How to Interview with a Broken Leg, Picking Offers, Grades and Why I Won’t Do Your Homework: Reader Q&A
Economic doom-and-gloom has not been on peoples’ minds quite as much lately, at least according to the questions I received this week.
Maybe when another bank fails we can get back to discussing ways to avoid the back office or McDonald’s, but for now we’ll focus on more relevant topics.
Like what to do in an interview with a broken leg, and why I won’t do your homework for you.
Getting Hired, Getting Fired & Getting Paid
1. I broke my leg - should I wear take crutches to the interview or try to wear normal shoes?
Depends how well you can walk. If this was an injury from awhile back and you don’t need crutches as much anymore, I would try to look as normal as possible.
On the other hand if you’re nervous about falling down stairs or otherwise injuring yourself, I would do what you have to do and joke about it, “Look, I wanted this so badly I crawled here with a broken leg!”
2. With the terrible economy this year, some of my friends in the back office are saying that IT salaries might be higher than investment banking salaries. Do you think this could happen?
They will be closer than normal this year, but I think at worst they might be equal. IT people tend to get higher base salaries but in this kind of environment they are looking at $0 bonuses… even if things get worse, bankers should at least get $10-20K (like in 2001-2003).
3. I’ve heard there is a 90% “firing rate” at each level - for example, 90% of Analysts will not make it to Associate and 90% of Associates will not make it to VP. Is this true?
This is probably accurate, at least from Analyst to Associate. Associate to VP might be better than that. I wouldn’t call it a “firing rate” though - it’s more like people switching industries / dropping out / going back to school.
Models & Bottles (Lifestyle Q&A)
4. Is there a lot of pressure in banking to spend money recklessly just to “fit in?”
Depends on your office. In mine there was not, though some people liked to flaunt new cars etc. In this economy, I think there’s more “pressure” to keep your job rather than spend money recklessly.
5. Can you have a good family life if you’re in banking?
No, not really. Even as an MD, you work at least 60 hours a week and are often traveling. At smaller places it’s a little better but you’ll never be home to watch your kids getting off the bus every day.
6. Despite the poor economy, I managed to get a full-time offer. How should I prepare for work?
Have you considered becoming a ski bum? One of my friends took a drunken 3-month trip through Europe before he started, that’s another good alternative.
How to Pick Offers
7. I have offers from 2 private equity firms, but one offers a much better training program than the other. Is this a good way to decide?
No, this is a poor way to decide on offers. Training programs are mostly irrelevant; you will learn everything once you start anyway.
8. I have an offer from a bulge bracket bank in San Francisco and a middle market bank in New York. I’m tempted to the New York offer just because it’s in New York.
Come to your senses! Haven’t we already been over why you should pick bulge brackets if given the opportunity? And today I would argue that being in New York might actually be a bad idea…
9. For part-time internships, what matters more - whether the company has a good name or whether you learn something valuable?
Skills matter more than name.
Grades, Grades & More Grades…
10. I had a family emergency my freshman year and my GPA suffered as a result. When I send out networking emails, should I explain the reason for my bad grades?
No, this just makes you look desperate.
11. I have a 3.7 GPA, is that good enough to get into banking or should I try to boost it to 3.9?
Anything over a 3.5 is fine, don’t spend time on this.
12. Is it ok if I round my GPA from 3.44 to 3.5 on my resume?
Yes.
How NOT to Get a Response from Me
13. help i really want to get into investment banking and i will do whatever it takes
What was your question again?
14. Could you help me with my homework assignment? I need to write a 20-page paper on cross-border M&A in Thailand.
Sure, but this will count as 20 resume edits. Please submit your payment.
15. What are my chances of getting into banking with a GPA of [xx] and [xx] work experience and [xx] other accomplishments?
Depends. Have you spent months networking and developing dozens of solid relationships at many different firms? Do you have a stellar resume and have you perfected your interviewing skills?
If so, then your chances are good.
If not, have you considered the back office?
Rant: I hate these types of questions because they encourage analysis paralysis.
You should know something before you get started, but emailing 30 alumni right now will help you way more than spending the same time asking me 5-page long questions.
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Tags: GPA, investment banker salaries, investment banking, investment banking interviews, networking, picking offers, understanding investment banking
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Hi Inquisitor,
Firstly, I apologise for my reckless post the other day. I do sincerely applaud some of your articles for the honest and deep insight you give from your experiences.
I was in a bad mood and was getting quite tired of the sinister analysis of the IB lifestyle and recent irrelevant posts. But these are not your fault I guess, some firms are particularly shit in their culture.
All in all, I thank you for your quality contribution to useful IB related info online. I do however, will not reserve any future criticism if they become necessary =P
Sure thing.
Keep in mind that I do this in my spare time between other responsibilities and provide the content for free on a regular basis.
While I’m happy to accept and take into account criticism, I do appreciate civility as well.
Thanks.
“…though some people liked to flaunt new cars”
Yep, you definently weren’t in New York. Plus comments about red eyes. You had to be at a west coast office.
My life was just like Entourage.
Hey dosk,
Any thoughts on how you think the SA recruiting will go this year? Could it be that the bottom right now, and in fall ‘10 things will look at least a little better?
In general, SA recruiting is not hit as hard as FT recruiting in downturns because banks always like to have a certain number of interns on hand in the summer… and it’s much less of a commitment since they only pay you for a few months. No idea what fall 2010 will look like compared to now, but I would be surprised if it were a lot worse.
Just as a side note to that, I spoke with a friend of a friend who worked at UBS San Francisco for three years as an analyst and he actually told me recruiting for summer interns is “WAY down” so I guess it depends on where you are. I’m not quite sure how much bigger UBS LA is than UBS SF but there you have it.
Yeah, UBS LA is bigger than the SF office but at the same time I think the point remains: banks -rarely- institute a summer hiring freeze as they do with FT. So it might be down but it doesn’t go away completely.
A sincere thank you for all of the info you provide. What is an appropriate rounding range for the GPA? Can a 3.43 be rounded up to 3.5 as well? If not, am I better off only leaving my econ major GPA (>3.5)?
That’s normally fine… you have to use your judgment a bit. Background checks only occur just before you start so they expect your GPA to have changed somewhat. But I would not hesitate to round a 3.43. You definitely want to list both overall and major GPA.
Inquisitor,
You mention there you cannot have a good family life in IBD even as a MD. Are there any exit opportunities (PE and HF) after IBD that will offer you a better family life? Or corporate finance really the way to go?
Assuming, I still want to do finance after a two-three year stint (if i could get the stint obviously) as a financial analyst.
Well, the buy-side is generally “better” in terms of hours and such but you will never have a 9-5 situation at any HF or PE shop either… it just doesn’t happen. Still lots of travel and business when you’re getting ready to make investments / acquisitions.
Going to a normal company is probably your best option if you want to do that - but in the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that even there, sometimes you can get quite busy and run into long hours as well.
Another minor GPA question.
If you are rounding a 3.44 to a 3.5, should we always round from two decimals to one if it makes it looker better? For example, should a 3.55 be written as such or rounded to a 3.6?
Thanks, and as my first comment left here, thanks for all the great posts you’ve had. I added you to my Google Reader a few months ago and your posts are so valuable.
Personally I don’t think it matters too much, but yes, I usually tell my customers to round to one decimal point unless they already have a 3.93 GPA (for example).
Another resume question:
SAT scores on the resume if they are say, 800M and 740V. Yes or no?
Anything over 1400 yes.
Just wondering about what the exit opportunities would be for government organizations such as the SEC? Would it be something to consider if I eventually wanted to end up in banking? I heard that there is a lot networking opportunities as banks often send their people down to conferences/presentations.
Yeah there could definitely be good networking opportunities, and now that the US gov’t is effectively a PE firm you can have some good experience “managing portfolio companies.” As far as the SEC specifically I’m not sure - I would think generally it’s, “Better than random back office job but not as good as banking/PE.”
i have a phone interview coming up and was wondering how this differ or are the same from a regular interview and how should I prepare
It’s very similar, only difference is it’s over the phone rather than face-to-face… you should focus on sounding confident and proper phone etiquette, sometimes it’s a bit harder to come across well in a phone interview vs. in-person.
What about ACT scores on the resume? I’m from the midwest and nobody takes the SAT’s out here. (I scored in the 99th percentile)
Yeah I would include ACT scores if they’re good (above 32 maybe?)