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Jimmy, you need an MBA from a good school. Cornell wont cut it for most of the banks. We have people with MBAs doing accounting. you need to go to at least NYU
I worked for Goldman, left, because of the sick hours. i dont think it is right for the woman who wants children to spend her whole time at work, there should be balance, so i left. the hours are brutal everywhere. no life
I am suprised to here you say Cornell won't cut it
I am suprised to here you say Cornell won't cut it
I don't agree with that statement either. Cornell is a highly ranked university. Do internships and you will do fine. I know people from my Alma Mater Louisiana State University, which is a third tier university by some standards (though I tend to think it is under ranked), who work for Goldman.
I should do internships like junior/senior year in undergrad even right?
If you can land an internship Freshman and Sophomore year then by all means do it. The more internships the better. However that can be difficult to do since you more than likely haven't taken any applicable business classes yet other than your first few economics or statistics. However, its not completely uncommon to land a decent internship your first two years.
If you can't land a real internship that early then don't panic as most students don't get internships until junior year. I would suggest working some sort of part time job during college even if it isn't an internship. Try working for a Financial or accounting office as an office assistant. It will more than likely be a lot of getting coffee, making copies, and filing, but you would be surprised how even that kind of minor experience can look good enough to land you a good internship.
Definitely, however, make sure you have an internship the summer between your Junior and Senior year as that one is probably the most important. It should be an internship where essentially you are working the same job as someone who is a permanent new hire for that company. If you plan on working in NYC after graduation then you are going to want to intern in NYC. I know some recruiters can be a bit skeptical of why someone who has never worked here would want to move here. Basically they don't want someone who is going to move to NYC only to realize they don't like NYC, and then quit and move back home.
Beyond even the jobs get involved in organizations and take on leadership roles as those can be just as important as your work experience. I highly suggest Delta Sigma Pi which is the business fraternity I was a member of and Senior VP for two semesters for my chapter. It gave me great leadership experience, but even beyond that the networking opportunities are tremendous. I checked and there is a chapter there at Cornell.
In summary NYC financial and accounting firms like to see that you worked during college, worked applicable internships and that you held leadership positions in organizations. For investment banking your GPA will be very important as well I would suggest keeping it above a 3.5 if you can. However it isn't impossible to beat out other applicants if your GPA is lower.
I got a job in a more specialized area of Ernst & Young working with financial services and investment companies. My GPA was only a 3.1 (a bit lower than EY takes on average especially for the job I was going for) and I beat out applicants with GPAs that shamed mine. If you can get the interview then you can control your fate. NYC corporate recruiters like to see someone who is professional, very confident and very outgoing. Same could be said about any corporation in any large city, but NYC focuses on these attributes to the N'th power.
Indeed, but you need to get into Cornell first, to get the foot in the door. Business schools are very competitive, so it's best to have a couple of contingencies that can also do the same job of getting your foot in the door.
Last edited by bmwguydc; 08-26-2008 at 11:11 PM..
Reason: Typo
I'm an investment banker and there are definitely ways of "getting in". But i'm open to taking questions, so fire away.
Im australian and eager to eventually end up working for one of the big banks in the states. Im doing my bachelors in economics (in aus) and was wondering if you could give any advice or tips on what i should do after my bachelors to increase my chances of getting an ib job
I would try and go to a bank in Australia or Asia first. Macquarie is a great one for example and all the bulge bracket firms have offices in Australia (sydney I think). Try for an internship at one of the banks and go from there.
If you can't get in right away, I would definitely get as much business exposure as you can whether it be corporate finance for a F500 or consulting work. If banking is what you really want to do, you should also check into going to a top MBA program in Europe or the U.S. Those definitely up your chances. You have to be persistent because for every one spot in a front office, ibanking position, there are at least 100 applicants.
You can't work in the US on a tourist visa. Your best bet would be to work for an Aussie bank and then get transferred to the US.
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