Investment Banking Major

[2Fast]

[ QUOTE ]
you are not gonna get hired as an analyst w/ a degree from your school. only kids from UCLA+ get jobs like that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not true my firm hires from Michigan, UVA, Cal-Berkely, Texas and a bunch of other public schools - depends on the market but if you have a good GPA and interview well you can get in

[john kane]

slitting your wrists > working in IB

[jumpthru]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you are not gonna get hired as an analyst w/ a degree from your school. only kids from UCLA+ get jobs like that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not true my firm hires from Michigan, UVA, Cal-Berkely, Texas and a bunch of other public schools - depends on the market but if you have a good GPA and interview well you can get in

[/ QUOTE ]


Background:

*I am a junior at USC majoring in computer engineering & computer science. I hate computers.

*I want to go into investment banking/trading. I wish I was a finance major.

*I am taking a class next semester called BUAD 499 Professional Service Firms, taught by a co-junct professor from Wharton. It's a new class designed by her to teach people like me WTF i-banking actually is, and introduce us to the different firms. I probably will hate i-banking after I learn what it actually is. I think it just sounds cool/prestegious/fun right now, since I don't really even know what it is. I just know I never want to program for the man.

*I currently have a business law minor, but am dropping it so I can do my CS masters in one extra semester. I assume masters > business law minor?

*I have a 3.92/4.0 and 4.0/4.0 major GPA.

What are my chances of getting an IB job considering my school and my GPA? In general I suck at interviews but that has been with technical interviews (programming on paper), although I have worked the last 2 summers full time at Adobe System in an internship.

[hedgeyerbets]

you'll likely get a first round and not be called back if your interview skills are that bad.

[jumpthru]

Well what are they looking for in IB interviews? Techincal knowledge of the stock market and finance? Or just general behavioral interview to see if you are a douchebag?

[higher_energy]

To OP - don't listen and just apply. You have nothing to loose and IBs hire plenty of people from non target schools. They can not just fill all of their analyst classes with kids from ivy's. Are you 100% sure that you want to do IBD? What about Sales and Trading? I would go as far as to say that for S&T your degree might be as good/better than finance.


To JumpThru - As hedge said, you will probably get a first round interview with all of the BBs. Engineering is a good major for IBD, don't be discouraged by the fact that you are not a finance major.

Get an internship on the Street to maximize your chances and demonstrate your interest in Finance.

[Humble Pie]

Pot Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$3
2 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (2 players) Humble is SB with 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
<font color="#cc0000">Humble raises to $3</font>, BB calls.

Flop: 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] ($6, 2 players)
<font color="#cc0000">Humble bets $6</font>, BB calls.

Turn: 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] ($18, 2 players)
<font color="#cc0000">Humble bets $6</font>, BB calls.

River: Ace[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] ($30, 2 players)


Results:
Final pot: $30

[2Fast]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you are not gonna get hired as an analyst w/ a degree from your school. only kids from UCLA+ get jobs like that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not true my firm hires from Michigan, UVA, Cal-Berkely, Texas and a bunch of other public schools - depends on the market but if you have a good GPA and interview well you can get in

[/ QUOTE ]


Background:

*I am a junior at USC majoring in computer engineering &amp; computer science. I hate computers.

*I want to go into investment banking/trading. I wish I was a finance major.

*I am taking a class next semester called BUAD 499 Professional Service Firms, taught by a co-junct professor from Wharton. It's a new class designed by her to teach people like me WTF i-banking actually is, and introduce us to the different firms. I probably will hate i-banking after I learn what it actually is. I think it just sounds cool/prestegious/fun right now, since I don't really even know what it is. I just know I never want to program for the man.

*I currently have a business law minor, but am dropping it so I can do my CS masters in one extra semester. I assume masters &gt; business law minor?

*I have a 3.92/4.0 and 4.0/4.0 major GPA.

What are my chances of getting an IB job considering my school and my GPA? In general I suck at interviews but that has been with technical interviews (programming on paper), although I have worked the last 2 summers full time at Adobe System in an internship.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think with you USC degree and GPA you'll definitely get in the door at a lot of shops so go for it even if they don't interview at USC (especially in today's hot market). JP, UBS, CS, Jefferies, Houlihan Lokey, Wells Fargo and a bunch of firms have big LA offices so that's a good place to start - can go through HR but also try to get names of people from industry rage (The Deal, Buyouts, Journal articles, etc. ) and hopefully you can get a meeting with these contacts and discuss options and they will send you to the right place.

Offhand your skillset seems to be very much geared towards quantitative work on a derivative desk or even Debt Capital Markets (i.e. High grade bonds) - frankly, interpersonal stuff isn't as important in a trading/derivatives job as much as it is in banking or capital markets but in both cases you better be able to interview well and tell people why you want to do sales &amp; trading/banking whatever. I personally think that it's better to be a great interviewer and personable/someone who I feel I can work with who has say a 3.4 versus a 3.9 than to be a 4.0 who has no interpersonal or interviewing skills. Just spent 2 days interviewin summer intern candidates at UPenn Wharton and we chose candidates who were market savvy and interviewed well and were personable who had 3.3 - 3.5s versus the hoards of 3.75-4.0 candidates. But having a good GPA as you do sure doesn't hurt.

As for knowing what to say, sounds dumb but just be yourself and act confident and in terms of knowing what to say about the industry maybe the following will help: Pick a stock/company you like and know it inside and out and its peers as well. Know how interest and exchange rates work and how the FOMC functions and have a view on where you think rates are going (and how they impact the housing market, for example).

One other thing - to get started in the business you don't have to go bulge bracket - places like CIBS, BNP, Calyon, SocGen, ABN Amro, BMO, RBC and other middle-market shops (or boutiques) are actively hiring so explore those too and don't just apply to the big guys.