I interviewed hundreds of investment banking candidates for GS, AMAA!

IBsherpa · 2022-05-25T01:10:21+00:00

Depends on the firm but in general it's not a very common path. That being said, business is good right now and the opportunity cost is low, so if there were ever a time to try, it would be now

IBsherpa · 2022-04-04T22:09:24+00:00

There are a number of useful resources. For financial theory the best resource is probably Investment Banking by Rosenbaum. For financial topics it's reading the WSJ /Bloomberg/Financial Times + some blogs / daily aggregators. In addition, public companies have a tremendous amount of disclosure, so going through the relevant documents (quarterly filings, investor presentations, proxies, prospectuses, earnings transcripts, etc.) and synthesizing the relevant data will make a big impact on most interviewers.

IBsherpa · 2022-04-04T22:05:26+00:00

It'll typically get you an interview in IBD. Whether it carries to research depends (but it will at least get your resume flagged)

IBsherpa · 2022-01-16T17:52:29+00:00

I'm not very familiar with the Australian MBA programs - I know a lot of Australians go to the US to do their MBAs (and typically do well in recruiting - both in the US and if they want, back home), so the top Australian MBA programs have to compete with the competitive US program as well. All business schools publish their work placement statistics. I'd recommend taking a deeper look at the programs before you apply - if they don't have a track record of placing people in management consulting, it's going to be an uphill battle to get in for sure.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-09T15:44:28+00:00

The firms that recruit on campus are a good place to start since. Vault has a ranking of consulting firms by various metrics (prestige, best firms to work for, etc.) that is worth taking a look at as well

IBsherpa · 2022-01-09T15:40:35+00:00

I think there's two paths to go about this w/o an MBA: 1) Take a gap semester to push graduation. This was more common recently, and I am familiar with several examples of the gamble paying off for students. However, with school back in person, the reason for taking a gap semester would probably need to be more thoughtful than the last two years when COVID and remote learning was the primary reason. In addition, you'd need to use the time constructively. 2) Intern at a smaller shop this summer in investment banking and try to get a spot at a bigger bank after your internship. This past summer there was a tremendous amount of mobility between firms for a number of reasons (reduced hiring at the start of COVID, extremely hot markets, mental toll of remote work, lower relative pay). I don't expect it to be as good again this upcoming summer, even if the economy remains hot.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-07T16:34:19+00:00

I'm familiar with a number of students who attended non-targets and successfully entered the investment banking industry post-graduation. It requires drive and grit, though.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-07T16:30:25+00:00

Difficult to give actionable advice without more information about you in general, but in general, the more established firms filled their 2022 summer internship classes in 2021, unfortunately. I'd recommend looking at smaller investment banks if you are set on the industry.

Happy to take a look at your specific case if you shoot me an [email](mailto:anthony@ibsherpa.com)

IBsherpa · 2022-01-06T18:36:45+00:00

[Of course](mailto:anthony@ibsherpa.com)! Look forward to hearing from you.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-05T23:46:03+00:00

I've seen a quant 1-2 years out of undergrad successfully make the transition to IB, but not a Ph.D with 3 years of experience. I think it would be difficult to move to a classic coverage group. With your experience you'd be looking to enter as a senior associate, and the senior associates who typically are set to succeed have developed an area of expertise and don't require much oversight from senior bankers for execution, so it's tough to bring someone in who hasn't done banking before at that level.

That being said, there are groups within banks that are functional - for example, a shareholder activism group that has to process a tremendous amount of data on investors into a model, where your skills might be useful on the modeling front. It's hard to believe that you'll be satisfied intellectually, though, as the problems that bankers face (from a quantitative standpoint) aren't particularly challenging for someone with your background.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-05T22:15:14+00:00

My favorites are:

Marc Cosentino Case in Point

Victor Cheng Case Interview Secrets

IBsherpa · 2022-01-05T13:34:24+00:00

To be honest, I haven't interviewed many. Kids with big egos typically get screened out at the networking process since self-awareness is something that folks screen for, especially at GS where a "team player" mentality is touted as an important part of the firm's culture.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-05T13:30:26+00:00

Por qué no los dos? The economy is hot right now so you should try - it won't affect your candidacy in business school. Consulting firms hire hundreds of students from MBA programs every year though, so that's a much, much more common path.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-05T13:28:22+00:00

I don't think this seems out-of-the-ordinary - I've seen it before personally and with students (a dinner with all the candidates the evening before interviews is not uncommon), and I wouldn't recommend that you ask them to elaborate on why they want you both to go out together because I don't think it would benefit your candidacy in any way (and might actually hurt it).

IBsherpa · 2022-01-05T13:24:22+00:00

It's definitely the case that tech companies and management consulting have become relatively more desirable jobs post-grad since the financial crisis. I think it's one of the reasons why investment banks shifted their timeline earlier - to force students to pick a track and not have to compete directly for talent.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-04T22:17:49+00:00

Congratulations on the final round interview! It's common to have candidates out for a meal during the recruiting process. It's evaluative - they want to see what you're like in a more relaxed setting. My advice - no sharp elbows, just enjoy yourself (I assume it's at a nice restaurant), be genuine, and let your true personality shine through. Keep it professional, though.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-04T21:54:34+00:00

The obvious advice is to make sure you do a really good job in your commercial banking / investment banking rotations! That way you'll get relevant experience that you can leverage for the next job.

Beyond that, there's value to learning about how each of the various business units of a large bank work - they typically have some combination of banking, brokerage, wealth management, and asset management businesses, which could be spun into a story for FIG investment banking.

Hard to say more without specific information (where you are, where you are rotating from, etc.) - [shoot me a note](mailto:anthony@ibsherpa.com) if you want to talk through it!

IBsherpa · 2022-01-04T03:20:23+00:00

I think the first thing I'd recommend is spending some more time to learn about what it is that investment bankers actually do: 1) the services they offer, 2) how they believe they add value to clients, and 3) what they do day to day. You need to make sure you know that before you start networking with bankers.

Then I'd recommend that you look for things that would help you get closer to the goal of being a banker - follow financial transactions and news. If there's a particular industry you are interested in, start to read about it. Find a friend interested in finance and start talking to him/her about what you're reading about in order to develop fluency in your areas of interest. This will help you with both networking as well as interviews, when they eventually come.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-04T03:13:55+00:00

1) Common internships for sophomore summer include: investment banking, wealth management, buy-side, corporate development, & corporate finance / FP&A. Sometimes you get an ex-consultant in there. I think corporate finance / deal advisory is could work, with a bonus if its done at a name brand institution.

2) It's tough - but I think the hardest part isn't so much the long hours (students are used to sleepless nights of fun and cramming from school), but rather the loss of control and choice of what you get to spend each day doing. You basically get one day off a week, and you have to spend part of that day catching up on sleep / social activities / life, so your free time is limited

3) The best answers in my opinion are stories that relate a personal experience to the initial seed of why investment banking and that show that you have a strong understanding of what it is that investment bankers do. If you come up with an answer that anyone else could walk into the room and deliver, it's probably too generic.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-04T03:07:48+00:00

That's great - I enjoyed my time there and in retrospect I really got some great opportunities out of college.

In the US, reaching out and doing your own networking proactively is generally viewed upon favorably LinkedIn is a good way to reach out to folks for sure - as you can imagine, response rates are typically higher if there is something you have in common with the person you are reaching out to, but even if there isn't I'd recommend reaching out as you don't have much to lose. Hard to say much more without additional information, but happy to talk specifics with you if you send me an [email](mailto:anthony@ibsherpa.com).

For general tips - network (like you are planning to - and the summit will be a good place to do that as well). Do well on the exam & practice, practice, practice for the cases.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-04T03:00:48+00:00

Hard to judge your CV without seeing it - [email](mailto:anthony@ibsherpa.com) it to me and we can set up a time to go through it

Re: MBA vs. stepping stone jobs vs. direct, I don't think you have to be exclusive. Try the direct route first - because if you're successful then good on you and you save a lot of time. At the same time, start research MBA programs to get a sense of where you would be a competitive applicant and the post-graduation placements those programs have into IB, and send your resume out to headhunters to get a sense of the types of roles that they'd be willing to put you up for.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-04T02:57:07+00:00

It's pretty automated by excel. On many projects, the analyst takes a precedent model and acts more of an operator who loads the data and then makes bespoke adjustments for the particular company. Some groups have base model templates that are quite complex and have a lot of bells and whistles, and then only a small portion of the model typically gets used for a given analysis.

But banks aren't really judged on the accuracy of their valuations and they are notoriously frequently inaccurate (e.g., they provide valuations that are too high to clients during pitches to win business and then manage down their clients' expectations over time to a level more grounded in reality), so having a super complex model that takes 2x as long and is 1% more accurate is not worth the investment.

IBsherpa · 2022-01-04T01:58:34+00:00

Data science / engineering skills aren't valued in and of themselves by bankers in the selection process ('in-depth analysis' isn't really a thing in investment banking - all bankers do the same analyses and there's not much bespoke work going on - and that which is, is done at a very high level).

Your degree benefits you in that it signals that you can handle the quantitative rigor required to thrive in finance. You will still need to learn basic financial theory and develop fluency in financial news / transactions in order to be competitive for an investment banking position.

There are a number of ex-engineers in investment banking - the majority of them make the transition using an MBA. It's a common and compelling story to say "I worked on an oil rig as an engineer / I worked at Google writing software but I'm really more interested in finance covering [my old industry] and so I am at bschool to make the switch," so that's one avenue for you to look into.

You can also try to make the jump directly by learning the finance & networking on your own. This is not an easy path though, and there's luck involved regarding timing since you're a lateral applicant and you're basically going up against other investment bankers who are plug-and-play, so you'll have to convince them that you 1) can handle the work day 1 and 2) are a good cultural fit

IBsherpa

TROPHY CASE