Also, After rereading the OP's post, it sounds as if you aren't that serious about the whole idea. All I'll say is that i-banking is way to hard and stressful of a career to do if your heart really isn't into it. People hear how much money can be made and say "I'll do it for a few years, get rich and then follow my passions." It doesn't work like that. Nobody saves money like they think they're going to, and most people find that what they think is enough fuck-you money, isn't. My first year out of school, I didn't take a single day of vacation. I routinely worked 15 hour days and often times pulled all-nighters. There were several months where I worked for 3 or 4 weeks straight. I was chronically sleep deprived. It is tough to make it through that kind of stuff unless you are really passionate about what you are doing. You may think that you can fool the recruiters, but the good ones can generally tell if you're really interested in the job or the money.
Re: Finance: Where to start? You are joking. People who those credentials are looking at the buy side, not banking. You need to do some basic research. "Finance" is a big field, and the difference between value investing, investment banking, etc. is vast. Narrow down your focus, then get an internship doing something as close to that as possible. Don't choose something just because of the money, because it'll never be worth it.
I may have exaggerated a tad bit, but how many people do you know that actually go straight to the buy side? Sure, Blackstone and Citadel may hire a few undergrads, but most people are going to a BB before they get a crack at buy side. Even the super stars.
Re: Finance: Where to start? Don't flatter yourself. No one will give a shit if you get the big picture. It's all about how fast you can pump out models / pitch books. If you can hand a recruiter a book of cash flow models you built out (especially coming out of undergrad) that will go way further than anything else besides GPA and school.
My roommate started working for a bank in July. He hasn't had a single day off since he started and has been averaging between a 90 - 95 hr. work week for the past couple months. And only now is he starting to get put on deals, before that it was all pitches, weekly updates and the like. I literally do not see him for 5 days at a time. The number of meals he's eaten outside the office since he started you could most likely count on your hands. And he's not even at a bulge bracket bank. My advice, aside from doing most of what StarLit said (big emphasis on getting an internship before your senior year--experience is key), is to really understand what it is you're saying you want to get involved with. It doesn't matter what they pay you, I guarantee you it won't be worth it after the hours you will have put in. You have to really fucking want the leverage a banking job will give you and your future to make it worth it.
I went to an absolutely horrendous University and started out in the buy side in finance. I interned while I was in college and I am rather good at picking individual stocks, specifically small-cap value stocks, so I got hired. It is not impossible to get started in the buy side in finance. If you want to go work for a huge hedge fund (Greenlight, Paul Tudor Jones, One of the Tiger Cubs Pershing Square, whatever) or something, yes it might be difficult, but there are plenty of shops out there that manage $100 million to $500 million where it isn't impossible to break into. All the math and accolades in the world still don't make you good at the buy side. Just look at the guy who ran Long Term Capital (John Meriwether) then look at how he not only blew that hedge fund up (with the help of other guys with a ridiculous amount of education), but recently blew another one up and is looking to start yet another firm.
When I worked in audit, we would tie out our client's press release. Usually, we would tie it back to our work papers or the 10-Q or 10-K. The numbers in a press release should match the numbers in the Q or the K. The client looks at the numbers, but the external auditors are the ones that verify that everything is correct. Of course, sometimes they fuck up... Credentials: MBA in Finance, Accounting and Management, 2.5 years at a Big 4 firm and I have passed 50% (FAR and BEC) of the CPA exam. I like the following websites: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.distressed-debt-investing.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.distressed-debt-investing.com/</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.creditwritedowns.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.creditwritedowns.com/</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/</a> The blogs on the WSJ are good as well.
What the fuck is this? <a class="postlink" href="http://www.sprott.com/Docs/MarketsataGlance/12_2009_MAAG.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.sprott.com/Docs/MarketsataGl ... 9_MAAG.pdf</a>
Probably just our government ratcheting up the printing presses and disguising it as quantitative easing, which you know, did tons for us from 2003-2007. What does it mean when countries and the supposed private sector stop being able to buy treasuries? Well, I think we are making that bet and hoping the economy improves and we can try to right-size the budget. Or we could just keep rolling with the deficits and hope we don't break something. The latter seems to be what we are shooting for.
Latest data on Greece only has me more confident of the above. With Ireland and Spain still struggling I am now very bullish on Sterling for 2010.
Large Bank Tax? What do you guys think of the proposed idea of taxing some of the larger banks 200 points? I can find the article in the WSJ where they talk more about it--it was on the front page a couple of days ago. Also, what about banks having to pay this tax, but not frannie mae or the auto industries?
Re: Large Bank Tax? Governments need to start treading very carefully on this issue. As popular as it is to bash banks, the reality is they are not only a central part of our economy but they and their employees provide significant corporate and personal income taxes. The key is banks and the government working together to find an amicable solution that allows the government to appease the public with a public show of force while also allowing the banks to keep making money. The key to this is the dropping of threats from both sides and opening up the communication lines. The banks have a breaking point and if the US and UK government keep up their current attitudes they have to understand financial markets are now global and banks will look to move.
Pretty got-damn tough to break in to So I just got back from a trip to the street and I just wanted to say, holy fuck is this a hard industry to break in to. We went to BB, Boutiques, Alumni Networking sessions, had speakers in our class leading up to this trip, and you know what? Internships still look pretty bleak. I know it's a lot of "you're a sophomore, you have a lot of time," and I respect that. I don't want to take away any positions from the juniors at our school--I'd like to say that we became a close knit bunch over our trip to the street and I sincerely want to see them succeed. I actually made a couple of good friends from my school over the past 3 days because of this. Sorry about going on, but I'm just saying that I have a new appreciation for you guys. I'd like to think I'm not half retarded, and I'm reading WSJ every day for like 3 months, good gpam all that bullshit, but godDAMN. I have at least 50 cards from alumns now, all over financial services, and I feel like I can only rely on a couple of them--even then, they can't help me out. Time to start cold calling some boutiques I guess--they like it when kids take the initiative, right? Right?
Re: Pretty got-damn tough to break in to What school do you go to? Unfortunately breaking into Wall Street depends a lot on where you went and who you know, but that can be said about a lot of things.
Re: Pretty got-damn tough to break in to You already missed the window for the good banking internships this summer anyway. Start showing a lot of love to boutiques and regional banks and not just in NYC. Ideally, you should have already had contact at these places months ago. Those are the guys that are getting internships/jobs this year.
What do ya'll think will happen with the economy now that the US raised our debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion? I think the market's already reacting after one day when it dropped in general almost 3%, but that could be just me piecing things together incorrectly. But seriously...the day the House decides that they need to spend a shit-ton more money, all I can see is sell in the stock market and a massive drop in US confidence...
The drop in the market has to do more with the job's number than the growing ofthe debt ceiling. If it did, the dollar would have fallen, which it didn't.