Investment Banking

Anyone here pursuing a career in Investment Banking... I am junior at a university.. and IB is something I've always have interest in and a good amount of knowledge. assuming the dream act bill passes....my plan is to work as an analyst after graduation and then get my mba from top ten school... thats the plan so far.. but it all depends on the bill passing.. but if any of you are purusig career in IB ...Id like to here ya'lls plans.. info.. or any tips you guys have.

To be an IBanker you need stellar grades and connections, you must network like never before with professors and people in the business, although now really isn't a great time for IBanker, few friends of mine who became IBankers were laid off before they even started the job.

I didn't study to become an investment banker, but if you find that you're someone with limited connections, you can still get a good job by connecting with a good adviser in your school's career services department. Start working with this adviser a year before you hope to start working. Most universities have great career advice services and great alumni networks, but you need to start reaching out to them early in order to get the job you want!

yea.. i want to get at least 2 internship before graduation but it all depends on the bill.. and even if i have to take a semester off to get a internship i will..... but none of the top firms recruit down in south.. so i need to get any internship in banking finance sector that i can and build my network.. and offcourse work for 2 year after graduation n then top 10 mba school

My father is an investment banker. From what I've learned from him, the competition to be hired by the few top companies is great. You have to have a stellar GPA, sometimes even one bad grade can cost you the job. Also, I suggest you look at NYU Stern School of Business and Columbia Business School because they are the best for your field. Plus, New York City is the best place for networking with future employers and getting good internships!

Good luck.

yea those are some of the schools i am looking at... even if my grades are good.. I have a less chance of getting accepted after graduation.. because they dont really give preference to schools in south... so my plan is go graduate with my bachelors and then after two years of work attend one of the top mba schools... n then 2 year of full time mba and hope fully work for top 20 firms.... what firm does ur dad works for?

He works for Goldman Sachs in London.

thats one of the firms on my list... but thats after my MBA.. hopefully the market will be better in about 2 to 3 years... but basically grades should be good.. but contacts are very very important... I just need to get a internship so i can get my feet wet and start building my network.. but it all depends on the bill... My friends ask me why dont i get internship and attend career fair.. I just tell them next semester next semester

That's an interesting career choice given our financial situation. My guess is that the field will get highly competitive since financial institutions are looking for new ways to deal with the crisis. Many of the best-known maneuvers don't apply to the money market anymore (i.e. commercial paper for short-term deadlines, liquidity in the securities market, etc.)

On the bright side, getting a job at Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley shouldn't be any harder than getting a job at JPMorgan or Bank of America since they're no longer bulge bracket firms (hey, at least they survived, unlike their sister firms). I used to date this guy who worked for WaMu (now JPMorgan) as a financial analyst and he basically landed the job right out of college. Again, things might be a tad different now, but at least your dream job at Goldman Sachs is more realistic than it used to.

Getting into a good school is absolutely critical so I agree with Daffodils about Columbia. I'd also add the University of Chicago which has a great MBA program in part because of it's superb economics department. Both schools are hard to get in, so get started on those internships ASAP.

yea thanks for the advice.. yea I have checked on booth school of business.. excellent grad school... I know I need to get started on internship.. but like you and i both know .. nothing can happen until dream act bill passes.. but lets hope for the best