Bank on Banking

Another popular category of reader questions is that which involves the undergraduate major. Although many people will try to convince you that your undergraduate major is completely irrelevant and bankers do not care about it at all, that is definitely not true. While many bankers, at least some of those at BB firms, may not care too much about a student’s major, many others will have some subtle questions tying your interest in major X with your interest in pursuing IB. Furthermore, non-Target students often find themselves in a much different situation as describe below.

Not to be outdone by those students who questions the important of their majors, I also receive numerous questions on club involvement, which ones to join, and if it really matters – these questions will be touched on just below the “Major” section.

Picking a Major and Does It Matter

There are two questions here, and, while related, each carries its own weight independently. The best way to tackle these questions is to look at each from the point of view of Target school students and non-Target school students, since these related issues differ for students depending on the classification of their school.

Target Schools:

Where you attend school (read: Target vs. non-Target) plays a big role in the level of freedom you generally have as it pertains to choosing a minor and still being a viable candidate for an IB analyst program. For applicants that attend Target schools, there is much more freedom in the process since bankers and IB recruiters typically see Target students as capable of handling the workload and analytical demands of an IB analyst program regardless of major (otherwise, why recruit heavily or at all from the school in the first place). That said, attending a Target does not mean you should just pick the easiest major you can find – one that you have no interest in or one that has no ties to IB or business in general simply to increase your odds at earning good grades. While I realize that these two statements might sound a bit contradictory, I assure you they are not.

Although I just said that Target students have the freedom to pick pretty much any major that they want to, the reason why they shouldn’t pick the easiest major possible (not can’t, since I’m sure some students have done this and have broken into banking) just for the sake of having an easy road is because bankers will want to know why you chose this major and/or how the work relates to your interest in banking. In other words, Target students have the freedom to choose any major they want as long as you can voice a genuine interest in the field and talk to why you chose to major in said field. As a Target student, you can absolutely major in math, history or even poetry as long as you can express an interest in the field and then answer why you want to get into investment banking as an Art/History/etc major. If, however, you choose to major in something that is of absolutely no interest to you, you will just have a much tougher time talking to your rationale for choosing said major, as well as connecting your interest in the major with IB, which can absolutely hurt your chances of getting the callback and/or offer. Therefore, while a Target student absolutely has a great deal of freedom in choosing a major, you should still absolutely pick a major, any major really, that is of interest to you – an accounting/finance dual major is honestly only incrementally more beneficial than a math major, which is probably just a touch more beneficial than a history major when it comes to your chances at breaking into IB from a Target – this, of course, assumes that you have a genuine and/or even interesting reason for choosing said major and can tie your interest in that major to your interest in a career in IB (although finance/accounting major wouldn’t have to do that much tying) – think of the question: “Why IB considering you majored in XXX” when interviewing.

Non-Target Schools:

For non-Target students the situation is, as always, a bit different and more restrictive (at least in general as there are always exceptions to the rule). Although some people might disagree on the point and argue that non-Target student can major in any field of interest just like Target schools, as a former non-Target student who broke into banking, I must, unfortunately (as I wish this were the case), disagree. Although I am sure students from non-Target schools have broken into banking without majoring in finance, accounting, statistics, math, some combination thereof, etc I believe that it is much easier to break into banking if you major in one, if not two of these disciplines and at least take a few courses in accounting (if that is not your major) as well for two main reasons.

First, non-Target students are already not seen as IB analyst candidates and, as such, you will need any edge you can get to help set yourself apart from Target students when it comes to recruiting (as many Target students are not finance or accounting majors). Remember, you, unlike the many Target students that haven’t worked in banking before and don’t have strong finance/accounting backgrounds, will be asked much more challenging questions, in terms of technical questions, than those students since you will have a strong accounting/finance background. Furthermore, majoring in one of these disciplines makes it very easy to tie your major to your interest in banking. For non-Target students, any edge is absolutely helpful since Banks will not be looking to you to fill their IB analyst class, but rather, most likely their back office analyst class.

Second, majoring in one of these disciplines, especially finance and/or accounting sets you up to be the student that is ready to hit the ground running, which may not be that helpful when it comes to BB opportunities (since they have formal training programs), will definitely help you when it comes to seeking out opportunities with boutique shops, especially no-name boutiques that look for analysts to fill spots quickly and be ready to jump right in and analyze financial statements, etc without training programs. While I know that many of you are thinking, “but I want to work for a BB shop,” you are missing the point. Working for a boutique or even no-name boutique where you can pick some solid experience, and maybe even some live transaction experience will absolutely help to take the focus off of your lack of Target pedigree in your education section, to your actual IB experience in your work experience section and anything positive that can take some of the focus off of your non-Target education is definitely helpful. Think of it as a stepping stone and while it will hopefully be a great learning opportunity, working for a small IB shop can absolutely help you to land an IB analyst position, whether SA or FT at a more prestigious boutique or MM shop or even BB (assuming you have been networking as well).

Do I Need to Join a Club?

Professional Clubs:

Whether you attend a Target school or a non-Target school the most important thing to remember when it comes to clubs is that they are opportunities to network, and, as such, the clubs that you will want to pay most of your attention to and put in the most effort are those clubs that can be directly tied to banking – whether that is a Wall St. Club, an IB club, a P/E club, etc. Of course, when it comes to Target vs. non-Target students, non-Target students should absolutely sign up for these clubs as a means to network, potentially set themselves apart from Target students (who may not have access to IB-specific clubs) and show a clear interest in the field. If for no other reason than expanding your network, I would recommend to all students that they join an IB-related school club (assuming, of course, they have access to one).

On a related note, the question of member vs. officer comes up pretty frequently as well, and, at the risk of stating the obvious, the more involvement you have with a club and the more leadership efforts you can point to within a club, the more impressive your experience will be and the more weight said experience will carry in the eyes of recruiters. As a member of the investment banking club, for example, the first impression that is imprinted in my head is one of a student who goes to an occasional meeting, maybe a networking event or two, and doesn’t really play a much greater role than that – regardless of how well you phrase your bullet points – Attended meetings pretty much looks the same as participated in monthly social and professional networking events, unless you can point to a specific impact(s). If you are an officer, treasurer, VP, president, etc, that warrants a further look, as I would be more interested to see exactly what that role entails before deciding if it is just “fluff” or something beneficial and noteworthy about your candidacy. Therefore, if you have the opportunity to pursue a greater role in the club, even if it won’t technically involve much more work, absolutely take the opportunity. Titles make a big difference when it comes to club involvement. For me personally, I will often barely skim the bullet points of a member (since everyone can usually be a member – if not, again, the experience can carry more weight, if mentioned) and at least take a quick read through the bullet points of an officer to see if there is some quality there.

There is one other twist in the IB club topic, and that is distinguishing between finance and non-finance/accounting majors. While the same benefits and categories apply to both groups of students, those student who do not major in finance/accounting, would definitely gain a bit of an extra advantage in joining an IB club, especially if he/she took on a greater role than “member” (think officer, etc) in that by majoring in a field outside of finance/accounting, these students are not outright stating their interest in the industry. As a result, they are often questioned in their sincerity as it pertains to a career in banking, for example. By joining these types of professional clubs, these students now have the ability to voice their interest in the career path ahead of an on-the-spot interview question, while still showing a bit of diversity through their field of study. Therefore, while joining these types of clubs should be of interest to all students, non-finance/accounting students should definitely give strong consideration to playing sizeable roles in these clubs (if available/possible).

Other Clubs:

For non-career clubs, the same rules apply, in terms of title and responsibility increase the impact and worth of your club involvement. The difference here, obviously, is that these clubs won’t offer networking opportunities and won’t help to show your interest in banking. That said, these clubs are extremely useful in showing a well-rounded student and displaying your interests in activities and fields outside of the professional space. When it comes to non-career clubs, the most impressive clubs are volunteer/community involvement clubs and sports clubs.

Volunteer/community involvement clubs show your interest in helping your community and improving not just your life, but the lives of those around you – it shows your interest and passions extend beyond banking and are even a frequent conversation piece during interviews (interviews can be involved in similar organizations, or have a general interest the that type of organization and may genuinely look to your for your opinions and insights – definitely a plus). The key here is to remember not to talk about the club with a great deal more enthusiasm than banking – the same level of interest is fine and you definitely want to show your interest/passion for the organization, but if you sell the volunteer organization too much, you can hurt your selling of your interest in banking by comparison.

Sports clubs are generally good conversation pieces and often create some common ground between you and your interviewer. When it comes to interviewing, bankers are looking for a lot of fit – think the “at 2 a.m. would I want to ram my head against the wall” test – so if you can connect with your interviewer on something outside of banking, you can steer, at least temporarily, the conversation to this area, which is definitely not a bad thing for the interview impression you leave. The important thing to remember here is if asked about the club to keep it brief, and if it happens to be common ground, be sure to let your interviewer jump in and share some of his/her stories as well – remember bankers usually love to talk, especially about non-banking topics when given the opportunity – so let him/her run with it.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts on B School Essays, The Summer Analyst Program and More!

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