Investment Bankers

That depends on what the investment banker does. It is a very wide field. You might want to read Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis for a little insight. There have been a few other books that recounted adventures in investment banking, but I haven't read them.

Here http://pagerankstudio.com/Blog/2010...finition-education-and-training-requirements/ is a general description of an investmant banker's duties.

RJK said:

Here http://pagerankstudio.com/Blog/2010...finition-education-and-training-requirements/ is a general description of an investmant banker's duties.

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That's a pretty good description. My husband used to be an IBer, now he does something else. Just to add, he worked long, looooong hours (frequent all-nighters when he was in the middle of a deal negotiation) and he traveled a ton. Your IBer character will have racked up a lot of frequent flyer miles, like George Clooney's character in Up in the Air. Due diligence and computer models were his life for a number of years.

WendyNYC said:

Just to add, he worked long, looooong hours (frequent all-nighters when he was in the middle of a deal negotiation) and he traveled a ton. Your IBer character will have racked up a lot of frequent flyer miles, like George Clooney's character in Up in the Air. Due diligence and computer models were his life for a number of years.

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Seconded. I'm still friendly with a bunch of people who went into it post-MBA, and I don't envy them for the late nights they tell me about. While the six-figure salary (less quarterly and yearly bonuses--don't get me started) looks awesome at first glance, one also has to realize the quality of life that comes with it. It's not unexpected to pull 50-60 hours a week, minimum, in a full business suit. And every second is go-go-go. Some companies have something very similar to dorm rooms, so employees can catch some shut-eye or not waste time commuting. Plus there's the constant post-work networking / schmoozing your company expects you to do.

Yeah. There tends to be a high churn rate for the profession.

IMHO, it takes a certain type of person to be good at i-banking. People person, articulate, bright as all heck; lots of alpha personalities. Most jobs involves a ton of number crunching--in-depth market knowledge, building nuanced financial models in Excel or the like is fairly mandatory, depending on the specific field. So there's lots of time spent with eyeballs glued to the computer screen. Just Google "Black-Scholes," and you can begin to get an inkling of the mathematical nightmare involved (sez the chick who likes numbers and is in finance, too, albeit a different function ).

MissMacchiato,

I have been working for Investment Bankers for over 11 years. What level is your Investment Banker character? It is a very hierarchical industry. I work for the head of an Investment Banking firm. He's an M.D. (Managing Director). The positions under that are:

Managing Directors-They help gather business. They travel. They never do all nighters, rarely work on weekends. On the phone all the time w/clients.

Directors-They help gather business. They travel. They never do all nighters, rarely work on weekends. On the phone all the time w/clients.

Vice Presidents-They participant in outside client meetings. They stay on the phone a lot. They travel a lot. They rarely do all nighters.

Associates-They do all nighters, but not as many as the analysts.They travel and work some weekends. They stay on the phone a great deal. They assist the VP, Directors and MD with the deal process. They participant in conference calls. They coordinate client meetings.

Analysts-They do the grunt work. They're the ones that put in the all nighters. They're right out of business school. They create presentations and models. They get no respect. They don't travel.They work 7-days a week.

Bankers made BIG BUCKS, but there is a price to pay. They have a reputation for being arrogant sometimes. They can be hard to work for. Many of the higher ups have bad tempers.

Investment Bankers advise clients on mergers, acquisitions, going public (IPO's), they help raise money for clients, etc. The deals can be in the billions.

Investment Bankers usually play golf. They're young. The oldest person in my office is 45. He's the department head. They start the game young right out of business school. They start having children in their 30s. They usually have good-looking wives. They're very few women investment bankers.

They're alwasy on the phone. They are very tech dependent. Blackberries, laptops, I-Phones, etc. They have to stay plugged into business.

And yes, as mentioned in another post, they rack up big miles.

They speak, bankerese--EBITDA, spreadsheet, Return on Investment, CA (Confidentiality Agreement), PIB (Public Information Book), Model, Red Herring,
ROI Return on Investment, etc.

Hope this helps.

Liar's Poker was about bond salesmen, not IBs.