Weekly Reader Q&A: Early Interviews From Summer Offer, Analyst Recruiting Post-College, And Was It All Worth It?

After a long absence while I was on vacation over the past few weeks, reader Q&A returns this week with another good set of questions, including perhaps my favorite question ever:

Was it all worth it?

But before we get to that question, let’s look at a few other interesting inquiries I’ve received recently.

Early Interviews From Summer Offer

“I worked as an intern this summer at a small, regional boutique.  Although I had a great experience and learned a lot, ultimately I want to work full-time at a bulge bracket so I can learn the ropes on bigger deals and get more flexibility in terms of exit opportunities.

I received an offer to come back, but I’m not sure how to handle it.  I don’t want to burn any bridges but the offer is exploding, so I need to act quickly to see if I can get in anywhere else.  Do firms interview early outside the normal process?”

Yes, if you have an exploding offer from a summer internship, other banks will let you interview “early,” usually in August – after your internship ends but before school and fall recruiting begin.

Back when I was recruiting, several friends had internships at bulge brackets but hated their groups and successfully interviewed early (August) and went to other banks.

The only difficulty these days: some of the larger banks may not be doing much full-time recruiting and may instead rely on keeping summer analysts around.  If they’re simply not hiring, there’s little you can do.

Analyst Recruiting Post-College

“Right out of college, I decided to work for a friend’s business and reached the VP level at a division of his company.

Since it provides high-end luxury goods, things have taken a turn for the worse with the economy the way it is currently (as you might imagine).

How much of a disadvantage will I be at recruiting for analyst positions given that I am over a year out of school now?  I realize the market is terrible but I’m going for it anyway.”

Make no mistake: you will be at a considerable disadvantage if you recently graduated but you’re recruiting outside the on-campus recruiting cycle.

It can be done – I’ve had friends who worked for 1-2 years elsewhere and then transitioned into investment banking, but once again, you will need to target smaller firms (boutiques and middle-markets) rather than making a go at Morgan Stanley.

Another advantage of going for these smaller firms is that their recruiting is not 100% focused on the fall time period – they tend to be more flexible and often recruit year-round.

So if they like you, they might hire you on the spot and let you start right away – compared to bigger banks, where you might have to wait for the right time.

As far as getting in, the standard advice applies – go for smaller firms and leverage your network.  With only 1 year of experience out of school, you’re not “over-qualified” for Analyst positions, so that one works in your favor.

Was It All Worth It?

“I’m a sophomore at a top university that a lot of banks recruit at.  As I’m thinking about career paths, I have just one question I want to ask you:

Was investment banking, with all the work and long hours, worth it?”

As I wrote above, this may be my favorite question I’ve ever received.  Rather than giving a straightforward answer, though (that would be too hard), I’ll describe how I think about this issue.

If you are extremely interested in a career in finance (banking, private equity or hedge funds or related fields such as corporate development), then yes, I believe investment banking is “worth it.”

In fact, unless you have significant experience in another field such as consulting (or you go to business school), it’s often impossible to break into any of those without doing banking first.

That said, it’s dangerous to make a blanket statement that something is “worth it,” so now I’ll qualify what I just wrote.

Many people out there aren’t sure exactly what they want to do, or they just want to learn a lot, so they are attracted to investment banking.

If you’re in this boat, I would strongly recommend getting an internship first to decide if it’s for you.  It is a huge time commitment that prevents you from doing much else for a few years (just read my Day In The Life or Week In The Life series for more on that), so you shouldn’t make the decision on a whim.

Break Into Investment Banking