Investment Banking

Investment Banking: Life as an Associate

An associate is typically a recently graduated MBA or an analyst who gets promoted after three or four years. You will usually stay an associate for three years or so. An associate still has to do a lot of grunt work and may even have an analyst to call on. Your hours will still be miserable and you haven't really become a human being yet. Like a good analyst, your job is to make your boss look good and to understand what's going on. Your boss may abuse you from time to time and you aren't supposed to complain really. This is a job where you can really start to shine. If you add value to transactions or help get things done in some other meaningful way, you can expect to be paid a reasonable bonus and have a shot a promotion to AVP.

Associate level pay in New York firms runs roughly $90,000 in your first year (including bonus). If you are good and stay awhile, expect to go up to roughly $130,000 to $150,000 before you hop up another level. In London expect a salary of roughly 60,000 to 80,000 Sterling (all-in).

Key Skills

In investment banking / corporate finance / M&A, key associate skills include:

* the ability to do DCF valuations
* the ability to use Excel in your sleep
* the ability to arrange client meetings and get the logistics right
* the ability to deal with horrendous egos
* the ability to find comparable companies
* the ability to network within the firm and befriend key people like librarians, IT gurus, messengers, lawyers, compliance etc.

In debt and equity capital markets positions, key associate skills include:

* the ability to massage league tables
* the ability to price up new deals (e.g. bonds, convertibles, preferreds)
* pretend that you know what's going when clients call in and the boss is not around
* the ability to track past deals and pricing to sense where the market is going
* check and generate weekly newsletters (weeklies)
* the ability to fill in silences in meetings with insightful comments (while making sure your boss controls things)
* coordinate due diligence
* prepare document on debt and equity deals
* make sure analysts get burgers from the right place
* generate pitch books with your eyes closed while talking to clients and screaming at syndicate

In sales and trading positions, key associate skills include:

* the ability to watch your bosses blotter
* the ability to know where prices are
* the ability to work options pricing models
* the ability to bluff a little when needed
* the ability to eat endless fattening food without getting fat
* the ability to golf, play tennis, drink and joke around with clients
* the ability to make clients feel comfortable with you

Success Factors

Key success factors include (i) getting your job done well, (ii) getting many things done in a chaotic environment, (iii) dressing well, (iv) having a beer and a good time every once in awhile, (v) always making your boss look good, (vi) being a total whiz with computers, (vii) being able to spin bad news into ok news and (viii) network within the firm. Other good things to do include figuring out when a job could be done better and going out and doing it. For example, create a database to track the results of an equity tender offer. Initiative is key. Also, getting to know clients is very important since you will be using those relationships later on.

Assessment

As an associate you are in. Your job now is to prove you have what it takes to make in investment banking. You may not always like the environment and culture you are in, but your job is to survive and eventually excel. You are only a few years away from getting your own clients, initiating your own deals and making some good money.

Play your cards right and you'll be happy you did the time. Big time.

Recommended Books

* Applied Corporate Finance: A User's Manual, by Aswath Damodaran. Walks you through how to do corporate finance in detail with extensive examples. Read this for an investment banking job.
* Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, Harper Collins Books, 1993. Describes the rather crazy life of one corporate executive. Lots of juicy personality conflict. If you liked the movie you will definitely enjoy the book. Good background for an M&A job.
* Fast Track: The Insider's Guide to Winning Jobs in Management Consulting, Investment Banking, and Securities Trading, by Miriam Naficy. A recent Stanford Job and former employee of Goldman Sachs provides a highly practical overview of what it takes to get a good finance job. Highly recommended.
* Handbook of Fixed Income, Frank Fabozzi (editor). This is the bible for any job involving fixed income sales, trading, underwriting or derivatives. Should be required reading in every MBA program.
* Tim Crack's Guide to Quantitative Questions from Wall Street Job Interviewers. If you are interviewing for a job in derivatives or other relatively quantiative area you should get this book. This is not so important to go through for a plain vanilla i-banking job, although it couldn't hurt.
* Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, by Tom Copeland, Tim Koller and Jack Murrin. Valuation delivers more potent strategies for measuring and enhancing the bottom-line value of any company. Also walks you through how to do a valuation. The diskette is also quite valuable given that you get a ton of spreadsheets to play with. Great background for any job involving M&A or investment banking.

Investment Banking: Life as an Associate

An associate is typically a recently graduated MBA or an analyst who gets promoted after three or four years. You will usually stay an associate for three years or so. An associate still has to do a lot of grunt work and may even have an analyst to call on. Your hours will still be miserable and you haven't really become a human being yet. Like a good analyst, your job is to make your boss look good and to understand what's going on. Your boss may abuse you from time to time and you aren't supposed to complain really. This is a job where you can really start to shine. If you add value to transactions or help get things done in some other meaningful way, you can expect to be paid a reasonable bonus and have a shot a promotion to AVP.

Associate level pay in New York firms runs roughly $90,000 in your first year (including bonus). If you are good and stay awhile, expect to go up to roughly $130,000 to $150,000 before you hop up another level. In London expect a salary of roughly 60,000 to 80,000 Sterling (all-in).

Key Skills

In investment banking / corporate finance / M&A, key associate skills include:

* the ability to do DCF valuations
* the ability to use Excel in your sleep
* the ability to arrange client meetings and get the logistics right
* the ability to deal with horrendous egos
* the ability to find comparable companies
* the ability to network within the firm and befriend key people like librarians, IT gurus, messengers, lawyers, compliance etc.

In debt and equity capital markets positions, key associate skills include:

* the ability to massage league tables
* the ability to price up new deals (e.g. bonds, convertibles, preferreds)
* pretend that you know what's going when clients call in and the boss is not around
* the ability to track past deals and pricing to sense where the market is going
* check and generate weekly newsletters (weeklies)
* the ability to fill in silences in meetings with insightful comments (while making sure your boss controls things)
* coordinate due diligence
* prepare document on debt and equity deals
* make sure analysts get burgers from the right place
* generate pitch books with your eyes closed while talking to clients and screaming at syndicate

In sales and trading positions, key associate skills include:

* the ability to watch your bosses blotter
* the ability to know where prices are
* the ability to work options pricing models
* the ability to bluff a little when needed
* the ability to eat endless fattening food without getting fat
* the ability to golf, play tennis, drink and joke around with clients
* the ability to make clients feel comfortable with you

Success Factors

Key success factors include (i) getting your job done well, (ii) getting many things done in a chaotic environment, (iii) dressing well, (iv) having a beer and a good time every once in awhile, (v) always making your boss look good, (vi) being a total whiz with computers, (vii) being able to spin bad news into ok news and (viii) network within the firm. Other good things to do include figuring out when a job could be done better and going out and doing it. For example, create a database to track the results of an equity tender offer. Initiative is key. Also, getting to know clients is very important since you will be using those relationships later on.

Assessment

As an associate you are in. Your job now is to prove you have what it takes to make in investment banking. You may not always like the environment and culture you are in, but your job is to survive and eventually excel. You are only a few years away from getting your own clients, initiating your own deals and making some good money.

Play your cards right and you'll be happy you did the time. Big time.

Recommended Books

* Applied Corporate Finance: A User's Manual, by Aswath Damodaran. Walks you through how to do corporate finance in detail with extensive examples. Read this for an investment banking job.
* Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, Harper Collins Books, 1993. Describes the rather crazy life of one corporate executive. Lots of juicy personality conflict. If you liked the movie you will definitely enjoy the book. Good background for an M&A job.
* Fast Track: The Insider's Guide to Winning Jobs in Management Consulting, Investment Banking, and Securities Trading, by Miriam Naficy. A recent Stanford Job and former employee of Goldman Sachs provides a highly practical overview of what it takes to get a good finance job. Highly recommended.
* Handbook of Fixed Income, Frank Fabozzi (editor). This is the bible for any job involving fixed income sales, trading, underwriting or derivatives. Should be required reading in every MBA program.
* Tim Crack's Guide to Quantitative Questions from Wall Street Job Interviewers. If you are interviewing for a job in derivatives or other relatively quantiative area you should get this book. This is not so important to go through for a plain vanilla i-banking job, although it couldn't hurt.
* Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, by Tom Copeland, Tim Koller and Jack Murrin. Valuation delivers more potent strategies for measuring and enhancing the bottom-line value of any company. Also walks you through how to do a valuation. The diskette is also quite valuable given that you get a ton of spreadsheets to play with. Great background for any job involving M&A or investment banking.

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泡泡鱼2006-05-16, 08:05:00
Investment Banking: Life as an Analyst

Analysts are typically recent undergraduates who work long hours and do a fair bit of grunt work. A good analyst helps his or her boss get their job done and done well. Analysts are not normally expected to contribute in meetings but often can. Many analysts return to the business. Others choose to try other opportunities. During recruiting out of an MBA program, former analysts will be at a significant advantage over others without experience. A good pay number after bonus is $38,000 for the first year. Expect to go up roughly $5,000 a year until you hit associate.

Key analyst skills include:

* the ability to work with Excel spreadsheets,
* write macros in VBA,
* track and generate weekly newsletters (weeklies),
* keep schedules,
* generate prospectuses,
* get burgers
* put in and retrieve pitch books from the copy center
* and answer client phone calls.

Success Factors

Key success factors include (i) getting your job done well and without friction, (ii) getting things done on time, (iii) asking for help when you need it, (iv) dressing neatly, (v) not complaining, gossiping or whining, (vi) learning to use the library and the web to do research, (vii) become a whiz-kid with Bloomberg, Excel, Word and Powerpoint, (viii) always give your boss credit, (ix) know when to cheer up your boss and (x) know when to stay out of the way.

A good analyst also networks, observes and thinks. You want to be genuine yet make it clear that you like your boss. Excessive posterior kissing is a negative. It's always good to have a little hobby as well like following stocks, playing Liars Poker or following currencies. You can do this when things get quiet in August.

Assessment

It's a tiring life but gives you a good chance to learn the investment banking field and bond with people whom you will work with later. Being an analyst is one of the best ways to break into a very good field. The return on investment from being a good analyst can be over 50 times what they actually pay you.

After two years, most analysts leave to get their MBA or pursue other positions. It all depends on the firm. Some places have a pretty strict policy of getting rid of you. Others are more mellow. It makes sense, after all, to try to keep very good people who can get a job done. If you don't go back and get an MBA you might benefit from going out and getting a CFA.

Recommended Books

* Corporate Financial Management, Douglas Emery and John Finnerty, Prentice-Hall. An excellent, detailed book on topics in corporate finance. If you want to study what the field is about, this is a good book to start with. More "real world" than Brealey & Myers and Ross.
* The Economist. A great source for info on what's happening in the world.
* Fast Track: The Insider's Guide to Winning Jobs in Management Consulting, Investment Banking, and Securities Trading, by Miriam Naficy. A recent Stanford MBA and former employee of Goldman Sachs provides a highly practical overview of what it takes to get a good finance job. Highly recommended.
* Wall Street Journal. Should read this every day.


Investment Banking: Recruiting Outlook

We're now seeing a bright recruiting season in investment banking shape up. If the market holds up, hiring this Fall and in 2000 will be spectacular. If.
Overall: Hiring volumes in i-banking this year was even to up. Salaries held and in some cases jumped nicely. It's no longer a head-turner to hear of an MBA package (all-in) at a top bank in the 130K region. There are still plenty of highly stressed twenty-six year olds pulling down $300K+ salaries.
Environment: Financial intermediation in debt and equity capital markets (investment banking) plus the side businesses (M&A, project finance, operations) are all hot in 1999. Securities underwriting volumes this year have been the largest in history. At the same time, we are seeing the hottest M&A year in history. Monster M&A deals like BP/Arco/Amoco and AT&T/Media One are the play of the day.
The stock market in the U.S. is booming; however, Asia is still in "recovery" mode.
Who Did the Hiring in the U.S. Bulge?: Among the U.S. bulge bracket we saw increases in MBA recruiting at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Salomon/Citi and Bear Stearns. Merrill and CSFB even to down. Lehman steady for quant and banking types.
Recruiting Climate in the U.S.: Average. New York real estate is still mightily expensive, reflecting strong bonuses and steady recruiting into the financial services sector. (To say nothing of a banner year in corporate, consulting, media and publishing).
Who Did the Hiring in the European Bulge?: Europe is red hot at the moment (esp. in the City of London). Big recruiters were Warburg Dillon Read, Deutsche Bank, ABN-Amro, Barclays, Dresdner (more in Germany) and CSFB. Other smaller players such Den Danske, BBV and Paribas have also been recruiting selectively. Japanese banks have quietly pulled out.
Recruiting Climate in Europe: Europe is the best place in the world at moment to be looking at investment banking career opportunities. The Financial Times jobs section is absolutely jammed with adverts for analysts/associates and specialists (you have to get the paper in the UK; web version doesn't have the ads). London is THE place to be. Technology market (programmers) softening a bit. Eastern Europe is very mixed. Russia and Ukraine not good. Places like Poland and Hungary doing well.
Germans still ambitious for Frankfurt. Commerzbank, Deutsche, Dresdner all recruiting (but usually through apprenticeship programs). HypoVereinsbank is a new player, looking to grow.
France is a mess at the moment with the BNP, SocGen and Paribas tangle. Expect this to get worked out. Doesn't bode well, but keep in mind that Paribas is a decent bank that will have to keep adding to its staff in time.
Recruiting Climate in Asia: Generally lousy. A recent job advertisement on Bloomberg for an entry level job in Tokyo generated nearly a thousand resume submissions. Disaster at Nikko, Nomura and Sakura. HSBC is very strong and is selectively recruiting. Places like ING/Barings are maintaining and growing presence in markets like the Phillipines. Asia is an unfortunate market in 1999. But hope springs eternal!
Recruiting Climate in Australia/NZ: Very good. The Financial Review carries quite a few investment banking recruiting advertisements. The big U.S. players such as Morgan Stanley and Merrills are growing their presence. The local banks such as NAB and ANZ are looking to strengthen. Deutsche Bank is selling the newly acquired BT Australia which should also cause jockeying and consequent recruiting amongst major players.
Recruiting Climate in Africa: Hoped for growth in places like Egypt and Nigeria still not happening. However, the South Africa market is alive and well. South African players like TD and Hambros are healthy. This market will grow in time, but high rates and a shaky fiscal situation may hamper the market.
Hot Jobs in the U.S.
1. Technology investment banking. Anyone involved in the tech equity and M&A area is absolutely frazzled this year. High deal flow with outstanding market reaction to priceline.com, ebay etc. Places like Morgan Stanley, ML, CSFB, BT Alex Brown are absolutely booming and are recruiting like mad. Now.
2. Structured finance. CBOs, CLOs and synthetic structures are booming. Associated area of credit derivatives is also very strong. Get an internship doing this because they wont teach you much about this area in business school these days.
3. Equity research. The quantity and quality of equity research is ever-improving. There has been high growth in this area with particular demand for MBA-types with interesting industry experience.
4. Operations and Risk Management. There is a stronger focus on risk management everywhere and operational back office people are in strong demand. This is a great entry point for folks who aren't coming out of a top 20 business school.
5. Electronic Trading. A very cool area. It's a lot more than eTrade, Ameritrade etc. Places like DLJ and Merrill are going into electronic debt and equity trading in a big way.
6. Government Bond Trading. Govvies have been the nightmare job area for the last decade. But suddenly it's a hot area again. For one, there's a lot more interest in value in the sector given liquidity differentials that have arisen lately. And, prop trading in governments has been a good business in the last year.
7. Private Client Services: Banking to high net worth individuals is growing in the US. Big players include Goldman, JP Morgan and Brown Brothers Harriman. UBS is looking to grow. A May report in Institutional Investor reads: "UBS is setting the stage for a major U.S. expansion. The push to grow across the States includes forming a dedicated wealth management group in New York and opening four private banking offices by the end of the year, with additional office openings slated for the year 2000. UBS also is looking into a strategic acquisition once it grows the private banking business further, says a senior UBS banker. In addition, UBS, which through its merger with Swiss Bank acquired trust powers, is now equipped to move forward and put those powers into use."
Hot Jobs in Europe
1. Credit Research. There's a huge shortage of people in credit research at the moment as there hasn't been much of a corporate bond market.
2. Bond underwriting. The Euro capital markets are booming with volumes double those of the U.S. Jobs in Debt Capital Markets are widely available.
3. M&A. There's been huge turnover as players like Lehman and Deutsche have been building their advisory sectors in Europe. With emerging hostile takeovers and megadeals like Telecom Italia look for this to continue.
4. High Yield. The high yield market didn't exist in Europe five years ago. It exists today and is growing big time. Lots of jobs there.
Who's Going to be Recruiting in the Next Year in the US?
* Merrill Lynch (comeback time, although there is lots of merger talk)
* Chase (serious about growing investment banking and continuing to recruit in size)
* Goldman Sachs (post-IPO glow will help grow)
* Morgan Stanley (expanding everywhere)
* NationsbancMontgomery/BankAmerica (they are VERY serious this time. Heavy recruiting in New York, San Francisco and Charlotte)
* DLJ (a very profitable high yield operation is basis for growth elsewhere)
* ING Furman Selz (smaller player with huge American ambitions)
* ABN Amro (in Chicago going after middle market clients. good strategy with growth potential).
Who's Going to be Recruiting in the Next Year in Europe?
* ABN Amro (wants to grow throughout Europe, esp. Eastern Europe).
* Deutsche (currently #1 in Euro bond underwriting by a mile and hot in derivatives). Has sustainable platform for growth.
* Morgan Stanley (wants to grow faster in Europe)
* JP Morgan (looking for selective growth, esp. M&A)
* Warburg Dillon Read (a leading player that is getting done with a big merger)
* Merrill Lynch (putting a nice new building across from Ropemaker Place)

Investment Banking: Facts and Advice

A good time to send your resume to an investment bank is in November and December. Hires are usually made around January and February. But don't stop in Feb. just because you haven't hit your target. According to an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney "it's really crucial to be persistent. It's basically a numbers game. Contact lots of people. But at the same time, customize your approach to each person and bank. That means it's going to be pretty much a full-time job."

Don't forget to check back. Traditional recruiting is done by April. Lots of people also change jobs in the March to July period. This means that many banks are scrambling for personnel in July, long after the resumes have been thrown away. Somewhat surprisingly, the best time to find a full-time job is by screening your contacts in late Spring and Summer.

Investment banking is one of the most global businesses on earth. Investment bankers spend plenty of time tracking down corporations in Peoria and Seattle. But they are just as likely to be working with investors and issuers on the other side of the world--perhaps Hong Kong, Bulgaria or even Africa.

Electronic investment banking is emerging in a serious way. Companies like E-Trade offer online stock trading. Other organizations like DLJ and Deutsche Bank are offering electronic trading of stocks and bonds. Electronic origination of securities is being led by W.R. Hambrecht and Wit Capital. There are tremendous opportunities for growth in this area.

Investment banking is seeing massive consolidation. Today,firms merge at unprecedented speed. The mid-1990s have seen mergers of Citibank, Smith Barney and Salomon, Bankers Trust, Dean Witter and Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Montgomery Securities and SBC, UBS, Warburg and Dillon Read. Expect this to continue. The big players, particularly, Merrill and Goldman, are not done yet.

Investment banks had a great year in 1999 with a strong market. Unfortunately, problems in the emerging markets have crimped hiring lately. Areas that are worth looking into in tough environments include investment grade debt, firm risk control and certain types of M&A. Also keep in mind that if you can't find a job due to the lousy environment, investment banks often hire from corporate treasuries when times improve. Thus, pursuing a corporate finance job isn't such a bad alternative. It beats driving a taxi.

Investment banks have experienced rapid salary escalation as firms fight to try to keep good people. According to a recent McKinsey study, the average salary at a top ten US investment bank in 1980 was a little over $50,000. By 1998 it had more than tripled.

The investment banking business is notoriusly competitive. A recent Goldman Sachs research report finds that five large European investment banks (headed by commercial bank parents) have committed almost $17 billion in capital to the industry. Firms like CSFB, Warburg Dillon Read, Santander and ING are attempting to expand rapidly in the US and are putting salary pressure on other firms as they go after talent and business. In Fall 1998 a lot hiring was coming from Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. A recent McKinsey study argued that many firms in the business will not be able to survive long-term (overcapacity situation). This argues that you should try to get on with one of the stronger players in the industry if you have a choice.

The Asia crisis has put the dampers on much investment banking activity in places like Indonesia, Hong Kong, China and Thailand. Yet hiring is happening because so many have quit in 1997 and 1998. The market declines and losses on emerging market bonds that book place in late 1998 will continue to drive personnel changes.

Investment banks are facing declining margins on bread and butter business. Margins are falling in underwriting of investment grade debt, vanilla foreign exchange and many areas of OTC derivatives. Treasury bond trading is fast becoming one of Wall Street's least profitable areas. This is putting downward pressure on salaries in places. Expect more pressure on salaries in time for traders as electronic trading becomes more prevalent.

Sometimes you will find yourself working for an egotistical jerk. What do you do? First, don't take the job in the first place. If someone mistreats you in an interview, get up and walk out (funny... you may actually get offered the job). Second, be sure to communicate your needs very clearly when it matters when dealing with an ego-creep. It might just be that someone is so busy and overwhelmed that they get abusive. Laying it out in a nice way may help. Finally, if you find yourself in a truly pathological environment working with dysfunctional people, bail out. Life is too short and the money isn't worth it.

Pick the first firm you work for carefully. People who jump from firm to firm too much are less likely to get hired into a great job because your loyalty will be in doubt. One leading global investment bank has a practice of minimizing hiring from outside to avoid "career jumpers."

Investment banking is seeing entry from traditional banks. The Glass-Steagall Act which restricts commercial bank activity in underwriting equity and debt is being relaxed. The following U.S. banks, for example, have entered securities underwriting in a serious way:

* BankAmerica
* JP Morgan
* Chase

The 1998 merger of Travelers, Citibank and Salomon into Citigroup will only accelerate this.

Investment banking is generally transaction driven. In this environment a single individual with good client contact can make an enormous difference for a firm. This is part of the reason that star investment bankers ("rainmakers") take home high bonuses.

Investment Banking: Skill and Talent Requirements

Investment banks want employees with a combination of strong analytical and interpersonal skills. Some jobs lean more towards one skill set than another (e.g. brokers need to be mainly sales people). A typical job of an equities analyst requires both analytic and interpersonal skills. The skills involved include:
Key Skill Area Requirement
People skills: High
Sales skills: Medium
Communication skills: High
Analytical skills: High
Ability to synthesize: High
Creative ability: High
Initiative: Medium
Work hours: 50-120/week

Hard Work Expected and Respected Investment banking is a high work, high risk, high reward profession. When you start your hours will typically be long but the work can be exciting. Be prepared for moments of frustration where you are stretched too thin and moments of exhiliration where everything clicks.

Tough to Break In It's relatively hard to break into investment banking. You need to be prepared to pursue firms on your own after you have thoroughly prepared yourself.

Believe it or Not, Bankers Have Social Value Investment bankers are often the subject of social scorn in movies like Bonfire of the Vanities. Are investment bankers really greedy narcissistic scum? Some probably are. But keep in mind that they play a crucial social role of helping to direct capital to companies with great ideas that make people better off.

Analyst Jobs Are the Best Entry Point Many college graduates start in investment banking in an analyst position. To succeed in these positions you need to be extremely dedicated, have good spreadsheet skills and be analytically fluent. Your next step will be to become an associate. Same skills, just raise the volume.

Communication and Completion Abilities Key In mid-career, your success usually will depend on your ability to communicate with clients and get deals done. At this level it is also important to have a good understanding of market trends, the political and macroeconomic environment and deal mechanics.

Math Skills Can Help Some jobs in investment banking call for very strong mathematical ability. If you are good at math think about getting an advanced degree in a technical field (studying areas such as stochastic calculus and differential equations), then take some advanced finance courses in options pricing or bond valuation and apply to a research department on Wall Street (Carnegie-Mellon's FAST program is a leading in training mathematicians and physicists for Wall Street jobs).

Accounting Skills Valuable The ability to analyze accounting numbers critically is important in most analyst positions. Ultimately, you should aim for the CFA designation if you would like to be a securities analyst. The CFA helps you become much more mobile over time. If you have ambitions too "bail out" some day and become a corporate financial analyst you might also want to consider the CMA (Certified Management Accountant) designation.

Traders are Multi-Talented It's hard to define what makes a good trader. A good understanding of the market, quick reactions, analytical skills and the ability to bluff help. Read Liars Poker by Michael Lewis to learn more about sales and trading.

Get Used to New York Most large firms operate out of New York. Even if you are interested in working in another location, your general interviewing activities are likely to be centered there. Other places you should look at include Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Moscow and Singapore. If you go looking for a job in investment banking using informational interviews in the U.S. it is crucial that you make several trips to New York.

Teamwork Crucial A crucial success factor in investment banking is teamwork. Being able to pull together persons with large egos to get a presentation together for a client is a challenge and is likely to be rewarded highly.

Scientists and Lawyers Wanted There's definitely an interest in people with backgrounds in science and law. Scientist types can work on everything from derivatives algorithms to biotech banking. Lawyers can help design new securities, sell leasing business and use their analytical prowess to talk to clients. This said, you have to sell yourself. It often doesn't hurt to go back and get an MBA from a top school, and then try to repurpose your career into investment banking.

Contacts are Everything The key to breaking into investment banking is a good network of contacts. You may already be blessed with such a network, but if you don't have one, you can start to develop one by going on informational interviews, attending industry conferences, finding alumni from your school in the business etc. Keep in mind that your network might not really "pay off" for some time. If you are young and haven't gone for an MBA degree, try to get into the best possible school and then go for quantitative and analytical coursework.

Getting Things Done is Important Starting off in an investment bank, you are usually responsible for getting projects done well and on-time, whether it be writing reports, running spreadsheets, trading, doing research or coding programs. Later, once you get involved with clients and ideas for generating revenue, you will be rewarded greatly if you can bring in business. At higher levels (usually Director, Managing Director and up) you are exposed to much greater risk. At this level, people are often fired for non-performance, whereas at lower levels you may not be scrutinized as closely.