What is it like being an Investment Banker?

An associate is typically a recently graduated MBA or an analyst who gets promoted after three or four years. You will usually stay an associate for three years or so. An associate still has to do a lot of grunt work and may even have an analyst to call on. Your hours will still be miserable and you haven't really become a human being yet. Like a good analyst, your job is to make your boss look good and to understand what's going on. Your boss may abuse you from time to time and you aren't supposed to complain really. This is a job where you can really start to shine. If you add value to transactions or help get things done in some other meaningful way, you can expect to be paid a reasonable bonus and have a shot a promotion to AVP.

Associate level pay in New York firms runs roughly $90,000 in your first year (including bonus). If you are good and stay awhile, expect to go up to roughly $130,000 to $150,000 before you hop up another level. In London expect a salary of roughly 60,000 to 80,000 Pounds (all-in).

Key Skills

In investment banking / corporate finance / M&A, key associate skills include:

the ability to do DCF valuations

the ability to use Excel in your sleep

the ability to arrange client meetings and get the logistics right

the ability to deal with horrendous egos

the ability to find comparable companies

the ability to network within the firm and befriend key people like librarians, IT gurus, messengers, lawyers, compliance etc.

In debt and equity capital markets positions, key associate skills include:

the ability to massage league tables

the ability to price up new deals (e.g. bonds, convertibles, preferreds)

pretend that you know what's going when clients call in and the boss is not around

the ability to track past deals and pricing to sense where the market is going

check and generate weekly newsletters (weeklies)

the ability to fill in silences in meetings with insightful comments (while making sure your boss controls things)

coordinate due diligence

prepare document on debt and equity deals

make sure analysts get burgers from the right place

generate pitch books with your eyes closed while talking to clients and screaming at syndicate

In sales and trading positions, key associate skills include:

the ability to watch your bosses blotter

the ability to know where prices are

the ability to work options pricing models

the ability to bluff a little when needed

the ability to eat endless fattening food without getting fat

the ability to golf, play tennis, drink and joke around with clients

the ability to make clients feel comfortable with you

Success Factors

Key success factors include (i) getting your job done well, (ii) getting many things done in a chaotic environment, (iii) dressing well, (iv) having a beer and a good time every once in awhile, (v) always making your boss look good, (vi) being a total whiz with computers, (vii) being able to spin bad news into ok news and (viii) network within the firm. Other good things to do include figuring out when a job could be done better and going out and doing it. For example, create a database to track the results of an equity tender offer. Initiative is key. Also, getting to know clients is very important since you will be using those relationships later on.

Maybe you should look up what an investment banker does for a living? They underwrite securities. As an investment banker you could travel to Mobile, Alabama and talk with some county treasurer about how he can structure his next bond offering. Does that get you all excited?

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information on being an investment banker.

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http://www.ehow.com/how_2069038_become-investment-...