The people I know who are at the line-level don't really love what they do, only a handful of people you see who are analyst will truly love the job. Although, the people who are higher up seems to really like what they do. They still have the same passion for their work. It's actually nice to see that.
Of course, you're going to see people who hate their jobs across the board, it's bound to happen. But the people who have been doing it for awhile, seem to love it. Again, there are exceptions to this as well. I know some VP's who hate their jobs, and the only reason why they're still doing it in because they all have families and lifestyles they need to maintain.
You can get rich doing other things that doesn't require as much effort and time needed in IB. Honestly, IB is a dying field and the money isn't as lucrative as it once was many years ago. In a sense, IB is becoming obsolete. There once was a time when you had the ability to really make a difference in IB and things were fun and creativity really held no bounds. People worked together all for the greater good and cared about their job. It's no longer like that in IB anymore. People are only out for themselves and they're consumed by their own greed and personal agendas. Everything became bureaucratized and now politics become the underlining factor in regards to judging who you are as a worker instead of looking at the quality of your work and what morals you hold. This was one of the reasons why it was so easy for me to leave IB.
If you don't mind me asking, maybe you can PM me the answers--What were your grades like in HS? What classes did you register for this semester? What kind of clubs/organizations were you involved in while attending HS? Did you do any volunteer work or held any kind of leadership role amongst your peers? Why are you enrolled in a CC instead of a 4-year college?
Judging by the answers you give me to those questions--I can gauge what kind of work ethic you have and if you really have the necessary skills to excel in banking. I'm not saying you can't get into banking, but if that is something you want pursue solely for the money, then you have another thing coming. You're going to get hit so hard by reality so fast that you're going to be turned off immediately. I've interviewed so many kids in the last year and went to schools to recruit and I can say I've met every type of student you can imagine: Overachievers, Underachievers, procrastinators, geniuses, trust fund kids, the average student, Black, White, Asian, Indian, Hispanic, Native American. You name it, I've seen it. I've seen all of those those types get offers for IB, but they all had one thing in common--They had an underlining work ethic and drive to succeed in banking. Hell, even some kids who walked into a career fair and saw our table got offers, because they worked hard and knew what they had to do to get into banking.
Just letting you know what to expect and to also remind you--you can make more money doing other things. If you have that kind of attitude and ideology with you when it comes time for an interview, the interviewer will sniff that a mile away and you're going to have the worst hour of your life.
If you look at IB's payoff in comparison to the stress level and amount of work hours you put in--it's not worth it. The only time it pays off is if you get a decent sized bonus. Without the bonus, it's all overwork.
The McDonald's wage comparison is actually very true, but it's comparing a bankers base-salary without bonus to an average McDonald's worker. Again, once you account for the bonus, a banker makes way more than an McDonald's employee.
How? Banking is purely working off an institutional level. How will you be able to implement the institutional strategies you've learned in banking and apply that to an individual investment? There's separate rules for that kind of investing. I think you have it mixed up and you need to get a better understanding of what an investment banker actually does.
I think what you're thinking is more in line with a financial adviser or trader. I mean, I'm getting the feeling that you saw the average wages of a bankers and now want to do it because it pays. That's not going to get you in, my dude
You're right, the interviewers and company have a better idea of who they want to bring in. Maybe they just didn't see you as a perfect fit for the group. But I commend you for the time and effort you put in.
I'm going to say what hurt you the most was the lack of financial experience on your resume. Interviewers love hiring athletes, especially the ones who are busy and juggle multiple tasks at once. You showed great time management skills and drive and dedication for what you're in involved in. You were able to swing the low GPA very well and that brought up some consideration, but it's extremely pressing to bring someone in with little to no financial experience and expect them to do well in that kind of environment. Unless you were the nephew of the managing director--you weren't going to get an offer.
Some BB's do hire out of the M7 business schools you mentioned, but they're only looking into highly reputable programs. Michigan, G-town, Duke, UCLA, Chicago, Baruch, Fordham, UT, UW etc etc
Every morning I look through the typical WSJ, FT, Barrons, Bloomberg and Marketwatch. After I do that, i'll look through Google Finance and read what their top news is. Then I will go to The NY Times and read what's happening around the world. It's very important to keep up with current events whether they are social or financial.
At the end of my day, everyday I try to ask myself 3 things: What's the most important thing that happened domestically? What's the most important thing that happened globally? What's the most important thing that happened financially?
If you can answer those 3 questions, then you'll have a good understanding of what's going on around you.
How'd I learn about banking? I always was into finance. Even when I was a little kid, older people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I would tell them that I wanted to work with money. I remember when I was in 2nd grade and they taught us about how banks work and I remember being so fascinated by it. I couldn't get enough of how a single bank can hold everyone's money and make it work. Then when I got into HS, I was even more interested in financial because of the boom that was happening. The markets were soaring and so was my interest for finance. I was amazed how so many variables and entities can make money grow or shrink. It was just fascinating. Then, in my junior/senior year--I learned about investment banking and how much it was thriving. It was on the come-up and it had potential to do a lot of good for the country. It gave you the ability to have an impact not only in your life, but the lives of millions of Americans in the country and the billions of people in the world. The work you do in banking truly has a global impact. That was enough for me to decided this is what I wanted to do.
When I got into college, I also wanted to be an engineer. I loved working with my hands and I loved knowing how things worked. I always had a technical side to me, so, I decided to feed that hunger and go into Biomedical Engineering/Economics. I wanted the best of both worlds in finance and engineering. Doing that empowered me to brand myself incredibly well.
As for blogs: You can look into Mergers & Inquisitions and LifeOntheBuySide. Both really good blogs.
As for forums: You can look into Wall Street Oasis. Someone mentioned them earlier, but I do warn anyone that goes there--those guys are ruthless and they are critical of everything. You will get a good handle of how finance is though. They don't hold anything back. Almost everything they speak of in there is the truth.
