******* investment banking

[kaiser78]

NHS and investment banking are the two hardest sectors to get into without experience. I have some experience in both sectors but not enough to feel I can confidently apply for a role with success. As other posters say, diversify where possible when required, specialise in times of drought.

[Evil Hangover]

The average IB'er is a complete t******. They have very little patience.

Tech teams are wary of putting inexperienced (in terms of IB experience) in the company of traders etc. for fear of being reprimanded for putting a clueless time waster in their path

Sad? Yes, very. Permies are pathetic sad people.

[moorfield]

IBs just want bodies who conform to their ridiculous notions of "presenteeism".

ie sandwiches at desk, in before 9, out after 6 (preferably 7), overnight support (unpaid), weekend working at short-to-no notice.

If you don't like the sound of that you won't last long in an IB.

[BrilloPad]

What is it about the investment banking sector that makes it such a closed shop? Job came up yesterday which technically I had a great skills match for, but because no investment banking experience, I don't get a look in. I've found this consistently over the years, can't think of another sector that is so strict on previous experience required!

If you are so interested why not drop your rate to get started?

[kaiser78]

IBs just want bodies who conform to their ridiculous notions of "presenteeism".

ie sandwiches at desk, in before 9, out after 6 (preferably 7), overnight support (unpaid), weekend working at short-to-no notice.

If you don't like the sound of that you won't last long in an IB.

Couldn't agree more from my IB experience, although normally in before 8 for the cross continent 'handover' calls...also no team culture, just in and work...

[dozer]

you could compare the rest of the world to ldn in investment banking. ldn has a very specific culture that doesnt necessarily translate to septic, asia etc....

[KentPhilip]

you could compare the rest of the world to ldn in investment banking. ldn has a very specific culture that doesnt necessarily translate to septic, asia etc....

ldn?

Ah I know what you mean. Let me help you. Its

london

There. That wasn't too difficult was it?

[swamp]

ldn?

Ah I know what you mean. Let me help you. Its

london

There. That wasn't too difficult was it?

Well said.

I stared at 'lnd' for a while before I figured it out. At first I thought it was a typo and I tried to think what that typo might be, for instance 'adn' instead of 'and'. I gave up and speculated on 'London' and got through the rest of the sentence. English is not really a very difficult language to write, especially if it's your native language. People should just make a bit more effort.

[dozer]

apologies for my abbreviation, im constantly writing in acronyms and it seems to have translated to place names.

[BiggieBig]

funny you should say that ldn is a common location code used to abbreviate countries in IB.

though most of the reasons mentioned above is true, there is also another aspect of culture in IB that is required that is the strict IB guide lines for exampe:

Auditing requirements for design, testing and production changes
Getting sign-off prior to releases
etc etc

Also experience is required because for certain aspects in IB, finance knowledge is required e.g If your creating a front office equity derivatives trade capture system you may need to now about:
- Swaps, options, TRS
- Hudging
- Leveraging and CPPI protection
- PnL calculations
- VaR

+ many over complex stuff.

Also if you come from another IB, then they can leverage your knowledge by knowing about existing solutions you have worked on.

So why hire someone without experience when you can hire someone with.