Howdy,

I am a junior Finance major and am in the newly formed Aggies on Wall Street/Investment Banking Program in the finance department. I am currently seeking a summer internship at a boutique or bulge bracket investment bank.

It seems that most banks have their Super Days in January. Thus far the bulge bracket firms, along with a few boutique firms, have just hosted information sessions about their Houston O&G divisions on campus. I have, and will continue to, drop my resume on hireaggies in the hopes of being selected to interview in January.

I am trying desperately to break into this field and seeking any advice from someone who has been in this situation before. The competition is fierce and I am looking to gain any advantage I can.

Any advice or guidance are appreciated. I am happy to provide a resume and elaborate on my progress in the program to anyone who might be able to help me out.

Thank you for your time.

Getting into I-Banking is all about getting in front of people, not resume-dropping on HireMays. At each of these informational sessions, you should walk away with the contact info of someone there. Shoot them a thank you e-mail for coming, even better, a hand-written note. If you don't want to go into the O&G division, still go, because they can put you in contact with plenty of people that can help you into another group.

NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK. When you are done, network some more. Reach out to people in the Aggie Network at some of these banks. Drive to Houston or Dallas one Friday a month and take someone to coffee or lunch to get your name out there. Keep in mind that analysts are a dime-a-dozen and there is far more supply than demand for these jobs. The compensation isn't what it used to be (though still very very good), and there are multiple fully-qualified people for each job.

On your side, make sure that the bank you are targeting has the right culture for you. If you don't really like the people you are working with, 100+ hours a week becomes even more of a nightmare. Your GPA better be top-notch, and you better know more than just the standard canned answers to the technical questions.

Post an e-mail address and I can take a look at your resume.

Thanks for the reply. I will definitely send you my resume. Please shoot me an email so I can reply to you.

texags016 at gmail

One of my HS friends went to Cal Berkley and graduated with a business degree, interned with Wells Fargo and they offered him a job in their leveraged securities division in San Fran. Be prepared to work...his motto is "IB never sleeps". He loves Wells and it's atmosphere but the work hours can be brutal. I asked him what helped him the most and he said that he understood and admitted to himself that he didn't mind the sweat equity, and he knew he would be putting in way more hours and effort than he was paid for. He said going in with that mentality helped him prepare for the worst and hope for the best.


The job market is competitive in a lot of industries right now but the biggest thing you can do is network. Also, be active in more than just your program, recruiters want to see that. Ask around about the employees too, especially on interview trips. Come away with the real objective atmosphere from employees there and not the celebrity treatment you get from your interviewers. When you get into your second and third interviews it becomes less about "do they want me?" and more about "do I want to be here?"

just my $.02

Are you looking in Houston or Dallas? I have a friend who works for a large ibank in Houston and a friend who works at a PE firm in Dallas. So I could ask them if they are looking for some interns, not sure what cycle they are on right now. I believe both are in O&G.

Winchester, I appreciate the advice.

AggieC07, PM sent.

All of the above posters are correct. Key to getting even a sniff is having somebody who will vouch for you. A lot easier said than done. Everything has to be there: top notch GPA, top standardized test scores, excellent understanding of financial markets and concepts, extreme focus and desire (not in it for the title), and getting somebody to vouch for you.

Also, you have to know what part of investment banking you want to do: commodities? derivatives? fixed income? etc. I would say this is just as important if not more important than anything else from all of the people I have spoken with at BB.

A couple of things from having spoken to a few VP, directors,etc: fewer spots than ever before as now everything is a numbers game, especially with headcounts. Economy tanking in 2008 and 2010 still hurting finance industry and will probably never reach the levels of pre 2008. Also, experience in industry will help A LOT. For example: BB in oil and gas are much more likely to hire somebody who have experience and knowledge from being an analyst for Shell/Exxon/etc. Keep in mind that so you don't limit yourself to only ibanking firms as getting experience in industry first is a huge advantage.

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Also, you have to know what part of investment banking you want to do: commodities? derivatives? fixed income? etc. I would say this is just as important if not more important than anything else from all of the people I have spoken with at BB.

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Thanks for that advice, I hadn't heard that before. I was trying to remain as broad as possible before I actually got into it. M&A is very appealing to me, but that might just be because of the current market conditions, and how some big deals have been in the news lately. I will learn more about the specific areas of trading as I take more upper level finance classes.

How would a corporate banking internship look on an application for a full-time investment banking analyst role?

Do you have any particular areas of weakness? GPA? SAT? Work experience? This might help shape my advice

3.51 overall GPA.
4.00 Finance GPA

Don't remember my exact SAT scores, but I know they weren't great. I have steady work experience, although I am seeking my first internship.

The iBank program tries to give us a leg up by getting us Bloomberg certified (working on that now). They are providing vault guides, investment banking books, mock interviews, and resume reviews.

Your GPA is ok but not great. My gut tells me you are going to have a hard time getting a job at one of the top bulge bracket banks in Houston (Barclays, Credit Suisse, Citi, JPM). Having said that, I don't think you won't be able to find an IB job, you just might have to work harder at it and be a little creative. You might want to seriously consider focusing your efforts on some of the second tier banks in Houston (UBS, Deutche Bank, BAML, Wells Fargo, RBC) or the boutiques and lesser known banks (Scotia, etc.). These banks are often viewed as backups for people but if you can focus on a few of these, you might be able to land a gig at one of these. In my experience, you might be able to parlay an internship at a second tier bank into a better bank after your summer or even after a few months / year at that bank full time. I've seen this done a lot and I don't think it's a terrible path. At my bank, one of the top bulge brackets I mentioned, we rarely hire anyone that has lower than a 3.7 and doesn't have prior internships but we do hire laterals from time to time. Best of luck.

Thanks for the advice. I know my GPA isn't great. I'm now just banking on my Finance GPA and trying to keep that high.

Thanks for listing some of those second tier banks. I will make sure to have my resume on file with all of them.

Working for a boutique firm isn't such a bad thing, in fact you may get better exposure to deals, MAY have (emphasis on "MAY" - all juniors will get crushed) better work/life balance and the exits to PE from boutique are still pretty good.

Here are a couple of boutique banks in Houston that focus on O&G that you should take a look at:
Lazard, Evercore, Jeffries, TPH, Simmons & Co.

Any O&G bankers who have a better feel for the industry - feel free to correct me.

I'm all for working for a boutique firm. Evercore and Simmons have been on campus and I went to their information sessions. I Just want to get my foot in the door somewhere and start getting experience before I start to target exactly what I want to do.

I believe I can justify my GPA in an interview. I voluntarily took ACCT 327, which is for accounting majors, and is the weed-out class for PPA. I will get a B in it, while some of my friends in finance will easily get A's in ACCT 315 (the lesser acct for finance majors).

Also, I am getting an Econ minor and have B's in a couple advanced Econ courses, which also hurts my GPA, relative to the competition.

I took those econ classes (323) and whatever macro theory was. My deepest condolences.

Thanks, Winchester. Yep 323 was a B and also 311 probably will be. I learned a lot, just not much room for error when going for an A. I figured getting the minor and broadening my horizons would be better than just trying to beef up GPA.

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My gut tells me you are going to have a hard time getting a job at one of the top bulge bracket banks in Houston (Barclays, Credit Suisse, Citi, JPM).

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Should we play which one doesn't belong?

Also, as an applicant, please make the distinction between a "top bulge bracket" as this poster says and a truly GOOD energy group. They are not entirely the same group of banks.

Which one would you say doesn't belong CapAg?

I re-read your comment, and you make a fair point. BarCap has a great reputation in energy, I kind of forget they aren't too relevant outside of that.

Anybody know anything about WoodRock in Houston? I applied for a position on hireaggies, but it doesn't look like they will be on campus at all. Seems like they are pretty small.

Bump

I would throw Evercore into the top tier banks list for Houston, personally. And yes, I agree that Barclays absolutely belongs as does Citi. Not sure on JPM or CS.

3.5 GPA is a little light, but I got in with a 3.6 so you aren't far off. I was at BAML (pre ML). The thing you need to realize when you consider a shop like BAML or JPM vs a Barclays or Evercore or Citi is that at BAML you are working a lot more on financing deals and a lot less on advising on deals. There are pluses and minuses to both. Plus: Less hours. Minus: Less impressive resume and less interesting experience.

As for the comment about writing a hand written letter to someone who came to give an informational presentation... do not do this... I would immediately have the impression that you are desperate, particularly once I saw your 3.5 GPA. An email will suffice. Then 6 months later when you have submitted your resume for an interview, reply to his email (that he hopefully responded to) to subtly remind him that you have had interest other than just seeing a job posting on the career center website.

Once you get an interview, its up to you. The whole networking thing is to get the interview. When you get the interview, you have to know how to answer the questions. If depreciation goes up 10, how does that flow through the 3 financial statements? Understanding valuation concepts and being able to quickly and accurately explain them, etc etc. I had a question that was something along the lines of "you have 5 seconds, whats 7/16 to the nearest 4th decimal place" so being able to think quickly under pressure. Take 1/8, divide by 2 and subtract that from 0.5. Say all of that outloud and then if you miss it they at least understand your thought process.

Good luck

If you're talking strictly energy IB, then Barclays is the leading fee generator (at least for 2014) in the business. They are followed by Citi, BAML, Wells Fargo and JPM. Those are your top 5 in terms of YTD net revenue and all have more than 7% market share. Wells, BAML and JPM do A LOT of capital markets, but they are all killing it at this point. JPM had an article out in the Spring saying the biggest threat to their IB business was Wells which is growing the fastest. Their group didn't even really exist 3-4 years ago.

The next tier (again, from a fee standpoint) are Goldman, MS, RBC, CS and UBS.

All those top banks are placing well today. I have Aggie friends at 4 of the top 5 on the list and they have all placed Hedge Fund and PE in the last 6-12 months. Retention is better at some than others. Certain banks tend to lose more bodies to other banks, meaning the employees aren't satisfied with where they're at.

Boutiques will never make league tables due to the nature of their business but Evercore, Jeffries, TPH, Lazard, Simmons are good. Study up on them though as they focus in different areas. Boutiques can also place well, but depends on experience.

Do your research. Meet the teams. Choose the one you like the best. Have a good story about your GPA prepared, because that will likely be a hurdle. That said, if you get an interview then they are showing that they are willing to overlook that aspect.

Thanks for the info. How much emphasis is placed on major gpa vs overall? It's gonna kill me if my GPA is what keeps me from any of these opportunities.

I can explain why my overall isn't closer to a 3.6/3.7 because I took some harder classes. My FINC GPA is what I'm banking on. It's a 4.0 now just because I have only taken FINC 341 and got an A. I'm registered for 4 FINC classes next semester so I will bust my butt to keep it as high as possible.

It is mostly your overall GPA at the top firms. Only because it makes weeding people out easier. At least that is how it was during the good times pre-2008 when a LOT of people would apply.

Also, I would not bring up GPA until it is asked and even then, I would hope you have a better answer than "harder classes."

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Also, I would not bring up GPA until it is asked and even then, I would hope you have a better answer than "harder classes."

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I believe I can justify my GPA in an interview. I voluntarily took ACCT 327, which is for accounting majors, and is the weed-out class for PPA. I will get a B in it, while some of my friends in finance will easily get A's in ACCT 315 (the lesser acct for finance majors).

Also, I am getting an Econ minor and have B's in a couple advanced Econ courses, which also hurts my GPA, relative to the competition.

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If asked about it my response would point to the more difficult ACCT, which has a much lower percentage of A's, compared to 315. I'm not trying to make an excuse as to why mine is lower, but I believe I have good reasoning why mine is lower than the person who interviews after me who has a 3.65. If I were to replace 3 B's in my GPA with A's, I'm right up there.

I can express that I learned more by taking the more advanced ACCT, and definitely the Econ courses, than by just taking the watered-down ACCT and Anthropology electives to get A's.

If this logic isn't sound, please correct me. I certainly don't want to look like an idiot in an interview. However, this is the honest answer.

Now I'm not in Ibanking but if I were the recruiter, what I hear is "I took more difficult classes and couldn't cut it." Not "I took more difficult classes so you should give me a bonus". Your "B" is maybe not better than the "A" in the easier class

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If I were to replace 3 B's in my GPA with A's, I'm right up there.

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Please do not say this sentence out loud in an interview.

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Now I'm not in Ibanking but if I were the recruiter, what I hear is "I took more difficult classes and couldn't cut it." Not "I took more difficult classes so you should give me a bonus". Your "B" is maybe not better than the "A" in the easier class

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I am a recent grad who graduated with an unimpressive 3.23 I think, not greatby any means. However I was apart of three organizations on campus, and had a job. Make sure you are involved! It looks a whole lot better if your GPA is just "average" compared to that of the industry when you are actively participating in organizations on campus. Don't make the excuse that you took harder classes than your peers. That way when you're asked about your gpa you can reply: "Although my gpa isn't pristine by any means I was able to balance a respectable gpa while actively participating with numerous organizations on campus." It's not great but it sounds better than "I took harder classes". They want to see your ability to have time management, especially in something like IB.

There is no "justifying" the bad GPA. If asked why your GPA is not better, the only "good" answers are going to be:

1. I work full time to pay for school
2. I did terrible my first semester or 2 because I was used to not needing to study in high school. If you remove my first year my GPA is 3.9
3. I started off in a major that I found disinteresting and therefore I was not motivated. Since changing majors my GPA is 3.9

#2 and 3 were me and my response to the GPA question was that basically I came to school not sure what I wanted to do with my life. I had wanted to be a vet my entire life (thats what my dad is) and just before getting to A&M my dad convinced me not to be a vet so I changed majors and went through a period of time where I was unmotivated due to not having a direction and a plan. Once I figured out what I wanted to do I was determined and motivated and my performance dramatically improved.

I felt this thread was filled with some misinformation about banks in Houston. The below link seemed to have more accurate information, in my opinion.

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/energy-investment-banking-in-houston-anyone-have-rankings

Where is the misinformation in this thread? Please fill us in.
and you're citing a random guy on WSO? That's like citing Wikipedia.

What bank do you work at CapAg? I trust the series of posts on there from several people vs a handful of people on TexAgs that appear to have limited actual exposure

Looking back at it, I think your info is skewed. Your focus on purely fees is a bit misguided and putting BAML and WF in your top group seems off. Fees don't necessarily equate to the group, especially from an analyst standpoint. I'm guessing you work for one of the big balance sheet banks that collects a lot of fees but doesn't have a great rep outside of that (WF, RBC, BAML, etc.)

I actually do not, though I have good Aggie friend at both and am very familiar with how they place. BAML has placed at least 2 in PE shops in the past year and WF has placed 4 analysts at PE and 1 at Soros in the past year. I'd say that placement is pretty good. And you can say what you'd like, but fees do matter. Anyone that thinks that BAML and WF don't play a big role in the energy business in Houston are showing their butt. The game has changed in the last 2-3 years.

Barclays is still at the top. Citi and CS are both very good. If you think capital markets are worthless, which you apparently do, then you should work at a boutique.

And I have several years of exposure at two different banks, so you keep citing Wikipedia if you'd like but you're misguided. There are some very informed Aggies on this board and I'm not including myself on that list. WSO is a bunch of folks pimping their own bank and recruits hoping to fall upon useful information.