Investment Banking (4 Viewers)

[Merlin2512]

So, I was wondering, after being at USYD & UTS's open days yesterday, what would be suitable majors to undertake at Uni, so as to be able to get into Investment Banking. Both uni's said they don't have an Investment Banking course itself, but said that each of their majors i.e. Economics, Finance, Accounting etc all contribute. So what would you guys say is the better majors to undertake? Thanks.

 

[Jinks]

No university really offers an 'investment banking' course.

A bachelor of commerce with majors in accounting/finance or finance/economics is a good place to start. It's also worth looking at the connections of the universities themselves (i.e. at which ones do banks primarily recruit from).

Of course it wouldn't hurt to complete a double degree and give yourself more time to prepare and build up your CV.

 

[Drifting95]

UNSW or USYD comm with law/math/sci/engo and D WAM at minimum.

 

[Jinks]

UNSW or USYD comm with law/math/sci/engo and D WAM at minimum.

Agree with this. D WAM needs to be high as well i.e. MINIMUM 75+

 

[nerdasdasd]

So, I was wondering, after being at USYD & UTS's open days yesterday, what would be suitable majors to undertake at Uni, so as to be able to get into Investment Banking. Both uni's said they don't have an Investment Banking course itself, but said that each of their majors i.e. Economics, Finance, Accounting etc all contribute. So what would you guys say is the better majors to undertake? Thanks.

Finance and economics at either uni would be fine

 

[isildurrrr1]

b. comm in finance and b.science with adv math.

all those kids doing finance are finding it hard to get a IB job.

 

[Silly Sausage]

Commerce (usually finance) with engineering, mathematics or law. Excellent grades, a fantastic CV, networking.

 

[Amundies]

UNSW or USYD comm with law/math/sci/engo and D WAM at minimum.

Pretty much this. Or if you do just commerce, you'd NEED to do honours. Take a look at the profiles of people in IB using LinkedIn or something, you'll see most of them would have done what Drifting95 suggested.

 

[Jinks]

Pretty much this. Or if you do just commerce, you'd NEED to do honours. Take a look at the profiles of people in IB using LinkedIn or something, you'll see most of them would have done what Drifting95 suggested.

I know plenty of people in IB who have done straight commerce (no honours) but this is in Melbourne where you aren't competing with com/law com/eng etc. as much (or even at all really).

 

[Drifting95]

I know plenty of people in IB who have done straight commerce (no honours) but this is in Melbourne where you aren't competing with com/law com/eng etc. as much (or even at all really).

I think it helps that umelb doesn't offer law as an undergraduate degree

 

[Jinks]

I think it helps that umelb doesn't offer law as an undergraduate degree

This is exactly the reason!

 

[Merlin2512]

Thanks for the reply, I was just wondering what is D WAM, is it like a grade level e.g. Credit, Distinction etc or something else?

 

[Drifting95]

Thanks for the reply, I was just wondering what is D WAM, is it like a grade level e.g. Credit, Distinction etc or something else?

yes, its a Distinction.

The actual mark varies from uni to uni but normally it is 75-84, High Distinction is 85 +

 

[Merlin2512]

In terms of a double degree what would you say is a suitable double degree, because I was looking at engineering specifically between Mechanical and Biomedical engineering. So which would be better suited to provide a better 'CV' because I've heard that banks prefer candidates from an engineering background. Yet I am not sure which degree they look for as mechanical is more mathematics based while biomedical has some some mathematics involved. Thanks

 

[Drifting95]

In terms of a double degree what would you say is a suitable double degree, because I was looking at engineering specifically between Mechanical and Biomedical engineering. So which would be better suited to provide a better 'CV' because I've heard that banks prefer candidates from an engineering background. Yet I am not sure which degree they look for as mechanical is more mathematics based while biomedical has some some mathematics involved. Thanks

They don't care, you won't be using any of the engo content specifically. The reason why they like engo kids is because of the analytical and problem solving skills that they develop.

 

[Amundies]

Also don't do engineering just because banks will like it. If you don't like it, your marks will suffer harshly. If I didn't legitimately enjoy engineering, I would hate every second of it. It can get very frustrating spending hours on a single question.

 

[RishBonjour99]

There are plenty of straight commerce people from usyd/unsw in BBIBs. You don't need to combine commerce with anything if you can maintain a HD average (dean's list every year) + win proper competitions like UBS IB challenge.

I don't think many people on BoS actually work or have proper experience in IBD so your best bet is asking questions on Whirlpool (best resource).

Also as others have said, do NOT combine with anything you don't think you'll perform good in. There is no point in doing comm/engo with a less than 80 WAM when there are people with 85-90 WAMs doing the degree + internships and will be your direct competitors.

 

[Rhinoz8142]

f33lz when UTS is a pleb

 

[D94]

In terms of a double degree what would you say is a suitable double degree, because I was looking at engineering specifically between Mechanical and Biomedical engineering. So which would be better suited to provide a better 'CV' because I've heard that banks prefer candidates from an engineering background. Yet I am not sure which degree they look for as mechanical is more mathematics based while biomedical has some some mathematics involved. Thanks

Having an engineering background and working at a bank, with little initial finance knowledge, engineering has been essentially zero use. It has helped with excel, but that's not really engineering specific. If you are good at problem solving then you don't need to be doing engineering to prove it.

Please don't waste your time doing engineering. If you want to stand out, learn excel vba, python, r and c in your own time. Even an applied maths degree or one in statistics would be better. Regression analysis and modelling is used daily, and engineering hardly covers that.

The only people purporting the idea that banks like engineers are universities. Banks are indifferent, they want people with good problem solving skills, who think out of the box, learn quickly under pressure and have knowledge in finance.

 

[Merlin2512]

Ok thanks for these awesome responseS, I'll probably end up picking comm instead of a dual degree but gotta get that ATAR first!