Career in Investment Banking

[Carl_Manchester]

Vaud said:

Carl_Manchester said:

Yes, I was referring to the future roles of the desk trader who can do programming or trader 'v3.0' not the PHD type. Its an emerging role, I read a few articles about it in the last quarter.

I don't think there is a long-term future for the HFT shops and places that run a big model (like MAN Group) but what do i know, I don't think it serves the market, or humanity, any real value.

Fair points. My point was less about HFT, more about niche skills in the big banks - but everyone wants a niche, right?

hah yes Vaud, too true.

RE: ICAP I accidentally got off the lift on the wrong floor once and ended up at ICAP, I never made the same mistake twice. Eventually even those guys will be niche, if they stay alive long enough and don't have a heart attack in the interim. My blood pressure doubled by simply standing at the lifts waiting for the next ride down.

Their niche? shouting frequently at each other as LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE, gawd bless 'em.

Edited by Carl_Manchester on Monday 5th December 20:58

[FocusRS3]

Carl_Manchester said:

Vaud said:

Carl_Manchester said:

Yes, I was referring to the future roles of the desk trader who can do programming or trader 'v3.0' not the PHD type. Its an emerging role, I read a few articles about it in the last quarter.

I don't think there is a long-term future for the HFT shops and places that run a big model (like MAN Group) but what do i know, I don't think it serves the market, or humanity, any real value.

Fair points. My point was less about HFT, more about niche skills in the big banks - but everyone wants a niche, right?

hah yes.

accidentally got off the lift on the wrong floor once and ended up at ICAP, never again. Eventually even those guys will be niche, if they stay alive long enough and don't have a heart attack in the interim.

Their niche? shouting alot at each other as LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE.

Well they are now owned by Tullett but their business model is coming to a close.
They are now fighting over scraps so the heart attacks may be imminent !

[CardinalFang]

Carl_Manchester said:

hah yes Vaud, too true.

RE: ICAP I accidentally got off the lift on the wrong floor once and ended up at ICAP, I never made the same mistake twice. Eventually even those guys will be niche, if they stay alive long enough and don't have a heart attack in the interim. My blood pressure doubled by simply standing at the lifts waiting for the next ride down.

Their niche? shouting frequently at each other as LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE, gawd bless 'em.

Edited by Carl_Manchester on Monday 5th December 20:58

Tullets the same - animals! Back in mid 80's I worked for Telerate - no unaccompanied female sales/account management allowed on their trading floor.

[z4RRSchris]

if he is at uni now he should have secured an IB internship for this summer. If he hasn't he has no chance post university.

he should go for PE/HF. i reckon we get paid better per hour these days anyway.

[LooneyTunes]

matrignano said:

He should then attend all events where banks come and present at his university, try and network with as many bank colleagues as he can, get business cards, follow-up with those people in order to get an internship.

Just so that it doesn't get missed this ^^^, BUT alongside networking with his university's alumni. However, to get to the best contacts in alumni network he'll need to be bold and/or make friends with his university's career service and convince them he's not a fool.

Remember, bank recruitment is brutal: when you have hundreds to sift through, a single typo in a CV can result in it going in the bin (poor attention to detail). It always seems to be *much* easier for you to make the cut if someone (the more senior/relevant the better) is interested in your application...

If he gets to interview he needs to dress the part and not ask dumb questions (pitfalls he will avoid if he's been able to learn from friendly alumni).

Don't forget, a couple of years work experience + top tier MBA is another popular route in (at Associate instead of Analyst level).

[Countdown]

Hi all

Thanks again for the info. I keep forwarding it on to him.

[jesta1865]

i haven't read the whole thread, but i did work at a US bank, doing the IT for the IB side.

not sure how it is now, but there were many chinese walls between depts, m&a team not to meet with traders etc.

what i do remember is the bottom end guys putting in some ridiculous hours. I've been in overnight / weekends doing upgrades and there are analysts working on due diligence research reports in the early hours.

we've had to cancel entire system upgrades for servers etc because they were working on deals that had time constraints, and i've been called on xmas day to fix IT issues as they have been working.

If he is good and puts in the graft the rewards are immense, it was rumoured that one january when the bonuses came out over 100 people got 7 figures, and that at least 10 got 8 (back 2002 time though).

the bottom end is very cut throat, analysts and associates will happily knife each other in the back to get ahead, they could be fairly abrasive all round really, the guys from vp up were generally ok as they knew they would get to the top (except for one very rude russian vp who really didn't like me or another guy in the team). at least twice i sat down with bankers who were in tears at 2 / 3am as they felt they couldn't cope.

i know i'm painting a very negative picture, but it's not like the movies, i'm just trying to explain how we viewed it.

an internship (if he can get one) will open his eyes and show him if he really wants to do it.