Spending a summer on Wall Street
Siddharth Mundra, WG'07
Issue date: 11/13/06 Section: Perspectives
- Page 1 of 1
While recruiting for Investment Banking last academic year, I found every bank to be the same - they always worked in teams, were No. 1 on some league table and had a great culture! But after spending the summer in an investment bank and having exchanged notes with others who were in other banks, I can say that there are differences across firms; sometimes starkly so! With long work hours and tight deadlines, this difference could be what turns a good experience into a bad one (or the other way around). In this context I thought it would be useful to pen down some of my summer experiences at Lehman. Of course I would be positively biased towards Lehman because I have chosen to go back to the firm full time, but I will try to keep my assessment objective.
You may have heard that banking is no rocket science - and it is true. In most firms you have enough resources around you to provide know-how necessary to complete your work. However, the challenge for me was about tapping into these firm-wide resources efficiently. For instance, while I was on an acquisition financing deal, coordinating and co-producing with debt capital markets, M&A and leverage finance was the challenge. In that respect I found Lehman a well integrated firm and a place where bankers put the firm before the individual.
Bankers love to say how they worked without sleeping for days on end. People outside the system get the impression that all bankers do is work, work and work. To some extent this is true, but it usually comes in spurts and is well compensated by subsequent lulls. The real issue with banking is not so much the back breaking work but the uncertainty around one's personal life. I found that predicting whether the coming Saturday would be free was really hard to do - and that is what gets to people over a period of time. If you can manage the uncertainty for the first few years, you are all set.
Usually, interns are treated well over the summer - there will be social events and several dinners with MDs. Good banks will keep a close watch on the work you are getting and how happy you are with it. It is very easy to get carried away by this 'honeymoon' period and assume that full time will be a similar experience. It is therefore important to observe the life of full time associates and assess how different or similar it is to yours. I did some of that due diligence at Lehman and that gave me the assurance that while they did not have as many social events, the full time associates were by and large positive about their experience.
It was important for me to be in a firm that had a strong franchise on the Street, a consistent culture across the firm and had people that I would like to work with. With the limited knowledge that I have I chose to go to Lehman. Of course, only time will tell if that decision was wise.
You may have heard that banking is no rocket science - and it is true. In most firms you have enough resources around you to provide know-how necessary to complete your work. However, the challenge for me was about tapping into these firm-wide resources efficiently. For instance, while I was on an acquisition financing deal, coordinating and co-producing with debt capital markets, M&A and leverage finance was the challenge. In that respect I found Lehman a well integrated firm and a place where bankers put the firm before the individual.
Bankers love to say how they worked without sleeping for days on end. People outside the system get the impression that all bankers do is work, work and work. To some extent this is true, but it usually comes in spurts and is well compensated by subsequent lulls. The real issue with banking is not so much the back breaking work but the uncertainty around one's personal life. I found that predicting whether the coming Saturday would be free was really hard to do - and that is what gets to people over a period of time. If you can manage the uncertainty for the first few years, you are all set.
Usually, interns are treated well over the summer - there will be social events and several dinners with MDs. Good banks will keep a close watch on the work you are getting and how happy you are with it. It is very easy to get carried away by this 'honeymoon' period and assume that full time will be a similar experience. It is therefore important to observe the life of full time associates and assess how different or similar it is to yours. I did some of that due diligence at Lehman and that gave me the assurance that while they did not have as many social events, the full time associates were by and large positive about their experience.
It was important for me to be in a firm that had a strong franchise on the Street, a consistent culture across the firm and had people that I would like to work with. With the limited knowledge that I have I chose to go to Lehman. Of course, only time will tell if that decision was wise.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
yolanda m. holtzee
posted 11/13/06 @ 5:50 AM EST
Congratulations on choosing LEHman Brothers. It's one of the best firms on the Street. I consider Bear Stearns and Jefferies to be in the same league. (Continued…)
Ajit de Silva
posted 11/15/06 @ 7:44 AM EST
Thanks for writing about your experiences with a Wall Street Bank. It was my wish to work in such a place long time ago but got nowhere near one.
The statement about work-life balance is very valid whether it is a wall street bank or main street bank or for that matter any company. (Continued…)
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