Expert: Gina Boykin - 10/6/2007

Question
HI Gina,

I have been thinking about it and I think I should choose Investment Banking as my career.However do you have any info that could help me in these 3 questians

1.Is their many jobs
2.do you got to colledge or uni and How long do you go for
3.what sort of grades do you nead
Also would you recomend this to me and is their anything else you can say about it

thanks luke.

Answer
So you want to work on Wall Street?  The major investment banks and firms are in NY - Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, etc.

To get into investment banking will require very good people skills, analytical skills, and the willingness to work hard(50-100 hrs a week).

Some of your options include:
corporate finance (helping companies find funds to do large projects), mergers/acquisitions, trading (currency, equities, commercial paper), derivatives (which are way to complicated to explain here), municipal bond advisors, stockbrokers, and rating analysts (who work for Moody's or Standard & Poors)

As you can see, you have plenty of options!

The best degree for investment banking is a bachelor's in finance, which you can obtain at any business school - by taking traditional classes or online courses.
As with all bachelor degrees, this one would most likely take 4 years to complete.

Each company will have different requirements to interview upon graduation.  This question can best be answered by the college counselors.

If you can stick it out and get an MBA, your starting salary could easily be $25,000-$75,000 higher.

Go to the website below for more information on careers in the field of investment banking:
http://www.wetfeet.com/Content/Careers/Investment%20Banking.aspx

Best wishes!