It's no secret. Unemployment currently sits around 9.5 percent in the United States, and Wall Street is certainly not immune to the weak economy. Wall Street was where the proverbial economic manure hit the fan and many hard-working, deserving employees suddenly found themselves out of a job. With little room for error, recruiters at major investment banks have turned towards developing and promoting from within, where the ability to perform is concrete and proven, rather than hiring from outside. Therefore, banks have placed special emphasis on recruiting programs to attract the world's top talent.
Just last week, I was lucky enough to participate in one of these recruiting programs at one of the world's top investment banks. To say the experience blew my expectations would be an understatement. The program began with a formal dinner where various recruiters, for example fixed income, would rotate between tables and get to know each one of us at the program.
At 8:00 the next morning, a managing director and client relationship manager for equities gave an overview of the company, describing some of the key values to the firm and the people they recruit. The presentation lasted about 30 minutes and touched briefly upon how the firm weathered the current crisis and the lessons that can be learned. One theme in the presentation is that the presenter constantly recommended books to read on various famous hedge fund managers, such as George Soros. Shortly thereafter was a Q&A session where eager young minds asked about anything ranging from housing, the where the dollar is going, to the most important question for prospective recruits, “what can I do to get an internship at this company?”
After the presentation, the program split into various divisions and I took part in the Sales & Trading track they offered. What followed next for my group involved a trading floor tour and then a talk an executive director at the company on an introduction to S&T. She explained what is involved in both sales and trading, and what sorts of personalities you would need in each role. What I took most out of it though, was her path to where she is now. Her path was different from the predominant idea now of how to have a successful career and she explained that sometimes getting sidetracked and luck can play a huge, unpredictable part of where you end up.
Later in the day, we participated in a mock trading game before stopping for lunch with recent graduates within equities and fixed income. It gave me a chance to sit down with many different recent hires, people whose shoes I hope to fill in the near future. Topics ranged from the current state of asset-backed securities, where the next bubble might be, and how strong are the different market subdivisions within equities and fixed income.
However, the most crucial part of the program that gave off the best impression for me was the one-on-one informationals where each student was paired with another recent hire in different areas and shadows him or her for an hour. I got the opportunity to sit with equity derivatives and not only picked the brain of the person I shadowed, but was also able to contribute and detail my experiences with investing in stocks, trading currencies, and the work I do at Carnegie Mellon.
Finally, at 4pm, the day ended with each of us going our separate ways. For many students, they may find themselves drawn into the allure of Wall Street and generating wealth, but may not be as certain about whether they would prefer investment banking, sales, trading, or other areas within a bank. Programs like the one I attended can provide an exceptionally in-depth view of the day-to-day operations and how much of a fit a specific desk can be.
