Whatup my guy. Advice is to focus on getting foot in door (anywhere) and then hopefully leveling up. Read the vault guide(s) to investment banking and check out wallstreetoasis and the other similar message boards which have a ton of insight into interview/resume prep etc. Also, see if you can figure out what the calendar is of your universities industry recruiting events and get on that list, even if you've already graduated. Lastly, get on completing the your CFA L1 and L2. Nothing is more powerful imo on a resume than demonstrating that as it (along with a good uni transcript) makes it clear that you are in the top tier of candidates, given the exams are rigorous/difficult to pass.
Discussion
Hey man, thank you so much for your message! I really appreciate it!☺️
I already follow WallStreetOasis on Insta ;)
Maybe I should clear up my situation a little bit:
I’m currently 19 y/o and working as an intern at the biggest Swiss bank.
My internship (in private banking :/) is slowly coming to an end, and I have the opportunity to apply for a program where you rotate through positions within the bank across various divisions (yes, including IB and PE ;)). Unfortunately, my "home base" will be in Asset Management -> Marketing (organizing events for institutional clients, etc…).
I’m going to try my luck with this one.
I don't have a university degree or the CFA (though I’m thinking about completing the CFA while doing the program).
My plan is to get into the atmosphere, make good connections, and get to know a lot of people there.
I assume I’ll still need to go to university to become a proprietary trader (my final goal, but I know I can’t achieve it with my current skill set).
Yes as someone that spent decades in IB I can tell you that unfortunately there is no way around the piece of paper (uni degree) and graduating within the top 5-10% of your class. Pursuing the CFA designation concurrently is a great idea. All that said remember, IB or PE is a great way to be "comfortable" but it will never make you "wealthy". Generally speaking, success in entrepreneurship is the only to achieve that end.
Honestly, Im not really looking for wealth.
I dont just want to do it for the money… Im genuinely interested in everything correlated to the financial markets.🙃
Can you tell me something more about yourself? You got me interested in your career ^^! what work did you do in IB? What Bank were you working for? (if you can disclose that)
What university did you attend? (which subjects) and did you make Bachelor or Master?
Sorry, can't disclose that for contractual reasons (banks aren't supportive of free speech or diversity as it relates to thoughts and opinions). I went the undergrad + CFA route. Much of the financial and economic theory you will learn in university is false (e.g. Keynesian economics, Markowitz portfolio theory which will ignore the underlying unit of account being fiat, etc.). Best thing you can do if you're keen is learning how money actually works (study Bitcoin) while "gaming" the BS degree.
No worries, thats what I thought 🫡
Gotta do some homework regarding Keynesian‘s ans Markowitz.
Would you recommend reading the Bitcoin Standard to really get down the rabbithole of Bitcoin, or is there even better books?
Thank you so much again for your time nostr:npub1q4npt0dhjjnnxmtfxmhqfp3p2h3nmzquc0qqqtehd5408pup8lwqejgpmp ☺️ your time is much appreciated!