This month’s review arrives today with one book I’ve been hearing a lot about lately: the Scoopbooks Recruiting Guide to Investment Banking.

Why Now?

Why review this one now?  A couple reasons:

1) Many people recommended it as a superior alternative to the Vault Guide (does anyone actually use that thing anymore?).

2) I’ve been getting lots of questions on recommended reading and ways to learn more about banking.  And as any true banker would, I wanted to explore all strategic alternatives.

3) I like to do my homework.  As I develop my own products, I like to compare notes, see what others have done and check if there’s anything I’ve missed.

Plus it’s tax-deductible for me, so I can’t go wrong.

The Structure

The book is split into 3 sections - The Recruiting Season, Life For A Junior Banker and Preparing For The Interviews.

These names, however, are misleading - “Preparing For The Interviews” is actually a few chapters on accounting and valuation basics and “The Recruiting Season” covers the bulk of the information on interview questions - as well as on resumes and recruiting.

I probably would have split the guide into chapters on Networking, Resumes, Interviews, Lifestyle and Accounting/Valuation, but the information is there nevertheless.

The Good

To start with, this book is definitely better than the antiquated Vault Guide.  The information is more recent and relevant, and it gives you much better insight into what bankers do and especially what to expect as a junior banker.

The chapters on accounting and valuation are particularly good, and much better than some of the other resources and textbooks I’ve seen.  

The organization is still a little haphazard (for example, they start discussing GAAP on page 2 of the section - I would start with the very basics of accounting and not even get into GAAP vs. non-GAAP until much later) but all the relevant information is there.

The section on junior banker lifestyle is also well-done and something I haven’t seen in many existing resources.  If you’ve been reading this site all along, of course, you already know all about the investment banking lifestyle, but the information here is still helpful.

The best parts of the recruiting chapters include 1) their a critique of a sample resume and 2) a chapter on the qualities banks look for when interviewing candidates.

The resume critique misses a few of the major points I would have made if I had edited the resume in question (for example, if you have banking experience you better highlight the specific deals you worked on…), but it does capture the basics.

And the “interview qualities” section is good preparation for “fit” questions in investment banking interviews, though they don’t focus enough on the single most important and most poorly-answered question (”Walk me through your resume”).

The Bad

There are a few puzzling aspects of the book.  One that immediately struck me was the lack of any answers in the Interview section.  They give some good questions, but they don’t provide answers to anything.

I understand the reasoning - they don’t want everyone to copy the answers and use them in interviews.

However, they could have gotten around this by giving sample interview transcripts with commentary on what the interviewee did right or wrong.  That would have been helpful without tempting readers to “copy” answers.

As I mentioned, the overall organization is a bit puzzling and I would have structured the chapters differently; there are also a few odd bits throughout.

In the Valuation chapter, for example, they list “Breakup Analysis” as a major methodology.  I had to read this a few times to realize they meant a Sum of the Parts Analysis - where you value each business line in the company separately - and not a Liquidation Analysis, where you value a company’s assets and liabilities separately and assume the assets are sold off, with assets less liabilities as your proceeds.

However, you rarely use Sum of the Parts in valuations since you usually lack the necessary information - expenses by division - to do so.  It seems odd to list this next to Comparable Companies/Transactions as a major valuation methodology.

The Ugly

My biggest frustration with the book, though, is that it is heavily slanted toward those at “target” schools.

There is almost no information on how to break in if you don’t fit the standard profile of an economics major with a 4.0 at Harvard or Princeton.  There are about 2 pages devoted to networking, so don’t expect to be enlightened on the topic by reading this.

Much of the email I receive contains questions on breaking in from non-standard backgrounds, so it’s disappointing that they don’t address these issues in the book.

Despite the name The Recruiting Guide To Investment Banking is actually much better as a guide to accounting/valuation basics.

So, Should You Buy It?

Make no mistake - it’s significantly better than the Vault Guide, and if you’re looking to learn accounting/valuation basics this book is a good place to start.  However, if you need help breaking into banking from a non-target school or from another field, you should not expect too much.

In short, it’s better than the existing publications but there’s still lots of room for improvement.

Amazon.com didn’t seem to have any in stock when I looked, but you can refer to Abebooks, which still had them as of this review.

And before you ask, this was more “accurate” than Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Banker (to the guy who thought he should transfer from Yale to Harvard to improve his chances of getting into banking), though it loses hands-down in entertainment value.

Sure, you have the old favorites - Monkey Business, Liar’s Poker and Barbarians At The Gate, but those are all at least a decade old.

The Accidental Investment Banker was a good addition to the mix last year, but it was more informative than it was entertaining. I’d still recommend it to anyone interested in banking, of course, but don’t expect to be rolling on the floor laughing.

Fortunately, my craving for an informative and entertaining investment banking book was satisfied this past weekend when I received my advance copy of Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Banker: And Other Baller Things You Only Get To Say If You Work On Wall Street, the new book by The Leveraged Sellout.

It Does Feel Good To Be A Banker

Although I’m a huge fan of the site, I had no idea what to expect for the book. Would it be a re-hash of the (still good) content on Leveraged Sellout? Entirely new satirical pieces? Lots of blank pages followed by a section on models and bottles?

I was pleasantly surprised by the format: the book is written from the perspective of “Logan,” a 24-year old Princeton graduate who moved to New York in the fall of 2005 to work at a bulge bracket investment bank.

Each chapter of the book chronicles a different aspect of his life, from what banking is all about to how you get in (investment banking interviews and investment banking resumes) to culture: girls, partying and entertainment.

Although everything is written in the satirical style for which Leveraged Sellout has become famous, each chapter - especially the early ones on what bankers actually do - is highly informative. There’s even a section on resume and cover letter tips.

The only thing missing: a chapter on the art of the farewell email. But hey, he did cover that one on the site before…

Parental Advisory: Elitist Content

I’m not going to lie - some of the content in Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Banker might offend you. Even if you’re perfectly fine with elitism, if you’re female the chapter on girls (”Mergers are a girl’s best friend”) and his characterization of “Banker Chicks” might go over the top.

If you’re international, you might want to skip over the section on diversity (”Diversity is one of our core values”). And if you work in the back or middle-office at a bank, “Logan” has some strong words for you in the “Holla back, office!” chapter.

Personally, I found everything hilarious - but then I’m not offended by much and only my geography was made fun of. Let’s face it, you’re just not a banker if you’re outside New York (kidding, kidding).

Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery

There are a few existing Leveraged Sellout pieces that are re-used in the book, including my personal favorite - on why you shouldn’t use the mouse in Excel.

However, they are skillfully woven into the chapters and add value to each section rather than seeming like a re-hash.

And there are plenty of new Leveraged Sellout-style articles in the form of “Case Studies,” covering state schoolers, the benefits and charities bankers donate to and more.

Errata For The First Printing

Reading through this fine work of art while off in nature this past weekend (the joys of being a former investment banker), I saw only 3 things I disagreed with in the book:

1. The example “Cover Letter” is admirable, but sorry, we still don’t read them (exceptions apply for smaller firms).
2. Sorry, Sex and the City is not a “Banker TV show.” I know of no males who watch this or will admit to watching it. Good job with listing Entourage and The Sopranos, though.
3. You estimate the cost of an entire Bespoke wardrobe for an MD at… “######” Whoops - poor attention to detail there (hint: the Excel shortcut to properly re-size a column is Alt-O-C-A). By my calculations it runs to $68,000 - please fix and have it on my chair by morning.

Living The Dream

So, who should buy Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Banker?

• Anyone interested in investment banking or the finance industry in general
• Anyone attempting to break into these industries
• Anyone who enjoys reading Leveraged Sellout
• (Basically, anyone who reads this site)

Your assignment for the weekend: buy this book. Live the dream.