IB interview that included poker comments
 

Few weeks ago I posted the question we've all seen a lot - whether or not to put poker on our resumes. I elected to leave it in the Interests section at the bottom so as to not harm me and to possibly help if someone who reads it is interested.

Few things that happened in the interview (for IB):

1) Straightup asking what I had been doing for past summers. If you do poker as a part time thing and get real internships (this is smart), then you'll be OK. In my case, I was basically forced to go into poker (and expect that this would be the case for most interviews) pretty abruptly. So why not put it down on the resume so they're not surprised?

2) Older interviewer asked about table selection then joked that I'd be going after him. Younger interviewer asked which site is my favorite and if it was hard to get money online now. They didn't leave much room to talk about skills, but seemed somewhat impressed when I said something about reviewing hands to minimize repeating mistakes.

3) Once he heard the poker stuff in addition to my actual work experience all being in engineering he basically told me I'm better suited for trading or equity research. I tried to explain why I'd prefer IB (I think that's my only play at that point), but I think it was pretty much interview over here.

If I had to do it over, (other than definitely getting an internship) I'd put down poker on my resume to legitimize the time I put into it and the skills you can learn from it. Literally every interviewer is going to touch on your past summer, so either let them appreciate it or don't waste your time with that company.

Re: IB interview that included poker comments
 

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Literally every interviewer is going to touch on your past summer, so just lie about what you did

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Re: IB interview that included poker comments
 

thanks for the follow-up. This is a few to many years off for me, but I'm already thinking about it.

How hard are IB-related interships to get? Also, is an econ/math double-major a good one to get for that field? I'm pretty sure that's a yes, but doesn't cost anything to ask.

Re: IB interview that included poker comments
 

going for a job in banking over trading is like going all in with kings vs aces.

Re: IB interview that included poker comments
 

Question from silly foreigner - what is IB?

Re: IB interview that included poker comments
 

investment banking

Re: IB interview that included poker comments
 

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thanks for the follow-up. This is a few to many years off for me, but I'm already thinking about it.

How hard are IB-related interships to get? Also, is an econ/math double-major a good one to get for that field? I'm pretty sure that's a yes, but doesn't cost anything to ask.

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A math econ double major is fine. The internships at the top banks are very difficult to get. It is easier if you go to a target school (ivey league + Michigan, Berkeley, etc.) The most important thing is that you have a very high GPA. If you go to one of these target schools, your major isn't that important. Many top banks hire liberal arts majors from Harvard for example. An english major will be asked dif. questions than a finance major in interviews though.

Re: IB interview that included poker comments
 

Also you mentioned you were a few years away from interning. I assume that means you just started college or are finishing high school. It is very important that you really learn about what an IBanking analyst does. You shouldn't be a banker for the money or prestige. If you have to work 100+ hours per week and that is your primary motivation you will burn out and under perform.

Re: IB interview that included poker comments
 

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going for a job in banking over trading is like going all in with kings vs aces.

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stop posting.