Thursday, August 16, 2007

How to Choose the Best Investment Banks – Be Selective

While we were searching for a head of Asia equities, my boss made a very thoughtful comment which truly reflected the situation. Mr. A is the right person for that job; Mr. B is the person who wants that job. This is always an unavoidable dilemma that headhunters have to face. While searching for a best investment bank to start your career, try to make yourself the right person who wants the job. One major strategy is ‘be selective’. Don’t flood the market with your resume.

Select 10 best investment banks. One of the most popular questions during interview is ‘how many other banks have you approached or had an interview?’ Tell the interviewer how and why you’ve selected their banks. Successful investment bankers make lots of money, but please do give some other good reasons.


Opportunities
Few people stay with their first employer for 19 years like Anthony Leung did. However if the company you work for provides good training and opportunities for graduates, you will just stay there naturally. I’ll elaborate this further when I talk about Anthony Leung in my later posts.

Opportunities relate to size. If a bank is big enough, there are opportunities everywhere. However make sure these opportunities are what you want. Like if you fancy M&A, please target Goldman. If you fancy equities, you might want to target ML.


Training
Graduates need training and mentoring. Try to schedule some informational interviews through your alumni network. See which bank has the highest score while you ask about training and mentoring. Also try to schedule informational interviews with some senior bankers through recruitment fairs or direct approach. If time allows, many of them were happy to share their experience with young people of how they built their career. It would be an advantage if you come from a same university. Over the internet, you can collect the bios of many senior bankers and it is easy to find out where they graduated from.


Culture
This is an important issue and sometimes a determining issue. As a headhunter, I’ve witnessed some outstanding candidates didn’t receive/accept an offer due to cultural issues. Investment bankers spend more than half of their time at work, make sure to find a place you feel happy and comfortable. During an interview, do spend a good amount of time in finding out if the work culture of the bank suits you.


How to choose an investment bank?
eFinancial Careers Australia recently published an article for students who want to start an investment banking career. Though it is Australia focused, it is quite universal in terms of strategies. I would recommend your reading it.



Recommended career tools:

Amazing Resume Creator
a DIY resume is good enough for an entry level job. Investment bankers always want the best out of the best. To stand out from the crowd, get Jimmy Sweeney’s help to craft a best resume for yourself.


Amazing Cover Letter
A powerful cover letter is the perfect partner of your resume. Personalize and customize your amazing cover letter with Jimmy Sweeney’s help.

Best Investment Banks

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Anna,

I am a fresh graduate and currently get two offers from Fidelity and Calyon respectively, both are Settlement Trainee. I am really puzzled, which one should I choose?

Would you mind giving me some comments, the different possible career paths will be if I want to be a expect in a Trader Room or Middle Office or Front Office.

Actually I am not so sure about the ranking of Calyon as a Investment Bank, as I want to ask for higher salary in the next job.

Thank you very much, and I really find this blog resourceful.

Cheers,

Herman

Unknown said...

sorry for typo

it should be "expert", not "expect".

Anna Maria D'Souza said...

Herman
Calyon is a better option for you. I've emailed you separately for details.

Anna Maria D'Souza

Unknown said...

Hi Anna,

My email address is hermanfung3@gmail.com

May there be error? I've not received your email yet.

Thank you so much.

Cheers,

Herman

Anna Maria D'Souza said...

Herman
It shoud be there at your gmail. Let me know if it isn't.

Anna Maria D'Souza