Do I Need Social Skills to Work in Investment Banking?

Networking

by Matt - July 13, 2018July 13, 20180

Sometimes I reminisce about my days in university when I was on the other side of the interview table. Even then I knew that some people absolutely sucked. After taking Chinese for foreigners in first year university and dating a Chinese girl for three weeks, I decided that I was ready

Investment Banking Information Sessions

Networking

by Matt - October 29, 2017September 16, 20180

Attending Information Sessions for Recruiting Key Takeaway: It is better to make a mild positive impression on a few people than to be disliked by one person - one no is all it takes to lose you an interview - this is especially true if you have good grades All organizations looking

Investment Banking Networking Guide

This post is under construction... Getting Started with Networking Every recruiting season there are a lot of candidates with high raw intelligence, excellent grades and good market knowledge who lack the polish to network effectively and pass an investment banking interview. All good entry-level finance careers require soft skills – from investment banking

Encouragement before Full-Time Recruiting for 2018

by Matt - September 7, 2017February 19, 20180

I have been coaching a few smart but docile nerds who have been eager to apply for finance roles but get cold feet at the jobs.bigbank.taleo.net page because they feel that they are not as competent as the other candidates. On one hand, some of them have no business being investment

How to Not Get Blacklisted from Investment Banking Recruiting

by Matt - July 28, 2017February 19, 20181

As with most other financial services professions, breaking into capital markets roles has a lot to do with networking. Accordingly, many bankers and other people who do not know any better but feel compelled to give their opinion like to say, “get yourself out there and meet as many people as

How to Show Your Passion for Finance

by Matt - February 7, 2017February 23, 20181

Roll back a few years, and I’m at an information session fielding questions, some thoughtful and some less so. One guy keeps raising his hand and has asked just about every question that is taboo or could get you banned from Wall Street Oasis for not using the search function. “What’s more

Walk Me Through a DCF

by Karl - February 5, 2017February 19, 20180

This is the one question that all interviewees can expect to get in an investment banking interview (and possibly a coffee chat), so there is no excuse to not be prepared for this question coming up – it’s about the same as forgetting to put on a suit. My sentiment is

Investment Banking Resume Observations

Networking

by Matt - January 14, 2017February 23, 20180

I have seen a lot of resumes and cover letters as of late. Some very impressive ones and some that are extremely cringeworthy. If you stand out in a bad way, your resume and cover letter are almost certainly due for a forward to several other bankers – possibly at

Coffee Chats and Informational Interviews

Networking

by Matt - January 8, 2017February 19, 20180

As summer recruiting continues, I am receiving a lot of emails for informational interviews and coffee chats. I know a junior banker who has gone on over 100 coffee chats since December has started (which may speak more to him or his group than anything else). For undergrads and masters, the