Mergers & Inquisitions 3.0
Almost 2 years ago today, we launched a new design for Mergers & Inquisitions that took the site from “hobby” land into “this might actually be a real business” territory.
And then a few weeks later the financial crisis struck and several large banks disappeared.
Hopefully that won’t happen this time around – because we’re launching version 3.0 today.
Here’s what’s new and how you can get tons of exclusive content for free:
New Design
First, the design is new and we’ve switched to a 2-column layout rather than the old 3-column one.
While the old design was OK, I never liked how dark the color scheme was and how it felt very crowded.
This new layout is more inviting and improves navigation by cutting out the clutter.
Free 37-Page Guide & Newsletter
Even better for you, I’ve written a free 37-page guide on breaking into investment banking, called “The Banker Blueprint.”
The goal is to give you an action plan for breaking in – even if it’s the last minute and you don’t know what to do.
The 5 sections cover how to plan your strategy, how to craft your story, how to network like a ninja, how to write a killer resume, and how to ace your interviews.
There are articles on related topics on M&I, but there are 2 big differences here:
- Everything is structured and in one place for easy reference.
- Rather than just getting advice on scattered topics, you get a checklist of specific action steps to take in each section.
Once you sign up for the guide, you’ll also be subscribed to a 100% free newsletter with exclusive content not available on this site.
Sign up for your free guide and break into investment banking right here:
And if you’re reading via email you can click through to sign up right here:
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/mi-3-0
Even if you’ve read every single word on M&I since 2007, I strongly encourage you to sign up because all future site updates and new articles will be delivered via this newsletter.
You don’t want to miss that, right?
You Can Find Everything – Organized by Category
Organization has always been an issue on the site – it’s difficult to find information when you have hundreds of articles and each one is about a specific topic rather than the news of the day.
To fix this, the navigation bar under the logo now includes 5 main categories: recruiting, on the job, exit opportunities, groups & regions, and reader Q&A.
Each of these pages is then split into sub-categories such as bonuses and money, summer internships, office politics, and doing drugs.
You can also view the main categories at the bottom of every page on M&I right above the footer.
Search Actually Works
And just in case you can’t find what you’re looking for, search actually works now.
So when you search for “private equity,” you get the articles on private equity interviews, private equity resumes, and so on rather than random results.
Search is now powered by Google, so you even get auto-suggestion for key terms when you start typing in the search box at the top right.
…And More I’m Forgetting Right Now
And there are a bunch of other small changes throughout:
- Comment replies look much nicer, long comment threads are paginated, and the font sizes are correct now.
- We’ve been silently re-writing key articles on the site, especially the older ones that are in need of an update – and will continue with that in the future.
- It’s easier to navigate by clicking on tags and categories below articles.
Casualties
Before you ask, yes, there were several casualties with the upgrade as well:
- Blogroll / Latest Articles section – These cluttered up the page, attracted very few clicks, and are not necessary with the new design.
- RSS / Email Subscription Options – Unnecessary because everything is now delivered through the newsletter instead.
- Core Content section – Took up way too much space – you can access all of this at the top of the site now.
- Related Articles / Twitter – I might bring these back, but once again they were producing few clicks / followers.
What’s Next?
First, sign up below for the free 37-page guide and newsletter:
Coming up next will be more reader interviews and more on office politics and other topics that haven’t been covered extensively.
And on the product front, joining the 6 existing products on BIWS will be industry-specific modeling (FIG, real estate, and energy) between now and the first half of 2011.
I’m still not 100% happy with the new site layout so there will be further tweaks here as well.
Your Feedback
And as always, let me know if I missed anything, if something isn’t working, or if you have any suggestions for other features you want to see.
Break Into Investment Banking
Free Access to Exclusive Content for Members Only!
Sign up for The Banker Blueprint today and enjoy:
- Free Report: 37-page guide with the action plan you need to break into investment banking - how to tell your story, network, craft a winning resume, and dominate your interviews.
- Exclusive emailed bonus material.
- Free Banker Blueprint newsletter with more in-depth advice.
- Unlimited access to all articles, videos, and advice - and free updates whenever new content is added to the site.
Great new look to this site!! And nice little smiley at the bottom left of the page :)
Thanks! Not sure where the smiley came from…
Awesome! I already love this site, so the upgrade is just a major plus!
Thanks for your comment!
Awesome new layout! Great job on the update!
Thanks!
Nice
You should consider adding a Date to your posts. Great design though!
Thanks for the suggestion. I specifically exclude dates everywhere because very few articles are time-dependent (and when they are, it’s obvious such as with bonus predictions). And I don’t want to spend 20 hours on a detailed tutorial only to have someone say, “Ah, well this was published 1 year ago… therefore it must no longer be relevant and I will move on!”
Loving the new layout! Just have a quick question. What would my exit options be like from the infrastructure group at an MM bank? Would I be better off in another group (say natural resources)? Would MM PE be possible from this group? My goal is MM PE.
Cheers!
You could do a different type of PE (natural resources, energy, etc.) but most likely you would get funneled into an infrastructure PE group. Just a fact of life – as you move up within finance you get more and more specialized.
This new layout is great! Thank you!
Thanks for your comments!
Fantastic new layout… I was always bothered by how dark the old site was also. Good job!
Thanks for the feedback!
I actually prefer dark layouts (my laptop screen is really bright), but this new design is definitely refreshing!
I have a small question: how plausible is it to get an investment banking internship during the school year? From what it seems, the very nature of i-banking requires a lot of hours which are very volatile. Is it possible to get a fall internship AND be a full-time student at the same time?
I feel as if those are rather contradictory, but I am a rising junior hoping to interview with banks next summer, and I feel as if I need some relevant experience before then. (I’m currently working as a project management intern for a web analytics company, so it’s kind of hard to spin that one…)
You can get a school-year internship at local boutiques – it’s actually quite common at some places. Certain schools and finance clubs actually have programs set up with local firms as well, and they understand you might only be able to work 10-20 hours when classes are in session.
Love the new design, especially the way you group the articles together under different categories. Very organized.
Thanks, glad you have found the new design more helpful.
Good job on the update – I was wondering if it would be possible to get your views of Leveraged Finance as a post sometime? Hope so! Thanks again.
LevFin has been on the list for awhile but unfortunately no one has stepped forward and been willing to be an interviewee – I will ask around again and see if we can find someone.
On IE, the righthand column is covering part of the lefthand column. It is not displaying properly.
Which version of IE and which operating system? It looked fine on IE 8.0 on Windows XP.
I liked the old layout, but this one is great too!
Thanks for continuing to provide such a great service.
Sure thing!
New layout is pretty good – great that there are different sections. I appreciate the investment banking vs. trading comparisons that’s now easier to make.
This has been a great site to get input and gather a lot of info on what I am trying to get in to.
I liked the old darker site but like the organization of the new one.
Thank you for providing great content.
Yup, glad you like the new setup.
I like the old layout better.
Another question here.
If UBS is hiring interns for some random admin duties during school year, and i do not have any internship lined up during school year, should i just take it?
will it look good on resume? i have equity research, i-banking, and some random private equity exp from no name firms and hoping ubs will give some name recognition to my resume. what do you say?
Yes, I would take the UBS internship if nothing else comes up.
Great job ! You really are working on this site in Japanese way -Kaizan..
Btw ,can we also have the interview of someone(perhaps someone you know personally)who managed to move from back office to front office.?
There’s an upcoming interview on this topic.
Great new layout! Seems more user friendly which makes it much easier to find various articles.
When you say you have an upcoming article? How long do you mean by “upcoming”?
Been waiting a while now
I don’t set specific deadlines because this site is free and already has hundreds of articles. When I say “upcoming” I mean, “It’s on the list of ideas / I have an interview with someone that needs to be written up.” Usually that means within the next 6 months, but I often get delayed because my main focus is the membership site… this is a business after all.
Sorry if i offended, did not mean to. Was just curious.
Must say that i really do appreciate your site.
Great work
If you let me know what you’re looking for specifically I can let you know if it’s in the queue somewhere. Haven’t had much time lately due to travel, upgrading this site, and the usual series of disasters but more will be coming soon.
Basically it has to do with Investment banking in South-Africa.
How to get started and so on.
Thanx alot for any help.
That interview is finished – in the process of writing it and sending for approval now. Should be here by August.
Thanx alot. really looking forward to it
I can’t believe a resource like this is out there, really makes one believe that if you put your mind to it becoming an investment banker/moving to PE/anything in finance is achievable.
Really great work and I hope you continue doing this for as long as possible. Best of all, everything is free and is well organized.
Thanks
What was on your blogroll? I’ve been meaning to save those websites.
Dear John Thain dearjohnthain.wordpress.com
Fashion Financier fashionfinancier.wordpress.com
Financial Rounds financialrounds.blogspot.com
Investment Banking Resumes ibankingresumes.blogspot.com
Living Off Dividends livingoffdividends.com
Management Consulted managementconsulted.com
The GMAT Pill gmatpill.com
The Leveraged Sellout leveragedsellout.com
The Maturation Of Shane thematurationofshane.wordpress.com
Wall Street Oasis wallstreetoasis.com
I have some issues with your GPA rounding advice — I know some schools say to round but my career services said “Do NOT round” — it wasn’t advice, it was a policy and they implied they would kick kids out of the recruiting program/have other school discipline if they found out they rounded to a 3.6 instead of a 3.58.
Ok, so then follow your school’s advice. I can’t take into account different policies at every single school – these are general guidelines. Some places let you do what you want while others take a more authoritarian approach.
Just 1 word – AWESOME!
Hey Brian,
I’m preparing to apply for next graduate programs (2011) which starts in August in Asia.
May i know how i should handle this question?
1) What differentiates ‘this firm’ from its competitors?
2) Describe a recent development in the wealth management industry. What implications might this development have for ‘this firm’?
Thanks! Keep Rocking !
For #1 you would just look up recent deals they’ve done and talk about them and how they signify some big trend that the firm is capitalizing on. I know 0 about wealth management so I can’t help much with #2, but maybe talk about how financial advisors have suffered in the aftermath of the crisis but how it could be good for anyone who offers real, quality advice and has done well for their clients because it gives them greater opportunity.
Hi, thanks!
hey brian, my school sucks… out of our econ/finance/accounting/business majors only 20% got a job offer right after college this year. and worst part is, less than 5 people received an offer from major firms whether i-banking, or accounting, consulting, etc.
and as someone who’s about to enter my last year, i am deeply worried, and trying to find my plan B if everything else fails.
i am somewhat confident that i can get like financial analyst position in local financial firms. but if it is no name, then should i go for major conglomerates with different job functions, like operation, management, business analyst etc?
Opinions vary on that one – a large company has some benefits but I wouldn’t do it if you’re just going to do operations / back office-type work there. Probably only worth it if you’re a business analyst / doing something finance-related.
Do you have any ideas if the exit opportunities for investment banking analysts (HFs, PE, corp dev etc.) are equally good in the UK? If you have no idea don’t worry about it but I would greatly appreciate some input if you have any. Here (in the UK) it seems to me that PE funds for example hire a lot of ex consultants and ex accountants and they don’t seem to have as strong a preference for ex bankers as in the US. Thanks.
There is definitely less of an emphasis on exit opportunities anywhere outside the US, including the UK. “2 years and out” is not standard practice there, so it’s not unusual that PE funds may hire more consultants, accountants, and others from outside banking.
when youre trying to break into the ib industry, how important is your gpa? let’s say youre riding on a mid 2.5 to almost 3.0. Are there other areas that can compensate? thanks
With that low a GPA you will have a very difficult time getting in no matter what you do to compensate. GPA is just a requirement – you need above a certain level to have a shot, but getting perfect grades vs. just good grades doesn’t matter much. But if you don’t meet the minimum threshold as an undergraduate it is very tough even if you network like crazy. See the FAQ for more on grades.
Brian,
I agree with a previous poster, you should add dates to the posts. I don’t think many people would see a 2007 posting and think it is not relevant. It is nice to have time-lines and time frames though! Great job with the site, I remember when you first started and you looked at my resume.
I’ve been a regular reader and I love the new M&I layout (and favicon). Very clean and very well organized. Maybe think about reducing the number of featured posts in the homepage so that the categories at the bottom are moved up. :)
Also, I think leaving out the date is a great idea.
I had a quick question:
I just graduated a Canadian target school, average GPA. Didn’t land ib job so accepted accounting position. Heading down to NYC this friday and want to meet up with some ibanking recruiters. A friend suggested that I e-mail up some people and try to get a couple 20 minute coffee meetings. Realistically, I think I’m going to target boutique IBs because I have the highest chance of landing something there. Any tips/suggestions?
Yeah I’ll be changing the home page some more in the future to make it easier to navigate. Thanks for the suggestions.
Your plan sounds like a good idea – definitely target boutiques unless you have solid leads at bulge bracket banks. Just be very casual about it, say you’re passing through and could meet for 15-20 minutes at XX location in [Midtown / Downtown etc.]. Make sure you bring a schedule with you, printout with everyone’s contact info., and backup names/numbers (or put this all on your mobile device).
Hey Brian,
Been a fan of your website and products for a while now. Though all your stuff is mostly relevant to the US, it came in really handy for my interviews in the UK. Overprepared to be fair, but I figure that’s better than the alternative, and hey, it worked. I just have a couple of questions, I managed to secure a long term internship with a bulge bracket in London, but I’m trying to figure out which group to state my preference for.
Do you have any views on how deal flow is going to be over the next year? Any particular industries come to mind?
I’m horrible at predicting the future so I try to avoid it – I also don’t follow economic or deal news closely (why do I have this site, good question). I might actually expect more activity in restructuring / distressed M&A with worsening economic news recently, and more activity in FIG due to the recent financial reform and banks possibly having to spin off divisions and such.
First year MBA this fall and looking to catch up on the traditional 2-2-2 model for PE. I’m more than willing to accept a Pre-MBA analyst position once I get some IB under the belt. I’m a trail blazer and know the odds are stacked, but for me, a smaller fund is where I’d like to be anyhow. Thank you for the free stuff. Isn’t the world wide web a wonderful place?
Regards,
bp
As always, it is very difficult to get into PE with no pre-MBA banking or PE experience… sometimes when the market is good you can pull it off, but you definitely need post-MBA IB experience first.
Dear Brian,
I would suggest you to add a date on every article you have written and on these comments as well. This way, your readers can better apply the knowledge you provided.
Cheers
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve thought about that before, but will not be implementing it for the reasons outlined here:
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/faq/#site