Investment Banking Interest

[RatDog19]

Hey All -

I'm currently an IT professional working in Michigan. Lately I've really been wanting a change of career. I've always been interested in Finance, and after looking at the different careers possible plus things locally available, investment banking looks very interesting. Does anyone out there have any words of wisdom or anything helpful for someone that might be wanting to break into the field? I have a Bachelor's degree in Physics, so probably a good stepping stone to get the Masters degree. Thanks in advance for the advice!

[johnjm]

Go for it.

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[66Berret]

You should try cryptocurrency investment. I was lucky enough to have known about it months ago and has been really profiting. With the right company, you'll be earning right without hassles.

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[s14roller]

Originally Posted by 66Berret

You should try cryptocurrency investment. I was lucky enough to have known about it months ago and has been really profiting. With the right company, you'll be earning right without hassles.

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What about people who bought BTC at $20K?

[Wcdhtwn]

You will need an MBA to be taken seriously in Investment Banking, and a prestigious school would help. Your physics and computer/IT experience will be of interest as you bring more to the table than just some guy with an undergrad and an MBA. But you’ll want to find IBers that focus on areas that are relevant to IT (not that hard) or physics (probably not that easy) for the best chance of success.

I have a friend who went to law school (BU or BC I can’t remember - a good school) after getting a masters in biotech from John’s Hopkins. He wanted to be a patent lawyer focused on pharma. Most of his job competition was from people with PHD’s and JD’s and it took forever for him to get the job he wanted. Patent Lawyer and Investment Banker aren’t the same, but I’d think the more education you get the better your chances of landing a job worth making the career change. You probably don’t want to start as the coffee guy...

[_speedmaster_]

As the poster above mentioned, you will need an MBA to succeed. Physics and IT are very useful skills, as the entire finance industry is moving towards a heavy Quant focus, with an emphasis on automation. In your interviews, I would highly emphasize those skillsets and your MBA enrollment. If/when you do land a job, be prepared for very long hours.

[dxbtousa]

Originally Posted by 66Berret

You should try cryptocurrency investment. I was lucky enough to have known about it months ago and has been really profiting. With the right company, you'll be earning right without hassles.

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lol this is great

[tudorbaja27]

Originally Posted by dxbtousa

lol this is great

[ckaynyc]

Top tier MBA, IB internship, and a few friends in high places. Pick 2 of the 3.

By the way, good luck. Anything is possible. Some roads are extremely difficult and the odds are stacked against you, but some find their way through it all.

[johnjm]

Originally Posted by ckaynyc

Top tier MBA, IB internship, and a few friends in high places. Pick 2 of the 3.

By the way, good luck. Anything is possible. Some roads are extremely difficult and the odds are stacked against you, but some find their way through it all.

Finance and MBA? Why not a finance qualification is CFA as a start?

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[Carry The Interest]

Physics major will be a plus - always looking for more hard science majors in the industry.

OP - feel free to PM me and we can chat on the phone if you're serious about this. I worked at an investment bank straight after graduation for a few years and have been working in private equity now for the past ~3 years. Happy to talk through various pathways for you.

For banking, MBA program is your best bet. Don't waste time with the CFA right now (you can always do that later once you have the job and really want to get it/have hopes of going to a hedge fund down the road). The reason why MBA is so critical for you at this stage of your career is because it provides you a very structured recruiting environment. Ideally, you will get an internship at a bank (who all do on-campus recruiting with reputable MBA programs) between your 1st and 2nd year, and end the summer with a return offer for full-time employment after finishing your 2nd year. Plenty of people use an MBA program to help them break into banking after working in a completely different industry previously.

As an MBA candidate with no prior experience in the industry, you're looking at an associate role (one level above analyst). I can say with the utmost certainty banks are almost always looking for smart, hard-working associates given the high churn rate of analysts leaving 1-2 years after starting (as opposed to staying and being internally promoted to associate).

Also - check out WSO (Wall Street Oasis) if you haven't already. Can be a great resource for learning more and asking the community there as well.

[johnjm]

Originally Posted by Carry The Interest

Physics major will be a plus - always looking for more hard science majors in the industry.

OP - feel free to PM me and we can chat on the phone if you're serious about this. I worked at an investment bank straight after graduation for a few years and have been working in private equity now for the past ~3 years. Happy to talk through various pathways for you.

For banking, MBA program is your best bet. Don't waste time with the CFA right now (you can always do that later once you have the job and really want to get it/have hopes of going to a hedge fund down the road). The reason why MBA is so critical for you at this stage of your career is because it provides you a very structured recruiting environment. Ideally, you will get an internship at a bank (who all do on-campus recruiting with reputable MBA programs) between your 1st and 2nd year, and end the summer with a return offer for full-time employment after finishing your 2nd year. Plenty of people use an MBA program to help them break into banking after working in a completely different industry previously.

As an MBA candidate with no prior experience in the industry, you're looking at an associate role (one level above analyst). I can say with the utmost certainty banks are almost always looking for smart, hard-working associates given the high churn rate of analysts leaving 1-2 years after starting (as opposed to staying and being internally promoted to associate).

Also - check out WSO (Wall Street Oasis) if you haven't already. Can be a great resource for learning more and asking the community there as well.

Which MBA programs are recommend for this route?

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[Star Ferry]

I have done investment banking. It will be really hard to break into, like as hard as becoming a professional actor, but it's possible

[SMD]

Originally Posted by johnjm

Which MBA programs are recommend for this route?

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Chicago, Wharton, Stanford. Harvard. The usual suspects.

[johnjm]

Originally Posted by SMD

Chicago, Wharton, Stanford. Harvard. The usual suspects.

Ta

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[Carry The Interest]

Originally Posted by johnjm

Which MBA programs are recommend for this route?

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See below in post.

Originally Posted by Star Ferry

I have done investment banking. It will be really hard to break into, like as hard as becoming a professional actor, but it's possible

Respectfully, I disagree on the level of difficulty you've communicated. It's very competitive compared to other fields, but not one in a million odds tough. Your odds get better if you're trying to break-in through the post-MBA associate route too. Meanwhile, getting a job at a top-tier bank straight out of college as an analyst (this is what I did) is a more competitive process where the odds are skewed more against you simply due to # of qualified applicants vs. available positions.

Originally Posted by SMD

Chicago, Wharton, Stanford. Harvard. The usual suspects.

Fair. Any M7 business school (HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia, NW Kellogg, Chicago Booth, and MIT Sloan) will give you an edge based on the program you're at and perhaps extra access to banks before recruitment cycle (more private networking events, etc.).

That being said, one should also consider geography and where they would like to work. For instance, plenty of USC Marshall and UCLA Anderson MBA graduates can secure associate jobs at the top banks in LA. Similarly, I've met people at well-regarded IB groups in SF who came from Berkeley Haas post-MBA. Kellogg and Booth naturally place well into the big banks that have offices in Chicago. NYC mothership offices are a bit of a mixed bag -- they take people from all over the country. For undergrads looking for analyst jobs, I'd say east coast schools have a better advantage to others for jobs in NYC, but that advantage certainly diminishes a bit for post-MBA positions. I've also heard plenty of success stories where someone at a west coast MBA program gets an internship at a place like Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Lazard, etc. in a west coast office and secures the full-time offer, but opts to go to the firm's NYC office for full-time employment (obviously not a 100% guarantee).

I would say most programs in the top 20 will give you a solid opportunity to really recruit for IB associate internships (thinking of other schools not listed above like NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke, Virginia Darden). There are a lot of resources online (such as WSO) that can give a better sense of a school's MBA program with regards to placement in investment banking. For instance, Stanford is easily a top 3 and arguably a #1 program in the country, but I can assure you most of those MBA graduates are not looking to do investment banking post graduation. Culturally, it's just a very different program from say, another M7 school like Wharton, where you see more MBA students trying to do either banking or return to something like private equity (after already having pre-MBA relevant experience).

[RatDog19]

Thanks to everyone for the great responses! I knew this would be a great place to bring up my questions. I'll be in touch, Joey!

[ckaynyc]

Originally Posted by johnjm

Finance and MBA? Why not a finance qualification is CFA as a start?

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CFA is a tough curriculum and very lonely but significantly less expensive even with tutoring. Also pigeon holes you into specific arenas of finance. MBA is a good option for the weight an MBA will hold in most sectors of business and you have so much more resources and networking opportunities.

[66Berret]

Originally Posted by s14roller

What about people who bought BTC at $20K?

If they are investing by hodling and selling just on their own by market value prediction, they'll bear the risk alone but having an investment company trade on your behalf minimizes the risk and keeps you earning profits outside your capital every month.

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[sokoloka]

Originally Posted by 66Berret

If they are investing by hodling and selling just on their own by market value prediction, they'll bear the risk alone but having an investment company trade on your behalf minimizes the risk and keeps you earning profits outside your capital every month.

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So which investment company are you working with?

[dxbtousa]

Originally Posted by 66Berret

If they are investing by hodling and selling just on their own by market value prediction, they'll bear the risk alone but having an investment company trade on your behalf minimizes the risk and keeps you earning profits outside your capital every month.

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For your own good, do not follow this persons advise.

Probably also suggests following /r/wsb

[66Berret]

Originally Posted by sokoloka

So which investment company are you working with?

So far I have invested with invesco and third eye investments. You can check it out yourself on Google for more clarification. I have earned pretty more from TEI.

Cheers

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[66Berret]

Originally Posted by dxbtousa

For your own good, do not follow this persons advise.



Probably also suggests following /r/wsb

Feel free to ignore, no hard feelings.

Cheers

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[evsnow]

Originally Posted by Carry The Interest

Physics major will be a plus - always looking for more hard science majors in the industry.

OP - feel free to PM me and we can chat on the phone if you're serious about this. I worked at an investment bank straight after graduation for a few years and have been working in private equity now for the past ~3 years. Happy to talk through various pathways for you.

For banking, MBA program is your best bet. Don't waste time with the CFA right now (you can always do that later once you have the job and really want to get it/have hopes of going to a hedge fund down the road). The reason why MBA is so critical for you at this stage of your career is because it provides you a very structured recruiting environment. Ideally, you will get an internship at a bank (who all do on-campus recruiting with reputable MBA programs) between your 1st and 2nd year, and end the summer with a return offer for full-time employment after finishing your 2nd year. Plenty of people use an MBA program to help them break into banking after working in a completely different industry previously.

As an MBA candidate with no prior experience in the industry, you're looking at an associate role (one level above analyst). I can say with the utmost certainty banks are almost always looking for smart, hard-working associates given the high churn rate of analysts leaving 1-2 years after starting (as opposed to staying and being internally promoted to associate).

Also - check out WSO (Wall Street Oasis) if you haven't already. Can be a great resource for learning more and asking the community there as well.

This is spot on. If you are younger and don’t have relevant job experience really the only way to break into the Bulge Bracket banks is through the formalized recruiting process at top-tier MBA programs.

I would suggest you interview as many people you can find in the industry to learn more about the job. At the end of the day the job is basically a technical sales job (looking to earn deal feels) so while you learn a lot about finance those are just the foundational skills.

As an associate you will learn a ton about financing, companies and importantly how to work really hard (you can accomplish far more than you can imagine). It is a career than can provide diverse work experiences, can be lucrative and at times very exciting, but it requires significant sacrifices. You will not have any semblance of personal life for the first 2-4 years and it honestly doesn’t get a lot better as you rise in seniority. Your job changes from being stuck in the office crunching numbers to perpetually traveling and being on the phone with clients. This can really weigh on family life and relationships.

[tyler1980]

All I know is my next door neighbour is in investment banking. I’ve seen him once in the past month. My wife has a friend who’s husband is an investment banker, same story


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[abovethebridge]

Getting into investment banking can be a hit or miss proposition. Who you know, the school you attended, etc.

Given you were a physics major, I'm going to make the leap that you are probably gifted at math. An often overlooked field is actuarial science. Yes, not as glamorus as investment banking, but a potentialy very good career. Actuaries are in demand and can be an excellent stepping stone to upper management in the insurance industry.

FYI, the Lansing area is home to five insurance companies.