Anyone in Finance?

[thepatriot2705]

Anyone here work or have worked in Investment banking? I'm still trying to break into the industry and would love to gain some Insights.

Not going to provide many details publicly, but would be more than happy to chat via private message.

[GH41]

I want to break into nuclear physics with an interest
in mass destruction. How stupid does that sound compared to your question?

[SomeOtherGuy]

Some industries are not really open to all. If you have a business degree from an Ivy League school, your career center will hook you up with interviews. Otherwise good luck.

BTW, are you aware of the hours expected of junior ibankers? There are easier ways to earn a living, and less painful ways to kill yourself.

[thepatriot2705]

Some industries are not really open to all. If you have a business degree from an Ivy League school, your career center will hook you up with interviews. Otherwise good luck.

BTW, are you aware of the hours expected of junior ibankers? There are easier ways to earn a living, and less painful ways to kill yourself.

Yes, I'm well aware of the hours. I like work and would have no problems with the hours. Actually, the more hours I work, the happier I am.

I want to break into nuclear physics with an interest
in mass destruction. How stupid does that sound compared to your question?

That is a stupid question. Fail to see how mine is a stupid question. I'm just a silly kid pursuing a dream. I'll be damned if I ever give up on my goals.

[SomeOtherGuy]

Yes, I'm well aware of the hours. I like work and would have no problems with the hours. Actually, the more hours I work, the happier I am.

I did a first round interview with the most well-known ibank, many many years ago. I believe they are looking for people who are reasonably bright (no genius required), extremely motivated, and willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the assigned task. For the top tier you would need top college credentials (Ivy or equivalent, and there aren't many equivalents - maybe Stanford and Northwestern) and even with those credentials they are only hiring a few people from each class of interested people. I don't know of any other avenues unless you have family ties to the industry or your family owns a billion dollar+ company. In either case you would probably also have the college credential, and in either case I doubt you'd be asking here anyway.

If you have the brains and motivation to even get hired at ibanking you would probably do very well in other kinds of business also.

[RetroRevolver77]

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[Dr. Bullseye]

Either the above or go into unlicensed investments to see if you really like doing this. What you are doing is selling someone something. Can you do this? I have sold stock, positions, percentages of investments in many strange fields. Or get a corporation on paper, any corporation with a telephone and wait till a "fronter" from say The Oppenheimer Group calls you and pitches you. He will send you some paperwork and then, if you show interest, a "closer" will call you to make the sale. You are going to transfer or send 5-25k to him based little more on the steak your have in mind and the sizzle he sells you. Show interest all the way to sending the money and you will get a great idea of the biz. Guys in it for some time are called "loaders". They call people they have sold to before and sell them something new (loading). This is a little different than the "load" of the investment (the portion covering commissions of the house and fronter and closer) so the terminology can be a bit confusing. We had a couple of recent grads looking to get their security licenses where I worked (at least then you didn't need a sponsor) but they became discouraged and went into another field. Believe me, most people can't learn to front and most people can't learn to close a door. It is a talent and has nothing to do with education (other than sounding educated on the telephone) so business grads have nothing on you.

I got out of this as quickly as I could afford to do so although I did make some good money doing this. Having been on the fringes of the industry I can tell you all one piece of gospel truth: NEVER BUY AN INVESTMENT OVER THE PHONE.

Later, I worked in another field with a 401k retirement account managed by one of the big five in the industry. They had tons of plans. Guys there talked crap about things they knew nothing about like diversification. I warned them sector by sector each would eventually wink out. They would be told we are all "Big Boys" and then they would be sold into a replacement sector, only to eventually lose in that too. I never participated. They all lost almost everything in the 2008 crash. I didn't work there by then but they were all calling me on the phone like I was a flippin' genius.

By the way, I worked for a home office of a California Bank for awhile---crookedest outfit I ever worked for. Personally, the whole financial sector is very dissatisfying to work in and I wouldn't recommend it. I only worked in investments when I burnt out on my regular line of work.

[SethB]

Only guy I know that even had a chance at that was a Top 10 MBA. And he didn't make the cut.

[RetroRevolver77]

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[thepatriot2705]

I know plenty of MBA's that either failed their securities exams or were drummed out within a year. I worked for one of the largest financial firms in the world so I saw a lot of things over the years. We used to test out using the Black-Scholes pricing models in undergrad among other calculations. So again, have to have that finance or accounting degree to even get your foot in the door. They don't want to invest into people who can't grasp financial concepts and calculations let alone retain the regulatory aspects.


https://brilliant.org/wiki/black-scholes-merton/

My educational background is solid. Undergrad was finance and accounting. Also have an MBA (concentration in Finance). I am familiar with the black scholes...gave me nightmares in undergrad but figured it out during my MBA.