Getting into Investment Banking

[Lucifer Box]

I think the problem with this is that the agencies don't get as much out of this due to the lower rates, so they will always put forward someone at the highest rates they think they can get away with.....

Maybe the thing to do is to offer to work at a lower rate but offer the agent a cash bonus of a few hundred quid to make it worth their while?... presumably I can claim it as just a company expense anyway?

Has anyone done this successfully?

I have successfully offered (and paid) a cash bonus to an agent for getting me a position. Worked like a charm.

[BlasterBates]

To be prefectly honest Dork and think they'll put forward anyone they think will get the contract. These banks have a high rejection rate, so I would be puzzled if you didn't get put forward, if the agency didn't think you had a chance.

[Jabberwocky]

Not to put you off at all Dorky, but you should know the score especially for the quantitative dev type roles that BB is referring to.

A typical financial software house in London will reject 99% of applications: for a typical quant dev role we are looking at 20-30 interviewed candidates out of a couple of hundred CVs filtered through technical testing. One of these people gets the gig usually afer a few months. Thing is the software houses have high staff turnover because banks feed off them. Agencies throw CVs at the banks and software houses and play a statistical game with this sort of excess supply. All these means your chances are low and the time waste factor is high especially with all the financial MScs coming onto the market in London.

[hayde]

Very good advice...

The recommendation that you read a book about 'Getting Started in Futures' is one of the most sound I've ever heard.

If you are considering entering politics, I can also recommend renting the entire 'Yes, Prime Minister' series on Video or DVD. This will impress any Party Candidate Selection Board.

Anyone considering getting a piece of Premiership footballer action, may consider buying an old 'Shoot' annual from a jumble sale. I believe this was how Alan Shearer learnt 'the business'.

Delia Smith's 'Winter Warmers' inspired Gordon Ramsay sufficiently to quit his job as a bus conductor.

'How to make friends and influence People' gave Adolf Hitler the confidence to set out on his career too...

Wise words indeed.

[BlasterBates]

The recommendation that you read a book about 'Getting Started in Futures' is one of the most sound I've ever heard.

He's an experienced programmer trying to get a job as a programmer, not trying to become a trader. Not all programmers in banks are "b"ankers, so yes reading a book will help him.

[Mustang]

Well said BB

It seems like good advice to me. I have to say that breaking through sectors is a tough move - as a PM, I am getting tired (even after a short time) of agents saying that despite all my project experience and qualifications, I haven't got experience in a project in sector X. A lot of the time they wouldnt understand a project if it hit them in the face!!

[3ill]

Hi, I've been a contractor (C++, C#) for the past 2 years and I'm looking at moving into the financial sector.

After reviewing the jobs posted on CWJobs it looks like they all require previous investment banking experience.

Am I right in thinking that going down the permie route first might be a better option? Or should I stick with the contract market and hold out for any jobs that dont specify any prior investment banking experience?

Also, for permie positions, they all state that they require good academics (good degrees, and A's in A levels) I have a good degree, but dont have any A's.. how tough am I going to find it getting to the interview stage?

Also, how different are the technical tests for investment bank interviews compared to non-financial related jobs? any examples?

Thanks in advance!

[Fungus]

Hi, I've been a contractor (C++, C#) for the past 2 years and I'm looking at moving into the financial sector.

You need experience. Unless you do something requiring specific detailed knowledge e.g. multithreading real time systems. I worked on banking software for a year or two and it was very tedious. I've talked with others and they all say the same. Dull. Dull. Dull. And by all accounts a lot of the banks have a very strange atmosphere. Kissing the butts of traders is important. Or so I've heard.

Loads of people I studied with went into merchant banking. They were on permie wages of about £50K per annum 20 years ago.

Fungus

[expat]

the good rates (ie above £400 p/d) seem to be only in finance/ investment banking. The problem is, every single one says previous experience is manadatory.. but if they don't let you in in the first place, how does anyone get the experience?

You only call that a Catch-22 when you're outside. Once you're in, you realise that it is only the barrier to entry that keeps the rates high. Don't knock it.

[Alexander Coe]

Am I right in thinking that going down the permie route first might be a better option? Or should I stick with the contract market and hold out for any jobs that dont specify any prior investment banking experience?

You may well find contracts in smaller financial companies without prior experience - but they will pay you a lower rate

you almost certainly won't find a contract that doesn't specify any prior investment banking experience and that pays good rates... because thats part of what they are paying for, Technical skills coupled with knowledge of industry/financial environment