The Somali Society Mk III

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Jheez, you make it sound scary. I don't want to sell my soul lol. I don't mind the social life stuff, but I do want to be able to occasionally do something fun.
I'm planning on doing Maths, hopefully at Cambridge, if not Imperial.

BTW it is possible to fake enthusiasm at the interview right?
I might start investing in acting classes :biggrin:

Cambridge is a target university so you'll have no problem securing an interview given you join relevant societies and do SW/internships.

With regards to faking enthusiasm, that's between you and your interviewer.

A degree in Maths at Cambridge/Imperial won't limit you in regards to what division you choose to work in, nonetheless.

But don't understimate the no-life aspect of the job. You need to prepare to give 10-15 years of your life to the bank. After that, you're essentially a rich person and the exit opportunities are limitless. You can walk into practically any profession having worked in a BB IB for 15 years.

Reply 3021

missfats

Original post by Abdul-Karim

I only have the A2 essays I did in PDF format. They're essentially a similar layout but the questions/answers are more complex with A2 concepts. I can share some of them with you if you'd like. Send me your private email.

Aren't you a gods send? if I get an A in AS, I'll be definitely sending you a box of chocolates your way. *if you do enclose*?

I'll pm you my address.
:tongue:

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Reply 3022

Xenorebrem

Original post by Abdul-Karim

Is there going to be time to spend the money whilst working at the Bank, i.e holidays etc ?

Also, I heard that its possible to move to Dubai and work for an investment bank there. Are you planning on doing this?

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Reply 3023

gr8wizard10

Original post by missfats

Aren't you a gods send? if I get an A in AS, I'll be definitely sending you a box of chocolates your way. *if you do enclose*?

I'll pm you my address.
:tongue:

You can send it to my halls address now if you want :rolleyes:

PM address aye :wink:

Reply 3024

missfats

Original post by Abdul-Karim

You can send it to my halls address now if you want :rolleyes:

PM address aye :wink:

What is your address?
I swear I will.
Pm it

But in return, you better help me loads. I'll mostly email you. :tongue:

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Reply 3025

gr8wizard10

Original post by Xenorebrem

You get 20 days holiday a year.

If the bank calls you back for any reason, you have no choice but to cancel your holiday time. You get asked to fully commit in the contract.

At the global IBs, there's many opportunities to work overseas. You'd need to speak the language to stand a better chance and it's subject to vacancies. Usually they ask seniors to move about and lead teams in their overseas operations.

I plan on serving my career in London (given I actually secure a grad offer), due to the networking opportunities. If Dubai ever arises as an opportunity, I would consider it as they have an emerging financial centre. I don't imagine the pay to be quite as high in comparison to NY/London/Zurich.

Reply 3026

Biryani007

Original post by Abdul-Karim

Front Office:

Starting Salary (Analyst) - £45-50k (30%-100% bonus)
After 2-3 years : Associate - £60k ~ (30%-100% bonus)
After 2-5 years: Vice President - £90k ~ (50%-150% bonus)
After 4-8 years: Senior Vice President - £90k-120k (50%-150% bonus)
Subject to promotion: Managing Director - £150k-300k (100%-300% bonus)

Really depends on what bank you work and for what division, The bonuses is what bankers work for. Since after the financial crisis they went down dramatically, as you can see in the above averages.

Damnnnn I gotta find myself a banker :lol:

But why the huge bonuses? How do you get them?
It's an amazing salary without them anyway!

Reply 3027

Xenorebrem

Original post by Abdul-Karim

The most appealing thing about Dubai is that you don't pay tax. But seriously though 20 days?
I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a nervous breakdown as I sign that contract.
I'm currently learning a few languages just in case **** goes down and I need to get out of this country.

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Reply 3028

gr8wizard10

Original post by Biryani007

Damnnnn I gotta find myself a banker :lol:

But why the huge bonuses? How do you get them?
It's an amazing salary without them anyway!

Bonus is incentive based. The more money you bring into the bank (capital you raise) the higher your bonus. It's also used to retain employees. If you don't pay your employees a good enough amount of money they'll move to another bank. Employees are the banks most valuable asset, it's difficult to replace a person who's good at making money. If a banker brings in millions to the bank each year, what the hell is £100k-600k?

Nope, the life of a banker is full of stress. Without the bonus, I don't think anyone would enter the industry willingly unless they really had a passion of working 18 hours day with being responsible for millions/billion pounds worth of trades/deals.

Reply 3029

Biryani007

Original post by Abdul-Karim

Ahhh I see. What qualities make a person good at making money? Is it mainly due to the hours you put in?
Most do it for the money but why would you want to live a miserable life?...it's not worth it imo.

Reply 3030

missfats

Original post by Abdul-Karim

Thanks for the Email.
I will put them to big use in structuring my essay.

Btw, Your email is priceless, you even got the linkedin account aha.

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Reply 3031

hugoalmeida

Original post by Xenorebrem

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Ahaha are you applying to Uni this year? If your applying for maths just talk about your love of maths, the fact it's used everywhere day to day... i have many friends who undoubtedly chose a maths degree to go into banking like you but none of them mentioned anything about baking in thief personal statements, think about that when you start uni and what you can do to further yourself towards that area

Reply 3032

gr8wizard10

Original post by Biryani007

Incredibly bright, integrity, committed, sociable (IBD/Sales), good use of initiative, numeric (most quant focused positions), willing to go the extra mile (there may be times you'll be asked to do things that are morally questionable). You have to be good at your job. There are many divisions within a bank, each do different things so require a different skill set.

There's trading, for example (who operate in secondary market i.e Fixed Income / Equities / Commodities) - which has mostly turned to market making who take advantage of arbitrage opportunities across different exchanges to sell shares to clients.

Other traders such as those who work in derivatives offer hedging products to help clients mitigate the risk of financial losses on their portfolios.

There's IBD (Investment Banking Division) who work with business transactions. They help in primary markets, either by assisting businesses raise funds in whereby they issue IPOs or debt and then sales push it to other financial institutions to buy. This is then released into the secondary markets which is most commonly referred to as the stock markets in whereby prop traders will determine whether a companies stock will rise or fall given fundamental and technical analysis. The IBD side would most likely assist businesses with whatever their needs are, offer advice and help them achieve there goals.

M&A is a sub sect of IBD who help companies either merge or take over other companies. They work on due-diligence, financial planning and execution and would work on massive long-term projects (these are the guys who usually work the longest hours).

It's not necessarily miserable, if you have an interest in finance. The job itself is quite enjoyable, in my opinion. It's stressful but then that's expected if you're working with incredibly enormous amounts of money and a lot of responsibility is put on you. It's a continuous learning experience and it's invaluable to career progression. It's a status symbol as well. Being an Investment Banker is right up there in the most prestigious job, given the elitism of the industry. They make the most on average as to any other professional widespread careers.

Reply 3033

Xenorebrem

Original post by hugoalmeida

Yh I can see where your coming from.
I think most admissions tutors want someone passionate about their subject. I definitely am and tbh I am even considering doing a PhD and doing research, but for now I'm gonna aim to towards banking, as the money is just ridiculous and I kind of want the opportunity to buy my parents and family cool stuff.
Yeah I'm applying this year.

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Reply 3034

gr8wizard10

Original post by missfats

Thanks for the Email.
I will put them to big use in structuring my essay.

Btw, Your email is priceless, you even got the linkedin account aha.

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I'm happy to be of assistance.

You should've seen my work email signature :rolleyes:

This is my managers but it was this with my work details/number etc.. on it. :rolleyes:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3035

gr8wizard10

Original post by Xenorebrem

At the expense of getting to see them regularly? That's a new one.

Investment Banking and Family don't go together, to be perfectly honest with you. I wish that was an exaggeration.

Reply 3036

hugoalmeida

Original post by Abdul-Karim

At the expense of getting to see them regularly? That's a new one.

Investment Banking and Family don't go together, to be perfectly honest with you. I wish that was an exaggeration.

Lool really? Well I guess nothing can be perfect... i want to do civil engineering... civil engineering also depending on which branch has the capability of stretching you away from family.. but there are office jobs also

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3037

hugoalmeida

Original post by Abdul-Karim

At the expense of getting to see them regularly? That's a new one.

Investment Banking and Family don't go together, to be perfectly honest with you. I wish that was an exaggeration.

Hey can I ask how you prepared for your maths exams during your A levels?

Reply 3038

gr8wizard10

Original post by hugoalmeida

Most IBD jobs don't have specific requirements to enter regardless. Going to certain universities will be the things which will benefit an applicant. Markets side usually require quant/industry related degrees i.e Economics/Finance/Maths, nonetheless.

Along with Oxbridge, Imperial and LSE; UCL and Warwick, the remaining members of the G5, are also top Universities to break into the profession from. After the G5:

•

Durham/Edinburgh/Nottingham/Bristol

•

Cass Business School (London)

•

York/Bath/St Andrews

•

King’s/Manchester

However, after G5, the degree you do does start to become more relevant. For example, theoretically, it would be ‘easier’ for someone with a Geography degree from Oxford to get into Banking than someone with a Geography degree from York.

Please note that this does not mean that if you do Mathematics at Oxford you are certain to get a position in Banking - your extra curricular activities, work experience, CV, cover letter, contracts and interview technique will all count.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Investment_Banking

Civil Engineering at UCL can land you an interview, given you do the relevant activities and show your motivation.

You can also take a look at this. Scroll down to the section regarding universities: http://www.wikijob.co.uk/wiki/investment-banking

..although investment banks do accept applications from all university graduates. Attending LSE/UCL/ Warwick/ Imperial/Cass Business School is also beneficial.

The majority of the intake top tier front office roles at the top 6 investment banks, namely Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, UBS and JPMorgan will come from the top 6 universities on the list.

Below that, candidates from universities further down the list will find it easier to get into middle-office or back-office roles, and may be able to access front-office roles at non-big 6 banks such as ABN Amro, BNP Paribas and Commerzbank.

UCL is considered a target university, anyhow.

Targets include: Oxbridge/LSE/Warwick/Imperial/UCL

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3039

hugoalmeida

Original post by Xenorebrem