Over on the Ask Us Anything section we’re starting to see the same questions come up. This post is going to address why the advice won’t change and how we can save time together.
1) How Do I improve my Diet? We have covered diet advice in a post. If you haven’t taken a look then go ahead and read the post. If you’re slogging 80 hours a week you need to be efficient and as we stated before, if you don’t want to read the post, here’s the basic outline:
Breakfast: Fruit + Protein. Worst case a protein shake in the AM and a banana/fruit bowl on your way to work
Lunch: If you have a high paying job, lunch is used to improve your political positioning so you always eat with people so suck up the $10-12 meals
Dinner: You can get $25+ from your company, do not waste it on unhealthy food. Most people will eat terribly which starts the downward spiral. There are hundreds of options online using seamless. If you don’t have to work late… then make your meal at home after your day is done.
By doing this you guarantee 2/3 of your main meals are healthy. Lunch may be hit or miss, but if you’re smart all 3 will be perfectly fine and you won’t break the bank.
2) What Bank do I Join? Again this question misses the point by a country mile. The question is, which bank will allow me to get promoted the fastest. If you have no idea which bank then go by the rule of thumb
Elite Boutique (Moelis, Qatalyst, Centerview, Evercore, Lazard, etc.)
Bulge Bracket (Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Citi, etc.)
Middle Market (Jefferies, Piper Jaffray, etc.)
No-Name Banks (simply make sure it is the same job function)
No, we will not get into a back and forth about “what exactly is E-Boutique versus not” it is up to you to make that decision but if you’ve done your due diligence the answer will be extremely obvious. If they pay above top bonuses at a bulge bracket… it’s an E-boutique. If it pays the same as a BB… it’s probably smarter to choose the BB.
After your very first job none of this matters at all anymore. From that point forward you choose the firm that is going to promote you the fastest. Think smart. It is about responsibility not prestige.
“F*** prestige get money”
Put that quote on your cubicle. People who obsess over prestige have never had a long career on Wall Street. Maximum of maybe 5 years. To put the nail in the coffin check out one of two blogs we recommend (we only recommend Danger and Play and Financial Samurai). Click on FS’s blog… notice something? He started at a top shop but his real money came in after getting promoted and generating a ton of revenue. **hint hint**
3) When Should I Work Out? Well do you even work out? If you’re under 30 years old and you don’t work out 6 days a week you’ve already lost in the first place. If you have been working out 6 days a week, you probably already have a healthy routine! See how that works? So the question is not when you should work out it is if you even work out in the first place. We got this question many times and the answer when pushed is exactly the same.
If you work on the East Coast you go to the gym first thing in the morning. If you work on the West Coast you go to the gym after work.
You can feel free to change this if you’re a morning person or a night owl but it really misses the point. The point is this:
“There is no science, there is simply consistency.”
Consistency is how you keep yourself honest. If you can make it to the gym every single day and lift correctly, you’re going to see gains.
4) What Do You Think About the Stock Market Levels? Always the same answer, do not care at all. You should not care if the S&P is at 1,700 or 2,000… simply dollar cost average into cheap ETFs such as VOO, SPY etc.
If you’re trying to beat the stock market and you only have a half million dollars or so in the bank, you’re wasting your time. $500K in the bank to invest is pretty much a waste of effort. It means if you beat the bench mark by call it 5% that is only $25K. You may as well go and chase real revenue in a business. $25K for 10+hours a week is only $48/hour… That is significantly worse than what you’re making on the job anyway.
If the economy collapses? It doesn’t matter again. Generally recessions last about a year so you simply sit around and take the extra cash that was on the sidelines and buy any time there is a large correction. Your cash was on the sidelines because you want to continue buying through the dips so you get lower entry prices. Maybe you lost your job for a few months. No big deal. You had cash on the side to keep buying and get your next position.
If the market goes up 20%? Great already exposed getting richer!
What if inflation goes “crazy”? Again already own assets… getting richer! Only poor people think inflation is a bad thing.
5) I Make $50K and I am X Years Old What Do I Do? Some tough love and inspiration at the same time. First why in the world did you do this to yourself? If you look around there is money everywhere. A weekend in a high cost city driving an Uber will net you $30+ an hour. That is an extremely low estimate and yet that gets you an extra $60K per year. Why is it an *extra* 60K per year? Well, if you’re not working at least 80 hours per week and you’re broke, you have no one to blame but yourself. Anyone who believes they should be rich working 40 hours a week is going to be in for a rude awakening.
If you attempt to come back with the “but i’m smart” argument, you’re going to get laughter on this side of the web. Why? If you were actually *smart but lazy* you wouldn’t be broke in the first place right? It is much smarter to control what you can control. Go ahead and start slogging those long hours because at some point everyone pays their dues.
Finally, to put the nail in the coffin on this one… If you believe that anything over 40 hours is “too much work” then how exactly are you going to catch up to someone better than you putting in more time? If Person A is working 60 hours a week making $100K per year and you’re working 40 hours a week making $50K… You’re already making significantly less than Person A on an “hourly basis” and there is no way you’re going to catch up by working less and learning less.
Get to the grind!
6) Does Money Attract Women? Yes. Anyone who says otherwise has never made a good amount of money. Here is a general guideline since the question is asked so frequently:
$50K or less: it will be a negative to your sex life because you are not making enough
$50K – $100K: in a regular city this will be perfectly fine, in a major city it is still a detriment to your sex life
$100K-$175K: in a regular city you’re doing well, in a major city it now has no negative or positive impacts to your sex life
$175-$250K: Positive impact to your sex life in practically every city
$250-500K: Significant positive, less because of your life but because of the value of your time. At this point you’re extremely busy, you’re traveling, you’re not available, these are traits that will make you incredibly attractive. It won’t be possible to fake these trips/traits.
$500K+: It is practically impossible to blow through this type of money with common sense and everything in the previous tier are truer.
$1M+: If you can make this income at any point in your life you’re set. Your life changes because all of your actions value your time and comfort. You fly business/first class and do not care. You live a life that is impossible to fake.
Given the range and scope of this blog, it is certainly possible to get to $250-500K (before mid 30′s of course). This is achievable for anyone who wants it. When you start pushing up on high 6 figures and 7 figure numbers, you’re going to have to do something special.
Finally, there is no need to bother asking people like us. You can check out James Altucher’s blog, a multi-millionaire, who comes to the same conclusion… money gets girls.
(Caveat: before all the guys who live on shoestring budgets come in, yes you still need some social skills. That is about it though. If you don’t have some sort of social disease you’re going to be perfectly fine if you ever obtain large amounts of money)
7) Can You Hire Me? No
8) Are You Writing a Book? Maybe, not enough page views as of today. Creating a book that will take a long amount of time. It is certainly not worth it for a 5 figure payoff.
9) Industry Overview on XXX Sector? Probably, these are for Wall Street folk and the blog is currently a ~50/50 split it seems. This means it’s likely but no promises.
10) Resume Reviews? Nope! Hate them.
11) Can You Redesign the Blog? 100% agree needs to be re-done, no time-table yet though.
2) I am XX years old What do i Do to break in? We also get this one far too many times here’s the general guideline. Unless you have something spectacular you are holding back, this is the backdrop.
Analyst: If you are 25 years old or younger, keep gunning for an entry level slot as an analyst. This means you pass CFA level 1 if you have absolutely no finance experience to prove you understand the basics and then you get straight to networking. If you’re at a non-target then read our post on how to network/recruit. Now if you are from a no name school, no work experience and low GPA. You have next to no shot and are better off going to get an MBA later in life. This is the truth. As a non-target or older candidate with no experience, you need to have something to bring to the table otherwise you will lose time and time again to 22 year old candidates with banking internships, top GPAs and a great school.
Associate: If you are 26-33 years old this is your second chance to break in. If you have nothing related to finance, probably best to get an MBA.
Vice President and Above: Likely 33+ years old and you’re making a switch from a revenue generating career. In this case you should already know if you’re well qualified. Generally speaking, if you’re in a sales role or run a product line at a firm and are paid $300K+… You’re likely a good fit (this is general as most people who are in this slot know if they have the skills to move to the sell-side or not)
There you have it, it will answer 99% of questions. If you’re young you simply network and spin your resume assuming you have some skills that are transferable. If you’re in your late 20s you’re likely better off with a top MBA.
Hey WC,
I am starting my undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance in Australia(top 400 university, basically no name in the world). It will take me 3 years to complete and I will be 26-27 when I graduate which will be older than other graduates. I have been starting a plan to increase my employability once I graduate(internships, social clubs, BAT test?, high gpa) I was previously a lazy SOB so that is why I am in this position. Do you recommend any books, websites or anything else that I should be doing in these 3 years? I want to go hard out and work hard for once in my life so any advice/help is appreciated. Cheers.
If you are only a freshman, then our recommendation (remember this is related to USA recruiting so do your own work applying it to Australia) is as follows:
1) get perfect grades for 1-2 years and work low end internships
2) Transfer to a better school, being at the bottom tier college never helps during your 2nd to 3rd year transition
3) once you transfer continue working internships, maintain grades in the 85-90% range (essentially a 3.5+ GPA in USA)
4) Apply to jobs
Good luck!
Do you guys lie about your age to girls?
I’m 34 but could probably get away with as young as late 20s.
Go for it.
Generally you don’t need to do it though, but if you really feel you need to, no one is going to die if you say you’re in your 20s.
In a DCF for a company with no debt, what would be missing from your discount rate if you used median of annual market returns?
I think I was over-thinking it way too much would just plug the necessary data into CAPM and use that as the discount rate?
Yep just use CAPM since the discount rate is… WACC = Ce + Cd. Cd is zero, so its only CAPM for Ce.
What can someonedo to improve their long term and short termmemory? What supplements can someone take too or foods to eat?
Modafinil/fish oil. The first is not technically legal though. Don’t actually use any modafinil anymore as a healthy diet was more than enough to maintain memory.
Modafinil? I’m surprised you guys would mention anything about modafinil or viagra since you also mentioned that before. I thought that everything was supposed to be natural here….
He asked for short term memory so we gave him the answer. You can also use Adderall etc. But we don’t use it personally.
Facts are not equal to use.
This is like saying xtacy gets you in a good mood and us trying to say it doesn’t. No where do we state that it is healthy long term.
How can I include freelance work on my resume? For example, let’s say I’ve provided finance-related services to 4-5 real economy companies… would I refrain from listing each company name and just have one line item e.g. “Freelance: X and Y Services Provided” etc. or is it possible to make them appear bigger on the resume (assuming it will be one page in total like your example)?
Never did this, but for finance would try to do the following in your shoes… would simply have one line item “XYZ work” then include the clients + activity in a couple bullets below it.
Just finished reading the models book the and it was an excellent recommendation. It’s everything you guys preach. It’s like you guys wrote the book.
Saw your post “Navigating Wall Street.” Can you describe what “Research & Investors Relations” means? Would an investment analyst working at a mutual fund fall under “Research” or “Asset Management” in your map?
Research = Sell-side research (for example pull up any company on yahoo finance and click on analyst recommendations all of those people would be in equity research)
Investor relations = self explanatory. Go to any public company and under investor relations.
Your position described sounds like asset management.
Hey, I had a question so I notice that for the resume template you change it depending on whether you already have a job versus your in college trying to break. How would you change the template for a cover letter? I notice you guys lead in with college type intro but for experienced professionals how would you mold the cover letter?
Easy no cover letter.
For resumes you just move the school up front if you are still attending and to the bottom if you graduated.
Cover letters are 99.999999999% never read. Think about it, we get 100+ resumes per week. Chances we read it are zero.
Even when we know we are interviewing person x, y and z… We print out the résumé and toss the rest. Waste of time.
Gotcha do you have any tips on how to approach a cold email then if I forgo the cover letter? Not just for wall street jobs just any finance job or start ups?
This was also covered numerous times. 3-4 sentences max, format below:
1) Introduction of who you are (one short sentence)
2) Why you want to work for them and how you can contribute (2 short sentences)
3) How you can be reached and that you look forward to speaking to them
Thanks,
Name
Moving to SF, what’s the best way to meet new people while working investment banking hours ? Smart successful guys and beautiful women (ages of recent college grads and beyond)
What are your thoughts on Tinder?
Should we use it to hook up? How? Coffee date–> hook up? Meet up at a bar –> hook up? What are somethings you say via online dating?
We covered both questions here already.
1) live within walking distance of work or in the marina. Get a roomate, go out Thursday & Saturday. If you are in NYC, LA, Houston etc. This strategy still works. Thursday/Saturday.
2) Tinder = up to you. Personally don’t use it, if it works go for it. Online dating is something we will never have a post on, because we don’t do it. Quality is too low.
What is a good way to find the social center of a city you’ve never been to and considering living in for a year or so? I’m thinking that being in walking distance to major hotspots would make it logistically easier to bring women back.
Sure the easiest way is to locate the #1 shopping area and the largest/most popular club.
That should get you at or near the action every time.
you tweeted:
“The more attractive a girl is, the less likely she will take “cute” as a complement. She’ll be offended/annoyed”
Curious as to why you claim this/think this is?
1) poll any attractive woman and ask her if she prefers being called “cute” versus “pretty or beautiful/gorgeous”. Draw the line at women who have been paid for their looks in a reasonable way ie: appeared in a magazine, worked as a bud light/vodka girl etc. you will find this to be true.
2) reasoning, most girls will answer as follows either “it makes them feel like a little girl” or “it means the guy doesn’t like her enough to do anything about it”.
The rest of the research is up to you, you’ll find the tweet to be accurate.
6s are more than happy with being called cute.
How can a guy decrease his refractory period between orgasms so that he can go back to back with diffrent females in the bedroom? Can he keep the recovery of a teenager as he gets older? If so how? Any foods or exrcises that one can do to keep improving as men get older or is this part of the normal aging process?
Do not know, try dangerandplay.com
Hey question what is the best way to switch from tax big 4 accounting into finance? Would it be go back to school get my mba? Leverage a cpa? Network? Or shit out of luck?
If under 25 network to break into a smaller sized firm.
If over 25, go to a top 10 MBA.
Good to know. QUick question can you provide more information of Family Office. I’ve been getting some headhunters looking into it. Would that be a decent move from acct to finance? My pipe dream is to work at a VC or startup
Unfortunately, have no idea what family office is or entails, that should be a sign that it would be a move in the wrong direction.
Hi,
I am a practicing physician, 35 years old. I want to change my career. How do I switch to consulting (Mckinsey, etc.)? I do not have any business experience. I don’t have any networking outside medicine.
This might be a stupid question, but can I call consulting firms, and tell them that I want to work for free (initially)? What is a good way to do that, email, phone, show up? I am not a troll, and I am very serious.
Thanks in advance.
we do not cover consulting. Try the following: http://www.managementconsulted.com
I have a philosophical question. I was fortunate enough to intern for a hedge fund in NY this summer, I will have to return to my part- time minimum wage job upon return to school. When stating to my family that it will be a hard transition from working on research for a +$1B fund and working for people worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the tedium of part time work and that I don’t feel as though it is as important. They replied that it is just as important but in a different way. It immediately made me feel uncomfortable. I feel as though that view is poisonous as it encourages and enables mediocre performance and discounts the fact that competition and upward mobility are vital.
Am I viewing this in the wrong way or are they encouraging mediocrity?
There is nothing perplexing. If you interned at a $1B+ fund you should be able to find a different job that doesn’t involve wasting your time working minimum wage.
Go get an internship related to finance that pays at least $10-20 an hour. You’re selling yourself short and all that time working minimum wage is literally a waste of your efforts.
Never, never, never work for minimum wage.
Hey,
I’m a 21 year old student about to be 22 attending school for petroleum engineering. Going to graduate in ~2 years .
I have a vast network within oil and gas including some very good connections. However I was looking at my options within finance (related to O&G).
I attended an extremely good engineering school, however I transferred out because it was miserable. Also they make you a great engineer, but pretty shitty at everything else (half the goddamn school couldn’t hold a convo with a girl. Social skills were terrible). Got a shittyish GPA (~2.7). I also joined a fraternity that has opened up an enormous network within the oil industry. We partied hard but it was full of engineers.
Family divorce, health problems all contributed to the shit going on. Luckily that is all gone now.
I’m at a new school now for petro engineering, and I got a 3.7 last year (kicked some major ass).
I currently am looking at a few options:
-Try to hustle my ass to VP in an oil company ASAP. ~10-15 years. Puts me at 35 or so clearing half a million a year (+/- a hundred k or so). Most engineers get to 200k – 300k within a few years. And you can work in most places in the world. I have a friend who got a gig in Dubai right out of college (connections)
-Enter oil and gas finance/investing/wallstreet. Make who knows how much money. However I’m not sure how I would go this route. (Get an MBA?)
-Start a company within oil and gas after I get some experience.
I’m also working on paid traffic online while i’m in college. See if I can ball hard there also (mainly a hobby).
My game, style, fitness, diet are all currently on point. A big result of my heath problems was learning to eat right (at least something good came out of it). Currently taking the summer off to recover from the last of my health issues (adrenals are shot). I’m going to be a year late out of college however for what happened I did pretty amazing IMO.
Basically I guess what I’m asking you. If I wanted to enter banking/finance/investing via oil what would be the best way to do it?
Based on your long winded post it sounds like option one makes the most sense financially. Making $500K+ in 10 years time.
The reason why? You need to get an MBA to break in since you have no finance experience and no finance course work and you’re not at a major university.
You can try to get into IBD right out of college (chances are slim you break in but still a shot) and if it fails then do your engineering route. After 2-3 years get an MBA if you want to switch or go down career route 1.
We suggest career route 1.
Sounds like solid advice. Thanks.
Do investment banks pay for lunches and coffee too? (If you’re an investment banking analyst/associate) I know they pay for the dinners.
Do you know if they provide bus cards or other for going to and from work? (this may be bank dependent)
Generally they pay for dinner ~$25 a night.
Transportation usually have some sort of set up for a slight discount with the local companies. This applies to gyms and sometimes parking. Generally nothing for buses.
Lunch = you pay for yourself.
Coffee = you have it free along with other small beverages (usually) which would include water, sodas and tea.
If you want free lunch as well you’re going to have to make it to a top tier PE/HF as many of them have a chef on site.
That’s the jist, IBD is usually dinner + light drinks + some discounts to local businesses.
How does one successfully pull an all-nighter?
Simply lots of caffiene, that and you should try to get ~3 hours of sleep as soon as the event is done.
Hey play boys ,
I am from India. Going to attend an engineering college.
My question – what major (engineering specialization ) would you suggest for easily breaking into the financial markets ?
My 2 question – is it better to get a engineering ug degree in 4 years from a tier 2 college , or get a bachelors plus a masters in 5 Years from a tier 1 college ?
Covered many times in past. Again a top tier Finance degree is always going to be better than any engineering degree.
If you’re going to force yourself down the engineering path, choose a form related to the field. IE: Electrical engineering to technology investment banking (assuming you have finance courses) or Petroleum engineering to oil and gas (again assuming you have finacne courses covered).
Less schooling is better for an analyst gig so 4 years 3.5+GPA & Finance courses is your best bet.
I’ve just finished my second (and penultimate) year at a target school in the UK, studying pure maths. I’ve only recently become interested in finance, and I figured that the necessary first step towards breaking into the industry would be to get a good internship for the next summer (I’m originally from a non-EU country where there are no such opportunities, so I can’t do anything this summer).
How do I do that when I have zero experience in finance (zero job experience in general, actually, apart from teaching) and I don’t even study something related (so my resume could basically be blank for what it’s worth)? My only guess is to network hard, but I’d like to hear something else, too, especially because I have a free summer to plan and do a lot of things.
You are better off taking finance courses over the summer.
With no finance background + no job experience it will be near impossible to secure anything close to front office on Wall Street. Get your coursework done, apply to internships during school, then recruit again for summer internships/jobs.
Unfortunately, without anything marketable, no one will take a look at you for the position when there are hundreds of qualified people applying to the same job.
Thanks. Could you point me to a proper online finance course, I have no idea where to look at?
Also, according to a couple of friends, it isn’t very hard to get a summer internship at a lot of the more famous prop shops; most of them look for mathematicians and don’t ask finance questions at all on interviews. However, my current first wish is ending up in research full time, and so my question is: If I only find an internship which is at least closely related to research at a smaller firm, and I get an offer for an internship from a big prop shop, which one do I go for?
1) do not know of any online finance courses. All online education is not going to help you for recruiting.
2) never play “what if scenarios” get the offers first. No offer = waste of your time to play guessing games. Generally a real sell side job > prop shop
Currently I am working as an English teacher in China and making money in RMB. I do transfer money back to the states, but am wondering 2 things:
1) your opinion of my situation (i.e. should I liquidate and pay off the student loan? or any other observation you have)
2) should I open an IRA instead of just investing through a taxable account? If you do suggest I do open one, I would assume that you would also suggest to max out the IRA contribution before investing in the taxable account (correct me if I am wrong).
My current situation is as follows (in US$):
Assets:
$23,000 401K from previous employment
$02,000 cash in accounts
$04,000 just in case cash since I don’t have a Chinese bank account
$52,000 stocks in a regular taxable brokerage (i.e. Scottrade, Sharebuilder, etc)
Liability:
$21,000 student loan @ 6.8%
I am making regular minimum monthly payments on the student loan, investing about 20% in a regular taxable brokerage account, 30% for savings. At the end of the year, if my savings account is more than $5,000, I use the excess to put it towards the student loan.
Thank you.
Easy answer pay off the debt. It is a guaranteed 6.8% return do wipe it off the table.
IRA = not sure. If you will make more in the future then get a Roth IRA.
I want to stay frugal l and save most of my income. What stores do u recommend for men to shop for clothes , shoes, and watches which u can buy quality and save money? Also what do u think about spending a lot of money on phones? Any tips on that too?
Clothes already covered: http://wallstreetplayboys.com/wall-street-and-fashion-dont-break-the-bank/
Phones, simply pick up a samsung or iPhone and refresh upon contract renewal on the cheap.
How do you get past major events in life such as a the death of a close parent?
Actually accepting it and letting it go, vs getting back into regular life and using rational thought/NLP/anchoring to reinforce positive emotions without dealing with the negative ones.
Simple, it has happened to millions of people other than yourself in the past.
Give yourself a good 3 months to get your mentality back together if they were very close to you. But as they say “life goes on”.
Awful to go through, but like anything else in life, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger in some way shape or form.
What do you mean in terms of buying phones get an iphone or samsung and refresh upon contract renewal on the cheap? U guys don’t believe on prepaid plans?
It means simply refresh your phone when your 2 year contract is up so you don’t pay full price for a new smartphone.
No prepaid plans, on Wall Street the company generally covers your cellphone bill, so there is no point.
If you can live on a prepaid plan, go for it.
Keep it simple
I’ve noticed that whenever a larger group of people gets together, a very clear social hierarchy begins to form and it seems to take a similar shape in different contexts. There is always the “in” crowd. What qualities separate the popular from the unpopular?
Also, what are some essentials for establishing yourself in the group? I will be meeting my analyst class shortly and I never seem to do this the way I want. Also, I am a female and about 75% of my analyst class is male.
Thanks!
If you are a female, as an investment banking analyst the top tier slot is yours to lose.
Generally you’ll be worked a bit less and people will treat you nicer than the male counter parts. Social heirarchy is not something you need to worry much about since most people who go into Wall Street have next to zero social skills. Women fair much better here.
The advice we would give to a woman on the street is to simply work HARDER than you’re supposed to. They are going to give you less work because they want an excuse for you to not be promoted and also not complain. Better to work extra hard, eventhough your hours are up, so you guarantee yourself a promotion.
It would be wise to keep an hourly log at your desk to make sure your hours are at or above the other analysts.
If you’re a normal woman with solid social skills who goes above and beyond in terms of hours, you’ll be ranked at the top. Also, we would recommend that you do NOT stand out atop the social heirarchy in the analyst class, this puts a target on your back and every single person who is part of your class will back stab you at the blink of an eye if it means a higher bonus or promotion for them.
Your analyst class/coworkers are 100% not your friends.
Thanks, great advice! What about social hierarchy in social context? I don’t have many close friends in the city, only a bunch of acquaintances and I will have to recreate my social circle and not sure how to go about it.
Join weekend activities to build a social circle. You can also try to build outside of your company for other acquaintances.
Just remember, even your “best friend” in the office will gladly stab you in the back if it means an extra $5K to his/her bonus check.
Keep biz and friends separate within the office. Networking 2 layers or more up market would work though, IE a VP or Director. These people are fine to become friends with.
I’m in a middle office role currently grinding hard to go IB FO.
Being that its middle office, I have 3 weeks of vacation that I can use before December 31, 2014.
I have no desire to go on an actual vacation, and spend money on flights/resorts, again no desire.
If you were in this situation, would you even touch the vaca days?
If you are going to quit make sure the laws in your state allow you to be paid out for your vacation days.
If not then go ahead and take the days to focus on recruiting.
No reason to leave free days on the table.
So 1) don’t take them if they convert to cash when you leave, 2) if they die, then you may as well take the free time off and have a “stay-cation” workout, eat healthy, network on linked in, and drop resumes everywhere. Also use this time to look for interview options in a different state, use vacation days as an excuse to travel to the interview.
what do you think about credit cards when used for cashback ,rewards, and discounts? Smart move financially or dumb move?
Already covered in a post called recycling credit cards
In short, if you are not going to buy a house, just recycle them for the bonus $$$/miles.
How big of a deal is modelling experience for PE recruitment (after 2 year stint as an IBD analyst)? Since PE recruitment typically happens 6 months after start date of IBD, how do analyst that lack modelling experience compensate? What is the correct approach?
If you can build the following you will be perfectly fine
3 statement model
1 page LBO
Quick merger model
As you get further along in your career, you’ll find that modeling skills are the least valuable of the lot. It’s about idea generation, obtaining funding and sales. Modeling can be done by anyone with excel and the ability to add 5 cells together.
If you’re concerned, simply practice rebuilding templates at your firm. The old analysts should have good blue prints to work with on the drives (lbo’s, quick accretion dilution for merger models etc). Won’t take more than a few months to nail down.
Admit it, this is really Harvey Specter’s blog.
Not sure who Harvey Specter is, but did a google search and appears to be a TV character who does high profile cases. Replace law with the Street and perhaps you’re on to something!
Would like to get your view abt career for a female:
So far my route has been:
Graduated undergrad (Acc & Fin) –> big4 audit (qualified charted accountant) –> BB IB product controller –> BB IB financial reporing (now)
At the same time im doing a post-experience masters in finance (part time) degree in BS (pressumably the best in europe..).
I want to transition into deal team. Ok i have spent my entire past 6 yrs career in control/finance function, but my hope is to use the MAsters degree as a selling in point to somehow make the switch, as the degree is a concerntration in corporate finance.
What are your views? should I:
1) slightly adjust my approach (if so, how?)
2) forget abt the switch and just die a finance girl…
side notes:
1) I do not have family to worry abt. Im single and my parents live back in my home country.
2) Im based in Europe.
Thank you very much!
Unfortunately our information is not related to Europe so you’re probably better off asking a European banking professional.
If you were based in the USA our advice would be as follows:
1) get an MBA instead, a masters degree in finance does not give you a lot of ability to switch fields (note – again – this is how it is in the USA) so you’d be better off in an MBA program if you want to switch
2) run the math. If your career trajectory with a Masters + your current career is going to pay more, then why would you be interested in switching? From a pure economic standpoint it doesn’t make much sense unless you loathe the job
If you are back office and through networking and luck find yourself with a possible interview opportunity with a vc for a hybrid role accounting and valuation role. How would you prepare for an interview? How can I learn more about selling side and modeling? Would I be good in purchasing some of wallstreeoasis interview prep packs for PE?
1) Prepare as if you’re interviewing for a front office role, ie: more intensely to show your ability to handle more responsibility. We have no idea what your role entails, since it is hybrid our advice would not suffice since we focus solely on front office roles.
2) There is no point in taking modeling classes, we have explained this in the past. If you can build a 3 statement model and you can build 2-3 years of forward projections you’re already set. This takes 10-15 hours of your own time building models from SEC.gov from scratch. We have example templates on AAPL here on this very blog.
3) No it would not be related to PE so it does not sound like it would fit. That said we have not purchased any interview prep packets since we already work in the industry. PE is not the same business model as VC.
Thanks! Will def do. It seems to be a mix of wealth managment/VC so I guess similar to a family office investing in from what I can tell Real Estate, Tech and Medical Startups
Yes in that case you need to understand the 1) wealth management biz model, 2) ramp up knowledge on Tech/Real Estate and Medical.
Tech we already covered
Real estate = cap rates, knowing changes in interest rates impact on the market, find out what type of RE portfolio they have
Medical = drug launches, where each company stands in terms of product approval, types of companies they invest in etc.
Follow up email with a recruiter/head hunter after call would you do same day or next day?
Next day at the earliest. Also, not important at all as the headhunter will have already decided if you’re good enough.
What are your views on getting old? Does aging scare u guys? They say that as we get older we get more wrinkles, white hair, lost of lean muscle mass, pain and aches. Look at the top three richest guys in the world and they look like shit. Even if they ate right and weight lifted they are not going to look like the guys from muscle and fitness. Even jack lalanne looked like a normal old guy despite all the juicing and strength traing that he did once aging caught up with him. Someone once told onceme that there’s no worse disease than aging and no better wealth than youth. What are your thoughts on the subject
Fearing age is like fearing taxes.
It’s gonna happen.
Control what you can. Eat healthy, get the best medical care/anti-aging clinics if you must and move on with your life. Hit the gym.
You will lose more years worrying about things you cannot control, waste of life.
At 60, I’m like fine wine: I get better with age. As long as I don’t turn to vinegar, I’ll be great!
Thank you for the advice.
What do summer associate interns do (in M&A)? Are the jobs they do different from those of the analyst?
One thing i don’t quite get is that, a lot of the MBAs have no investment bank/finance experince, what is the bank’s rationale to pull them in as “associate” and manage some analyst who has been doing the job for 2-3 yrs?
I always think that having been working in IB (though only controlling/finance functions) for 4 yrs, with a much more technical masters degree in finance would put me at the same level as the MBAs, but may need to re-think my approach?
1) Summer associates are quite similar to analysts. The difference is that you have less oversight and are expected to complete work much more on your own. Expect much of the same in terms of type of work ie: pitchbooks, some simple modeling, comparables, reviewing CMs. The difference is simply that you won’t have another layer checking your work and you are given less leeway from a political perspective
2) As mentioned in point 1, they are expected to have superior relationship management skills. This again is how you can tell someone who has never held a high position on the Street. Repeat it a thousand times, modeling does not matter, modeling does not matter and again… modeling does not matter. As long as the associate knows how to check a model and build one himself the real skill is relationship management.
3) In the USA your strategy would not work. Not because the skills are wrong, but because you wont be able to get into the right interview time slots (for the most part, there are always exceptions). You should go to your career center immediately.
Thank you so much.
I love the part “modelling does not matter”. So many of us worried too much abt the modelling and have not focused enough on the “managing” part.
I actually am thinking about applying for a summer internship in the same bank im working in.
But will need to discuss with my line manager 1st…
Yep no problem, good luck with your discussions.
Anyone can build a model. You can outsource it to India if you need to. The real value is in the relationship building + assumptions made.
Please find us a Director/MD who builds excel models… we’ll both be waiting a long time as you search for that leprechaun.
Meeting at a firmwide IB for a meet and greet across all levels senior MD’s partners, co heads down to analysts. Wondering if you have any tips for networking, socializing, conversation topics and good questions to ask?
These events are relatively easy. Simply put, the work was already done, research about each bank you have a viable chance with and then your pitch is below:
1) hi I am xxxx, I majored in xxx and graduate in xxx year
2) I am interested in (division ) and (groups) at your firm
3) I have had internships in xxx and xxx and xxx which I think could help me add value to the firm
4) do you know who I can speak with to obtain more information?
That’s about it.
Last note, get there first thing if you want to talk to BBs there is usually a huge line. If you’re not qualified for BBs then you should expect a long day talking to 10-20 individual mm/boutiques.
Oh I meant as an internal networking event for newly hired investment banking analysts and associates meeting the rest of the firm during training at headquarters. Same questions as above.
In that case this is essentially “game”.
IE are you likable, do people have fun around you, can you make a connection, can you make a great first impression?
These are things that you should always be working on 24/7 and there is no cookie cutter step by step guide to doing well in these instances. The best answer is that the last thing you want to talk about is work.
How about asking things to MD’s like “What advice do you have that you can give me that you have learned throughout your career” “What have been some of your great experiences?” and to younger guys like the 2nd year analysts/associates “What do you do for fun?”
What are your thoughts on the markets being rigged? HFT, Michael Lewis exposing these firms? Been doing my own research and read a lot via ZeroHedge which explains a lot more in depth. Curious for your viewpoint on this.
If you just bought the SPY for the last 5+ years you would be significantly richer. You would be up 100%+ so no it is not “rigged” and that was just a marketing tool for him.
HFT is not something we are going to bother with on this blog and it is not something you need to worry about as a meaningless investor with under $100M to your name.
Hey , love the blog! I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. Graduated in 2007 and couldn’t land a gig in finance for the life of me. Finally in 2010 I caught a break but to no avail my grandmother got really sick and I quit my “Dream Job” to take care of her. Even though she is still alive and well today, I feel like I made the wrong move by quitting as I feel like that was my 1 shot. I am about to finish my MBA in November and was wondering if you had any tips for my plan of attack to get my foot in the door again? Thanks in advance.
Not sure what you mean, the recruiting process at MBA programs is very formal. They should be combing through your resume for you and helping you go through the recruiting process.
Loved the post, current girlfriend checks all those boxes. Although she is extremely loyal and the kinda girl that will stay with me even when I’m broke and down, and that makes me feel like perhaps its worth going past the 6-9 month limit. Thoughts?
If that is something you would like to do, go for it. Our thoughts are already listed in the post.
What is your opinion on the cryptocurrency market when compared to Wall St? (Bitcoin and such). In regards to trading.
No opinion on Bitcoin, do not invest in it and will not invest in it in the future.
You emphasize that you cant be alpha if you are not rich. What arethe best ways to become rich as fast as possible to increase your net worth?
1) Start a business that delivers real value
2) Obtain a high paying career (Engineering, Wall Street or Sales)
I’m surprised that you guys didn’t add investing and saving money to the getting rich formula. Why was that?
Yes if you don’t save you won’t have any money.
In general the real hurdle is having high income. There are too many blogs that talk about frugality and all of that, we already did the highlights on the post on minimalism.
All that aside, you’re going to save money if you make $500K+ per year… Unless you have a nasty drug habit + act irresponsibly.
how would you guys recommend a 21 year old guy should go about developing an interesting/ personal value maximizing lifestyle?
We have a post on 20 rules for your 20s would start there
I am currently nearly halfway through my internship (IBD country coverage at MM bank), but it is not going quite as well I expected. In your opinion what sort of tasks/work should I be able to do by the end of the 10 weeks? Any ideas on how to get given more work (besides just hassling the analysts/associates)?
What you do as an intern is practically meaningless. The only thing that matters is obtaining an offer.
1) don”t make mistakes
2) continue to ask people above you if they need anything
Don’t know why you would talk to analysts, you should ask the staffer/VP, since he/she is going to determine your offer/ interns rarely do any meaningful work, you’re only therefor 10 weeks and have no real knowledge/trust developed after only a month.
Saw your reply with spending 30 minutes-1 hour per day studying for the 79, and 1.5 hours for the series 63. What’s the total number of hours would you recommend for each (total, instead of per day)? Getting grinded right now, not sure if I should try to lump everything into a weekend and read over, or just wait till the last possible moment to spend an hour a day.
Again, you’re fine.
The series exams are all easy as pie, a cake walk, a walk in the park, “a joke”. Literally a joke where if you fail you are laughed at becuase they are that easy.
So you will be fine with weekend studying, maybe takes 20 hours to guarantee you will pass and 30 hours for the series 63.
Do not worry about these exams. Do half of what they recommend in the training manuals and you will pass.
Money doesnt define a man. What are your thoughts on that statement?
Anything to make a broke person sleep better at night
when’s the book coming out?
30 rules for your 30’s?
Book on back burner.
For your 30s not really much to say, you should be a millionaire though. That should be enough of a goal to require many other stepping stones. More legitimate friends, better work ethic, more focus etc.
Not being a millionaire by your 30s is a problem since it means you will be working hard in your 40s… another major major problem you want to avoid.
How do you know if a get together is a date, or just a platonic meet-up? Additionally, what should you do after the first date to initiate for a second date?
1) You should frame the first meet up as a date in the first place. Any time after 7-8pm and with alcohol.
2) you should try to have sex with her on the first date, that would guarantee a second date.
Suggest you read our posts on game basics. If you’re not pushing for more you’re going to be seen as a weak person. This is the case with american women.
How can I find successful people to network with and make them par of my social circle?Do you guys follow a high protein diet? You mention eating lots of fruits and vegetables but besides fish where else do u get your protein? Do u believe the hype about eating lots of protein and calories to get muscular and huge? Whats your opinion on the topic?
Find someone of extremely high value, and add value to their lives. Now they will become a friend and do this with several people.
The rest of your questions have already been answered on diet in a separate post we have linked to in the past.