent in the Ivy league.
And it makes no sense to jump from IBD to MBA, to MBB back to IBD (what the ****????) then to PE/VC. Why would you go to an MBA to go back to banking? PE firms dont want marsupial MBA students (who coincidentally make marsupial associates) without prior PE exp. And VC is completely different than PE, thats like saying you want to be a dentist/neurosurgeon.

I work in public accounting and while I don't do 100 hours, I still do 70-80 hours a week frequently. After 60 hours in a week, I usually want to kill myself already and I can only imagine another 40 on top. What Gomestar said is correct. It's when you think you can go home and then you get something at 5:30 on a Friday as the client is walking out the door and your boss says have it ready for me by Saturday afternoon is what pisses you off. Happens all the time.

I don't see how IBD analysts can think of that big bonus at the end of the year when it might still be 6 months away while you're killing yourself to get the job done. To me, it would be hard to keep the end goal in mind at that point in time especially when all I want to do is go home and sleep.

 

[Dashaansafin]



This is a fantastic reply. But don't diss tech, bro. Tech is ******* fantastic for strategy/finance, at least once you're a bit up the ladder. Doing deals in a relaxed environment while wearing jeans is pretty fun. Going from finance to tech was eye-opening and the best transition ever.

Tech itself is awesome. I would love to do Corp dev for Google, Apple Amazon, etc etc. What I mean is Tech industry group. Unless you are at Qatalyst/MS/GS for tech, even if you are at a BB, you arent covering those companies. You're doing mostly service companies and non-sexy dinky startup coverage.

 

[jslade]



I ******* hate idiots who think 100+ hours a week is doable and they'll somehow just tough through it. You want to kill yourself every second of waiting for comments and more comments and doing turn after turn 12:00pm on a Sunday night when your gf is in town.
**** sounds easy until you do it, all this I'm prepared for it blah blah is all bullshit, you havent even gotten an internship, much less a FT offer yet.
Oh, and you dont learn anything about the "world'. For the love of god dont say that in an interview or you'll be laughed right out of the office (assuming you make it to second rounds), or your career center. You learn meaningless **** no one cares about in whatever particular industry you are in (yes Tech sucks ass too, you arent doing LBOs on Google son).
Sure if you land in a non-marsupial group that doesnt use templates all day long you'll learn to model well after your two years, but thats about it.
And having the goal of an "Ivy league MBA" is marsupialed, do you mean m7? Half the schools in there arent in the Ivy league.
And it makes no sense to jump from IBD to MBA, to MBB back to IBD (what the ****????) then to PE/VC. Why would you go to an MBA to go back to banking? PE firms dont want marsupial MBA students (who coincidentally make marsupial associates) without prior PE exp. And VC is completely different than PE, thats like saying you want to be a dentist/neurosurgeon.

Of course, my real world experience is obviously lacking. This is the reason why I originally created this thread in the first place - to seek some input from like-minded people on Styleforum who might potentially be working in the IB industry or looking to enter the field in the future. I don't doubt that I'm not fully prepared for the soul-crushing horrors of IBD monkey-work, and I don't believe that I've suggested anywhere that I consider it a walk in the park.

I also obviously don't mean that I want to go into consulting after my MBA, followed by a return to IBD, followed again by an exit into PE/VC. Rather, I mean that I would most likely go into one of the three.

Why would you go to an MBA to go back to banking?

I thought this one was pretty self-explanatory. From what I understand, many investment banks encourage their analysts to return to school after their 2-3 year analyst stint. MBAs are directly recruited into associate positions at investment banks. While I know that top-performing analysts can move up directly into an associate position without an MBA, I really do enjoy school, and wouldn't mind going back for 2 years for an MBA at a top school. Also, how is VC and PE completely unrelated? Venture capital is at its core a subset of private equity.

PE firms dont want marsupial MBA students (who coincidentally make marsupial associates) without prior PE exp.

Based off of this logic, if you don't have prior PE experience, no PE firm wants you. How exactly do you go about getting PE experience then, if you can never get your foot in the door in the first place? On M&I and WSO, they talk a lot about how PE/VC is an exit opportunity for banking. I'm not suggesting that they're waiting for bankers with arms flung wide open; on the contrary, I know that it's extremely selective, and that getting into firms like KKR and TPG is going to be difficult no matter where you're coming from. But just because these firms are difficult and selective doesn't mean that it's not an exit opportunity from banking, as you seem to be suggesting.

Lastly, do you need a Xanax or something? Why are you so upset? It appears as if you "******* hate idiots" like me, based off of what, my current perspective on how I want to proceed with life? Get a grip, man. These are just the musings of a sophomore undergraduate student looking to jump into banking as a career path. I might be a little bit misinformed in some aspects of the industry, but I don't think that I've come across as vain or presumptuous, or anything of the sort to warrant your type of vitriol.

 

[Flambeur]



Tech itself is awesome. I would love to do Corp dev for Google, Apple Amazon, etc etc. What I mean is Tech industry group. Unless you are at Qatalyst/MS/GS for tech, even if you are at a BB, you arent covering those companies. You're doing mostly service companies and non-sexy dinky startup coverage.

Oh well, ****, I wouldn't know. I've been on the buyside/client side for pretty much.. ever?

 

[Dashaansafin]



Of course, my real world experience is obviously lacking. This is the reason why I originally created this thread in the first place - to seek some input from like-minded people on Styleforum who might potentially be working in the IB industry or looking to enter the field in the future. I don't doubt that I'm not fully prepared for the soul-crushing horrors of IBD monkey-work, and I don't believe that I've suggested anywhere that I consider it a walk in the park.
I also obviously don't mean that I want to go into consulting after my MBA, followed by a return to IBD, followed again by an exit into PE/VC. Rather, I mean that I would most likely go into one of the three.
I thought this one was pretty self-explanatory. From what I understand, many investment banks encourage their analysts to return to school after their 2-3 year analyst stint. MBAs are directly recruited into associate positions at investment banks. While I know that top-performing analysts can move up directly into an associate position without an MBA, I really do enjoy school, and wouldn't mind going back for 2 years for an MBA at a top school. Also, how is VC and PE completely unrelated? Venture capital is at its core a subset of private equity.
Based off of this logic, if you don't have prior PE experience, no PE firm wants you. How exactly do you go about getting PE experience then, if you can never get your foot in the door in the first place? On M&I and WSO, they talk a lot about how PE/VC is an exit opportunity for banking. I'm not suggesting that they're waiting for bankers with arms flung wide open; on the contrary, I know that it's extremely selective, and that getting into firms like KKR and TPG is going to be difficult no matter where you're coming from. But just because these firms are difficult and selective doesn't mean that it's not an exit opportunity from banking, as you seem to be suggesting.
Lastly, do you need a Xanax or something? Why are you so upset? It appears as if you "******* hate idiots" like me, based off of what, my current perspective on how I want to proceed with life? Get a grip, man. These are just the musings of a sophomore undergraduate student looking to jump into banking as a career path. I might be a little bit misinformed in some aspects of the industry, but I don't think that I've come across as vain or presumptuous, or anything of the sort to warrant your type of vitriol.

1. PE firms post MBA are hard to find without prior PE experience. You are competing against BB analysts who did MM PE afterwards. Talking to headhunters and associates in PE, they dont really recruit out of MBAs if at all. Forget megafunds.

2. Dont have a jerkoff session on the megafunds. KKRs class size is tiny. TPG's class size is tiny. Silver Lake's is even smaller. You need an incredible amount of luck to land at one of these places, as not too much separates analysts once PE recruiting comes around (provided you aren't a marsupial).

3. Of course I need a Xanax. You do turns on a Sunday night with a full Monday workload after a 120+ hour week and you'll be just like me once you graduate.

Listen man, you seem like a decent dude. The best way to describe this job is like going to jail for 2+ years. You eat the same thing in varying degrees of whats on Seamless, you dont have weekends off, you wont see your family, friends, girlfriend, dog, cat, bastard child. Your blackberry is an ankle collar keeping you in check so an associate can dump more work on you and go home at 6PM while you go home at 3AM.