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Have I got any chance of getting into Investment Banking?

I know very little about investment banking, I've only just started to look into it. Mainly because of the salary. My A level results are AAAA and I chose to go to Queen's Uni Belfast rather than one of the top ones, purely because it was local.
I'm studying physics but hadn't thought much about job prospects until now.

I know how competitive it is to get into IB, with all the Oxbridge grads etc, so is there really any chance of a Queen's graduate getting into it?

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yeah b

if your determined and are willing to show this you can. all depends on your mentality and passion. It can be said that these top tier firms hire 70% of their graduates and interns from target universities (oxford, Cambridge, ucl, imperial etc) but this statistic I say is made to be broken.

Reply 3

TheBBQ

Original post by pigort

I was like you but then I figured out that I could do a lot more with my degree and time :tongue:

Of course there is, networking and going to events and getting to know people is the key, as well as a well rounded profile. Check if you have a financial or IB society or something similar at uni.

Reply 4

username738914

Original post by pigort

First of all, motivation for the salary alone will not get you through the interview process.. You have to at least be somewhat interested in the field and be able to convincingly sell this interest in a series of high octane interviews. If the 'money' is your sole driver, you won't be able to get through the process nor will you be able to survive the pressures of the job.

Anything is possible, but just know that you'll be playing second fiddle to target/semi-target applicants (comprising 93%+ of UK intakes for FO). So you better be exceptional; either in experience, grades, leadership qualities or a combo of both. I'm not going to lie to you and say 'it'll be fine' because it might not but if you work hard and network with bankers in the industry I don't see why you can't take a stab at it.

Regardless, your uni is a small aspect of your application and can be outweighed by the factors I outlined above. I'd advise also applying to some middle office/back office (risk, control etc) and big4 audit schemes as back ups when the time comes.

Good luck.

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(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5

BizzStrut

Original post by TheBBQ

I was like you but then I figured out that I could do a lot more with my degree and time :tongue:

Oh?

Reply 6

Youngmetro

Original post by Princepieman

First of all, motivation for the salary alone will not get you through the interview process.. You have to at least be somewhat interested in the field and be able to convincingly sell this interest in a series of high octane interviews. If the 'money' is your sole driver, you won't be able to get through the process nor will you be able yo survive the pressures of the job.

Anything is possible, but just know that you'll be playing second fiddle to target/semi-target applicants (comprising 93%+ of UK intakes for FO). So you better be exceptional; either in experience, grades, leadership qualities or a combo of both. I'm not going to lie to you and say 'it'll be fine' because it might not but if you work hard and network with bankers in the industry I don't see why you can't take a stab at it.

Regardless, your uni is a small aspect of your application and can be outweighed by the factors I outlined above. I'd advise also applying to some middle office/back office (risk, control etc) and big4 audit schemes as back ups when the time comes.

Good luck.

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Whats an audit?

Reply 7

TheBBQ

Original post by BizzStrut

Oh?

I found other areas within investment banks and other firms that make better use of my mathematical background and skills, and don't have 70+ hour weeks :redface:

.

Money isn't everything, read more and look into many careers before deciding which one you want to do. But prince's advice is spot on :smile:

Reply 8

username738914

Original post by Youngmetro

Whats an audit?

Say you're a big honcho at a banana picking plant - you're supposed to be shipping 400 bananas in production a year. I, an auditor, will come and verify that you have actually produced those 400 and that you've reported that production according to monkey-state legislation

Reply 9

Youngmetro

Original post by Princepieman

ahh right, seems quite straight forward, why is it so prestigious?

Reply 10

username738914

Original post by Youngmetro

ahh right, seems quite straight forward, why is it so prestigious?

Amplify those 400 bananas by 200,000x, throw in multiple plants across the globe with different reporting procedures, toss in some juicy cross-border regulation issues, a mound of excess capital and assets and you start to get a sense of the scale.

Big4 Audit isn't normally 'prestigious' relative to high finance, but it is a great breeding ground for other roles in accounting, finance or even a track to making decent dough as a partner.

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(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 11

gr8wizard10

Original post by Princepieman

Amplify those 400 bananas by 200,000x, throw in multiple plants across the globe with different reporting procedures, toss in some juicy cross-border regulation issues, a mound of excess capital and assets and you start to get a sense of the scale.

Big4 Audit isn't normally 'prestigious' relative to high finance anyway, but it is a great breeding ground for other roles in accounting, finance or even a track to making decent dough as a partner.

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analogy master level 99

Reply 12

Youngmetro

Original post by Princepieman

Amplify those 400 bananas by 200,000x, throw in multiple plants across the globe with different reporting procedures, toss in some juicy cross-border regulation issues, a mound of excess capital and assets and you start to get a sense of the scale.

Big4 Audit isn't normally 'prestigious' relative to high finance anyway, but it is a great breeding ground for other roles in accounting, finance or even a track to making decent dough as a partner.

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Right right lol, seems interesting enough thanks

Reply 13

KTS89

Original post by Youngmetro

ahh right, seems quite straight forward, why is it so prestigious?

It's not

Reply 14

Oilfreak1

Original post by Princepieman

How viable is big4 audit as a back up for a competent candidate from a target?

Reply 15

username738914

Original post by Oilfreak1

How viable is big4 audit as a back up for a competent candidate from a target?

Pretty viable, the big4 recruit something crazy like 1-2k+ grads EACH a year.. It's still 'competitive' in the sense that a lot of people apply but I don't think a target uni candidate would have any qualms

Obviously it depends whether you want to do IBD or markets because arguably a markets focused individual would apply across all banks with markets divisions, asset managers, and prop trading firms.

Whereas IBD gunners would apply across all BBs, EBs, MM firms, get on the Big4 Audit then CorpFin before lateraling to an actual IB path or cut away the Audit part by getting into Big4 CorpFin straightaway (less likely).

In reality, not getting an IBD gig straight out of uni isn't the end of the world.

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