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ch3cooh posted:Be honest with me IB goons, what do you think the atmosphere is going to be like in the next year or so for capital raises? I'm looking at needing to raise $10mm to acquire some oil wells and work to increase their production. I'm worried that a lot of capital is going to be sidelined for a while. Completely depends on Europe, the next 2-5 months of deliberations on bush tax cuts, defense spending, etc.
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Nov 7, 2012 21:03
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ch3cooh posted:Be honest with me IB goons, what do you think the atmosphere is going to be like in the next year or so for capital raises? I'm looking at needing to raise $10mm to acquire some oil wells and work to increase their production. I'm worried that a lot of capital is going to be sidelined for a while. I think that's an extremely difficult question to answer, and aside from macro conditions it depends on what kind/size your firm is, how are you trying to raise the money, etc. I think the general sentiment is that the downward pressure on oil prices will continue, which is the primary concern I'd have without knowing anything else about your company. That said, $10mm is a very tiny amount, maybe you guys can just take out a loan? I have no idea how corporate lending works though, sorry vOv
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Nov 8, 2012 00:18
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ch3cooh posted:Be honest with me IB goons, what do you think the atmosphere is going to be like in the next year or so for capital raises? I'm looking at needing to raise $10mm to acquire some oil wells and work to increase their production. I'm worried that a lot of capital is going to be sidelined for a while. $10MM is such a small amount that it will be entirely unaffected by any macro-trends in the short-term. Your capital raise will depend entirely on this project's specific merits. And keep in mind that you can almost always raise capital. The terms on which you are able to do so is what really separates a successful deal from an unsuccessful one.
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Nov 8, 2012 17:16
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Socialism posted:I think that's an extremely difficult question to answer, and aside from macro conditions it depends on what kind/size your firm is, how are you trying to raise the money, etc. I think the general sentiment is that the downward pressure on oil prices will continue, which is the primary concern I'd have without knowing anything else about your company. In the short run, downward pressure on oil might not be such a bad thing. Since the acquisition price is almost entirely based on the valuation of the reserves (I understand that the general rule is 80% for PDP, 50% for PUD, and 15-20% for probable), a lower oil price leads to a lower acquisition price. Thankfully, most of the places we are looking to make acquisitions are outside of the issues of Cushing based pricing. The plan is to structure it as a limited partnership with my company as the general partner with investors as limited partners. We would make cash distributions quarterly with an 25/75 split initially with it flipping after 24-30 months. There's a thread about what we're doing here http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3500458
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Nov 10, 2012 19:34
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ch3cooh posted:In the short run, downward pressure on oil might not be such a bad thing. Since the acquisition price is almost entirely based on the valuation of the reserves (I understand that the general rule is 80% for PDP, 50% for PUD, and 15-20% for probable), a lower oil price leads to a lower acquisition price. Thankfully, most of the places we are looking to make acquisitions are outside of the issues of Cushing based pricing. Ah I see - I had thought you were part of a larger oil company looking at small acquisitions. I think these sort of deals fall within the realms of the smaller boutique/specialist banks. Sadly I'm in the technology space, so my tiny bits of knowledge only come from the work I did around E&P software companies, but you seem to know what you're doing so best of luck!
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Nov 11, 2012 00:55
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Socialism posted:Ah I see - I had thought you were part of a larger oil company looking at small acquisitions. I think these sort of deals fall within the realms of the smaller boutique/specialist banks. Sadly I'm in the technology space, so my tiny bits of knowledge only come from the work I did around E&P software companies, but you seem to know what you're doing so best of luck! I will now blame you for the universal use of lovely software like ARIES and GeoGraphix
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Nov 11, 2012 02:11
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Thoogsby posted:Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of asset-backed/distressed lending? I'm in the final round for an analyst program at one of the major banks and I'd love to talk to someone who might be more knowledgeable than myself. It seems like a niche area of finance but the skill-set you develop seems like it would be transferable and the work could potentially be very interesting. Well, if you're drawing completely dead I'm a law student and all my practical experience has been in bankruptcy. One of my recent classes was a few i-bankers coming in and talking about their role in the process. I'm assuming you're talking about a group that specializes in DIP lending and that kind of thing?
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Nov 11, 2012 03:11
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Is this the right place to bitch about FIRE solutions training materials? Because, seriously, this material is terribly put together.
FunOne fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Nov 12, 2012 |
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Nov 12, 2012 00:38
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Oliax posted:$10MM is such a small amount that it will be entirely unaffected by any macro-trends in the short-term. Your capital raise will depend entirely on this project's specific merits. And keep in mind that you can almost always raise capital. The terms on which you are able to do so is what really separates a successful deal from an unsuccessful one. This is a great response. The only way I would see macro trends stopping you is if we experience another Lehman level shock, most likely from a collapse of the Euro, which leads your financier to have a material change in their desired risk profile because of some massive specific exposure. But as Oliax said, the more relevant consideration is "how would such changes impact our negotiation and affect my leverage in the deal". If the credit markets were to freeze up you would expect your lender to try and squeeze you, which might push your internal calculus to it not being worth the investment.
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Nov 15, 2012 01:35
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Does anyone have any general Superday advice? I'm a confident interviewer but I've never technically gone on a Superday before. Any tips or taboos I should know about?
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Nov 15, 2012 01:39
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Thoogsby posted:Does anyone have any general Superday advice? I'm a confident interviewer but I've never technically gone on a Superday before. Any tips or taboos I should know about? Random thoughts from my successful and awful superday experiences all at BBs for IBD: -They are huge tests of endurance. My first superday was 4 hours, 8 back to back 30 minute interviews, no break. If you do not focus completely on smiling, sounding enthusiastic, and staying tip-top on your answers you will inevitably botch your last couple interviews by seeming unenthusiastic. You need to give the same level of enthusiasm the 8th time you're answering the "walk me through your resume" question as the first or you will not get an offer. -Tons of poo poo will go wrong/get screwed up but you need to be cool about it. One of my superdays the interviewer came in 20 minutes late and had just been called in to replace the guy who was supposed to interview me. He told me he had never interviewed anyone before and had no idea what the gently caress to even ask me for the first few minutes. Then, he let me out 20 minutes late so I was 20 minutes late to the second interview of the day which rippled throughout my schedule. I was freaking the gently caress out the whole time not knowing what I should do and after 10 minutes told the interviewer I should be getting to my next one (this interview was with an associate next one I knew was with an MD so I didn't want to be 20 minutes late). In hindsight I should have played in completely cool and ignored the fact that things were going late - it completely impacted my performance. -Also be aware of food/water/bathroom needs. I did not drink any water the day of that marathon no break so that having to piss would not gently caress with me. Eat a lot beforehand. One of my superdays was 4 30 minute interviews, 30 min break, 4 30 minute interviews. I didn't eat much for breakfast planning to eat a snack I brought in my bag during the break but as soon as my break started a director who had already interviewed me earlier in the day swooped in and took me on a tour of the office and then to Starbucks, leaving me no time to eat and very hungry/tired during the last 4 interviews. I'm really glad he did this because it was cool to meet everyone and chat with him but it screwed up my plans to eat. Still got that offer which was the one I wanted most  . Point of all this is that you should gather as much information about the superday structure/your interviewers as possible beforehand but plan for everything to go wrong and don't lose your cool.-Every interviewer will check their Blackberries while you talk. Just ignore this and finish your answer. -Unlike a first round where only certain things/questions can be covered in one 30 minute interview expect every little thing about you and your resume to be discussed in grueling detail probably multiple times. -While some of the interviews will be the same structure/questions as first round interviews, sometimes they will assign one interviewer as "the technical guy" or "the fit guy" and some MDs have their own weird interviewing style. Example are at one BB a guy came in and didn't even tell me his name or ask me to introduce myself and just immediately grilled me on difficult technicals/mental math for 30 minutes then left. Another guy for this regional office spent 30 minutes grilling me only on why I wanted to live in that city since I am from the other side of the country. One MD after introductions the whole interview was an LBO case study and mental LBO equity return math. -You will interview with on average very senior level employees. I only interviewed with 2 analysts across many superdays. It was associates and up almost exclusively. -Within the first few seconds based on their role, group, how they look, their background, etc try and get a good read on the interviewer. You will have guys (typically more junior guys) who just want to hear the no bullshit "I want to do banking so after 2 years I can do PE" and will call you out/ding you if you say you think you will enjoy the two years or are looking to be a career banker. On the other hand some people will auto-ding you if you mention anything but career IB. -It's really hard to explain but the interviews at superdays at least in my experience have been much more intense and rather than you explaining who you are and what you know you're pretty much arguing with them why you'd be a great analyst and why you want to do banking and that you can survive two years of hell. They will challenge you if your explanations are bullshit. I once said "I'm really interested in helping firms access capital and working on the sell-side M&A process" to the why banking question which worked every time in first rounds. The guy immediately said that's the wrong reason and that I'm crazy if I'm not going into banking as an analyst to jump ship to the buy-side immediately. I thought this was a test so I said that no I am truly interested in advising companies on capital raises/M&A and have no idea where I'll be in two years and he basically told me to gently caress off. This guy was an associate. Hope this rambling helps, at the end of the day you have to experience a BB IBD superday to become good at them so I hope your safety firms are first in the lineup. Edit: One more important thing is that some interviewers will be huge dicks right off the bat. Maybe they're having a bad day, maybe they're trying to test you, maybe they're just dicks. What's important is that the more hostile/dickish your interviewer is the more you need to give it right back at them by being happy/enthusiastic/calm as gently caress, the bigger your smile needs to be, the more enthusiastic you need to be. One of my interviewers came into the room and said (in a genuinely hostile/cold way, not as a joke) "Oh you're the Notre Dame kid? I hate Notre Dame alums." Rather than be some schmuck and defend my school or something I told a joke about ND football which got him laughing and the rest of the interview went well. Swingline fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Nov 15, 2012 |
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Nov 15, 2012 03:40
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A few thoughts from being on the other side this year: Don't be the guy who orders terrible interview food at lunch (i.e. wings or ribs). It really happened. Also lunches are not a time for you to talk about how much you like working. Its purely a "fit test", and yes, even if the young analyst says hes not there to interview you, you better believe that he will be asked for feedback later. Wear a drat suit. Seriously, no excuses. When people ask you a "fit" question, make sure to shift gears appropriately. Listen carefully to the question, I can't tell you how many times people took my fit question and spun it into yet another spiel about how smart and committed they are to banking. When I ask you about your golf hobby, don't keep talking about how little time you have because you are studying. And don't just say "I love it". Have one sentence ready that communicates some kind of interesting detail. "I see you like cooking", "Yeah, my favorite is preparing swordfish", "oh?", now I remember you. But at the same time don't get too loose. Don't talk in detail about how there was hazing in your sorority (yes this happened). Don't say anything too judgmental (i.e. "I heard industrials sucks", yes, heard that too). Listen for what is being asked and answer it professionally. A question often asked during committee meetings is whether you can "leave this candidate with a client in a room while you go to the bathroom". Being likeable but showing discretion (being professional) is key. fougera fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Nov 15, 2012 |
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Nov 15, 2012 06:36
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Both fougera and swingline made some excellent comments. Read them. Then read them again. A couple of other random thoughts that have worked for me: 1. Scope out the area of the office you will be interviewing at. Find a Starbucks/Diner nearby (NOT IN THE SAME BUILDING), plan to be there 1 hour ahead of time. Get a coffee, sit down at a quiet table ion the back, and watch the world go by. That avoids any last minute snafus with cabs, subways, etc. And give you just enough time to calm the gently caress down before the fun starts. If its a large NYC office building, plan to arrive at the visitor registration desk 10-15 minutes before your start time. No earlier and no later; that will get you upstairs at the right time. 2. Even if you normally don't eat breakfast, eat something, preferably a lot! You have no idea how draining this will be and you need to keep your energy up. Even if you are being taken for lunch, you are not at lunch to eat. You will be there to talk about yourself and make an impression. Order something small(ish) that will be easy to eat - I would suggest fish (easy to digest, no colorful sauces). In addition to wings, avoid pasta (red sauce + tie = FAIL), burgers (really anything you eat with your hands), salads (dressing is a mess). 3. Don't make plans for afterward. First of all, the event will probably run late. You don't need to give yourself stress about other plans conflicting. (Good training for being an analyst.) Secondly, you will be exhausted and probably ready to fall asleep way earlier than you ever would have. 4. As for the "waht do you see yourself doing long-term?" question. I would suggest an honest answer of "I don't know, right now I am very interested in learning more about banking. I understand that in two years there are many opportunities for someone who has done well here." probably works well. Being too specific here is really a no-win situation since you run the risk of pissing someone off, without any real reward for giving a "right" answer. Good Luck
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Nov 15, 2012 16:34
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Thanks for all the input gentlemen. It's not at a BB and the firm supposedly has a more relaxed culture but I'm going to prepare for war regardless. The only details I have now are that I'm there from 2-5 (3 hours) but don't have any info on how that time will be broken down. Hopefully going to get some more info soon.
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Nov 16, 2012 00:26
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Oliax posted:Both fougera and swingline made some excellent comments. Read them. Then read them again. Ha I learned my lesson about the not in the same building part the hard way. My first superday I got to the company's building about an hour early since I was taking an unreliable train in and wanted to leave buffer time. I sat in the park in front of the office. Since it was 10:00am I figured there was no way I'd run into any of my interviewers since they'd all be in their offices and probably not yet needing more coffee. So I pulled out my trusty Skoal because it helps get me in the zone for things like this and happily dipped for half an hour. I get into my first interview with a woman director and right off the bat she mentions she saw me outside... I didn't get that offer and have no idea whether/to what extent she was offended by me dipping but it certainly couldn't have helped and for all I know it could've been an auto-ding.
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Nov 16, 2012 00:44
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Practice your spiel a lot. It needs to be concise: think powerpoint without sounding like you have aspergers. Cut the soft bullshit, after a few sentences, most people lose attention and won't really understand your story.
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Nov 16, 2012 04:32
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Thanks guys. I'm actually fortunate enough to have quite a bit of interviewing under my belt and I've seen a lot of the shenanigans that go on. For one internship I had a guy talk on his blackberry the entire time and then grill me on options trading even though the position was rates/fx sales. I had a weird interview at UBS once where it was 2 consecutive 2-on-1 interviews. The first group was obviously the "nice" group and swooned over my resume and the second were mean and rude the entire time. I do mock interviews for underclassmen at my school and it can sometimes be appalling how bad some people are at interviewing. It's definitely a skill that needs practicing but people that lack raw emotional intelligence can quickly turn a "walk me through your resume" into a train wreck. I think my biggest fear is being thrown a curve-ball technical question and locking up. I already did a case study for this particular job and had a follow-up technical phone interview but I'm not really sure what the split is going to be on fit/technical stuff for this.
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Nov 16, 2012 10:44
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Nice to meet you all. I've been reading this thread off and on for the last 4 months and I just recently purchased an account. I won't lie when I say that I didn't really want to spend the $9.99, but now that I have, I'd like to toss my own rookie questions for anyone who'll humor me and bite! My first is what is the realistic age requirement of someone entering the field? I'm 24 and about 2 years out from finishing my enlistment in the Navy. If I stay on target in university, I'll likely be looking to do interviews for full-time positions around the age of 29. That brings me to my second question, being that I'll be 29 and effectively shifting gears from one career path to another almost mid way through my working life, what is the best pitch I could give to an interviewer? More to the point, what would be the best way to discount the disadvantage of not being piped straight from high school to their waiting room via college? usernamen_01 fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Nov 18, 2012 |
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Nov 18, 2012 17:23
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usernamen_01 posted:Nice to meet you all. Analyst positions are really only for people straight out of college. Given your career history, you would probably be better off focusing on getting into a good MBA program and then starting as an associate. Being in your late 20's/early 30's would not be a problem at that level. In general having been in the military is viewed quite favorably when compared to other not directly relevant things you might have done in your prior career.
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Nov 19, 2012 16:55
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I've been reading the thread on and off for a long time out of curiosity, since I'm a fixed income trader and have an MBA but don't have the pedigree (read top 10 school) for an IB job, but on a stroke of lucky networking, a managing director in a PE firm here in NYC on the M&A side got his hands on my resume, was impressed, and asked me to breakfast tomorrow morning. I'm told he already asked the basic questions such as "How much does he make now?" and "When can he start?" so I'm alternating between excitement and nervousness, really. I feel like this is a presentation interview, more of a "Can I leave this person alone in a room with a client?" type screening. I'm used to talking at length in front of important people, but for the first time, I'm nervous!
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Nov 19, 2012 21:09
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Oliax posted:Analyst positions are really only for people straight out of college. Given your career history, you would probably be better off focusing on getting into a good MBA program and then starting as an associate. Being in your late 20's/early 30's would not be a problem at that level. In general having been in the military is viewed quite favorably when compared to other not directly relevant things you might have done in your prior career. This guy said he's going to be doing UG after two more years in the military. Very different than people who go to UG and serve 3-5 years as an officer which leads to top MBAs.
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Nov 19, 2012 22:56
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Swingline posted:This guy said he's going to be doing UG after two more years in the military. Very different than people who go to UG and serve 3-5 years as an officer which leads to top MBAs. Just to be clear, you're talking about MBA programs offered at places like HBS and Penn, right? Would you say that the only realistic way to get a job as an associate at an IB firm is by graduating with honors from an Ivy-league business school like those two? quote:Analyst positions are really only for people straight out of college. Given your career history, you would probably be better off focusing on getting into a good MBA program and then starting as an associate. Being in your late 20's/early 30's would not be a problem at that level. In general having been in the military is viewed quite favorably when compared to other not directly relevant things you might have done in your prior career. I meant to reply earlier, but I only had enough time to read it. As far as a 'good MBA program' goes, what should I set my goal posts to be? The school I wanted to attend is UT in Austin, TX so that I can take advantage of the in state tuition. Would it be smarter to set my eyes on a more prestigious East coast school for my undergraduate degree?
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Nov 20, 2012 03:52
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usernamen_01 posted:Just to be clear, you're talking about MBA programs offered at places like HBS and Penn, right? Would you say that the only realistic way to get a job as an associate at an IB firm is by graduating with honors from an Ivy-league business school like those two? If you want to go into IB out of your MBA it will be easiest from a top 10 school but possible from anywhere in the top 20ish if you play your cards right.
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Nov 20, 2012 04:56
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usernamen_01 posted:Just to be clear, you're talking about MBA programs offered at places like HBS and Penn, right? Would you say that the only realistic way to get a job as an associate at an IB firm is by graduating with honors from an Ivy-league business school like those two? It's not very hard to get a job in banking if you go to a decent business school. The barrier here isn't really prestige for you - your Navy experience will likely be viewed very favorably as mentioned before. The problem is that it's very hard to convince a bank to hire a 29/30-year old first year analyst, and you don't really have the prior experience to be hired in at a more senior level. If you're hellbent on banking you may end up having to do an MBA straight after undergrad You don't need a highly prestigious MBA to get into banking though. However you need to think really, really hard on whether you want to start in this job fresh at the age of 30/31. It's a very painful job for a 22 year old and it's only worse as you get older.
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Nov 20, 2012 05:05
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quote:You don't need a highly prestigious MBA to get into banking though. However you need to think really, really hard on whether you want to start in this job fresh at the age of 30/31. It's a very painful job for a 22 year old and it's only worse as you get older. That's probably my biggest fear. If not IB, what would be a good way to get into the finance industry? Without sidelining into a wide-eyed monologue about how the world of finance interests me (it actually does, to be honest), are there other ways to get into it without going into investment banking if I can't find a job at a firm? Basically, a plan B or C.
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Nov 20, 2012 09:48
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usernamen_01 posted:That's probably my biggest fear. If not IB, what would be a good way to get into the finance industry? Without sidelining into a wide-eyed monologue about how the world of finance interests me (it actually does, to be honest), are there other ways to get into it without going into investment banking if I can't find a job at a firm? Basically, a plan B or C. Others with more experience can probably answer this better, as my whole If you like the investing part of finance, build a portfolio and shoot for a hedge fund or something. If you like the corporate side, go work for a corporate. I'm sure you've heard the same recommendation repeated ad nauseam, but use your networks as much as possible. There are way too many functions within finance for anyone to give you definitive recommendations, but you have the advantage of a huge network of people to help you figure it out.
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Nov 20, 2012 16:22
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usernamen_01 posted:That's probably my biggest fear. If not IB, what would be a good way to get into the finance industry? Without sidelining into a wide-eyed monologue about how the world of finance interests me (it actually does, to be honest), are there other ways to get into it without going into investment banking if I can't find a job at a firm? Basically, a plan B or C. Sure, but as always, "it depends" on what you're thinking of doing. "Finance" covers a HUGE spectrum of things. Its a bit like saying you want to get into marketing, sales, operations or consulting. Specificity helps a lot. If you're not sure that's ok, but now is the time to do your research. To get you started think about whether you are interested in "the financial services industry" or "the finance function". The former covers things like investment banking (which really consists of sub-fields like: M&A, Sales & Trading, sell-side equity research), investment management / buy-side equity research, commercial banking (aka lending), brokerage/personal wealth management, insurance, etc. Keep in mind that within the financial services industry there are positions that focus heavily on things like sales, marketing, IT skills and yes... also finance. For example: "big-time managing directors in mergers & acquisitions", which is what most people think of when they hear the word "Investment Banker" are really salespeople who can develop relationships with senior people at companies such that those senior people will turn to them for help when they want to buy, sell or refinance their company. Yes, MD's can do math and understand finance to some degree, but the key to their success is the abilility to build relationships. Other jobs, e.g. derivatives trader, obviously emphasize different skill sets. The finance function on the other hand exists in every company and every industry (including the financial services industry) and revolves around managing the numbers that measure how the business is performing and will perform in the future. An accounting degree, specifically a CPA, is a great way to get into this as are business degrees with a finance specialty. BTW, there is a huge range of skills and responsibility in this area as well. Just like Gordon Gecko and your local credit union branch manager are both "bankers"; so the CFO of a Fortune 500 company and the local H&R Block guy are both "accountants". If you can be a little more specific in what you are interested in, I am sure the folks in this thread can provide more advice. Good Luck!
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Nov 20, 2012 16:30
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Most IBs won't exist in five years so it makes things a lot easier for you
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Nov 21, 2012 01:03
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quote:If you can be a little more specific in what you are interested in, I am sure the folks in this thread can provide more advice. Sounds like a deal! If I were to narrow it down to just one thing, it would be how companies make and spend money to ultimately become either profitable or on the ropes. My intepretation of investment banking was that it dealt with the facilitation of acquisitions of companies and, consequently, the analysis of companies suitable for acquisiton. Getting into a PE firm interested me in this sense as well considering that their livelihood seems to draw from the wellspring of cost-cutting and efficiency. However, everything I've read over the past two years seems to say that PE firms are sitting on billions and billions of dollars because there simply aren't enough worthwhile companies around to make money on. usernamen_01 fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Nov 21, 2012 |
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Nov 21, 2012 07:35
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usernamen_01 posted:If I were to narrow it down to just one thing, it would be how companies make and spend money to ultimately become either profitable or on the ropes. My intepretation of investment banking was that it dealt with the facilitation of acquisitions of companies and, consequently, the analysis of companies suitable for acquisiton. Getting into a PE firm interested me in this sense as well considering that their livelihood seems to draw from the wellspring of cost-cutting and efficiency. If banking is your dream then shoot for banking by all means, but jobs in FP&A and audit would also expose you to the costs and spending of a business (probably with more detail and nuance than a banker might care about). And those career paths are significantly easier to get yourself on than IB/PE. I honestly think working in FP&A or Internal Audit at a bulge bracket bank would be an enormously interesting job, albeit pretty un-sexy from a prestige/dick-waving perspective.
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Nov 21, 2012 15:38
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As a followup, I was torn to shreds by this guy on my breakfast interview. It's made clear that I don't have any accounting experience, but that's what he grilled me on through the entire breakfast. My overall confusion is that on one hand he was telling me how inexperienced I am and how he needs accounting people, and on the other he was talking about the classes I would have to take (that he would pay for) and my current salary and bonus structure (so he'd know when to hire me so I'd be able to get my current company's bonus). I'd like to think I held my own during the withering remarks, but I didn't leave very hopeful until he e-mailed me with a huge divestiture presentation that he wanted me to review to see if I could get my head around it. All in all, I'm confused but hopeful.
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Nov 21, 2012 15:44
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Fhqwhgads posted:As a followup, I was torn to shreds by this guy on my breakfast interview. It's made clear that I don't have any accounting experience, but that's what he grilled me on through the entire breakfast. My overall confusion is that on one hand he was telling me how inexperienced I am and how he needs accounting people, and on the other he was talking about the classes I would have to take (that he would pay for) and my current salary and bonus structure (so he'd know when to hire me so I'd be able to get my current company's bonus). I'd like to think I held my own during the withering remarks, but I didn't leave very hopeful until he e-mailed me with a huge divestiture presentation that he wanted me to review to see if I could get my head around it. All in all, I'm confused but hopeful. Didn't you say you were a FI trader? What type of accounting he is expecting you know?
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Nov 21, 2012 16:08
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Thoogsby posted:Didn't you say you were a FI trader? What type of accounting he is expecting you know? Exactly. Last time I did accounting was in my MBA program. He's an M&A guy, so that's his strong suit, not mine. I don't need to bullshit you, I'm fully confident I can pick up whatever he can throw at me. I went from 0 to account manager in less than two years here by teaching myself the works, and unlike my current job, I'd be learning skills that would actually advance my career outside of the mortgage industry, as opposed to stalling out here.
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Nov 21, 2012 16:15
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Fhqwhgads posted:Exactly. Last time I did accounting was in my MBA program. He's an M&A guy, so that's his strong suit, not mine. I don't need to bullshit you, I'm fully confident I can pick up whatever he can throw at me. I went from 0 to account manager in less than two years here by teaching myself the works, and unlike my current job, I'd be learning skills that would actually advance my career outside of the mortgage industry, as opposed to stalling out here. Clearly he's still interested so that's good news. Here's the thing to keep in mind about "accounting" from an M&A perspective. M&A guys get paid if a deal happens, that's it. No deal, no paycheck. BB bankers get a fee on the transaction, PE / VC guys may get some kind of deal fee, but they really get paid 3-10 years from now when they sell the company. All of them care about accounting only in as much as how they deal they are thinking of doing will affect the earnings number they can report, and the companies cash flows (so that is doesn't go bankrupt before they can sell it). You do not need to know accounting at the level that an accountant actually putting the company's books together would. If you can remember the accounting you were taught in MBA you will have it at the level of depth you will need for this.
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Nov 24, 2012 01:51
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Oliax posted:
Is that what "investment banking" is? It was always my understanding that the term referred specifically to the groups, the investment banking divisions, within an investment bank. You wouldn't call someone in sales and trading a "banker", would you? But they work for an investment bank? Can someone clarify this?
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Nov 25, 2012 20:29
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Its Miller Time posted:Is that what "investment banking" is? It was always my understanding that the term referred specifically to the groups, the investment banking divisions, within an investment bank. You wouldn't call someone in sales and trading a "banker", would you? But they work for an investment bank? Can someone clarify this? I think to the layperson it's all the same but I can't imagine anyone that works in finance would ever refer to a trader as a banker.
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Nov 25, 2012 20:58
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Thoogsby posted:I think to the layperson it's all the same but I can't imagine anyone that works in finance would ever refer to a trader as a banker. It's definitely all the same to the layperson. I've had countless dates start out with variations of the same question: "Wait, so you don't work at Goldman?" 
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Nov 25, 2012 21:24
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I've seen the news/media label a lot of things as "investment banker" from bank tellers to retail bankers to guys who sit at home in their underwear and trade forex. An actual investment banker is anyone who works a front office role within the investment banking division of an investment bank. This includes both industry groups (FIG, TMT, Consumer, etc) and product/capital market groups (M&A, ECM, DCM, Lev Fin, etc) and obviously includes people in regional offices and/or middle market/boutiques who are generalists.
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Nov 25, 2012 23:12
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A trader counts as an investment banker. Investment banking is actually corporate finance. But who wants to call it corporate finance, doesnt sound as sexy
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Nov 25, 2012 23:53
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Have my Superday on Tuesday. It's 3 one hour long interviews. The first is with two associates, I was told this is more of an "info session" and I should bring questions. The way interpreted this is that it I'm going to be expected to pass the airport test with these guys and show I've done my research on the position. I wrote up about 10 questions I can ask, some of which will probably get answered in the course of a conversation but I wanted to be on the safe side and not run out before the time is up. Second two are 3-on-1 interviews with more senior people. I was told these will be pretty straightforward with a mix of fit and technical questions. Pretty comfortable here, although I don't think I've ever been in a 3-on-1 interview, just 1-on-1 and 2-on-1. I've got 6-7 anecdotes I can tap for behavioral questions and I'm pretty comfortable with accounting technicals. I'm not expecting any brain teasers. Anything I'm overlooking?
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Nov 26, 2012 00:02
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