Job Market for Internship and Full-Time Positions

I might have a good contingency. I think I will be able to find a job if everything falls through, though I am pretty good at being flexible.

Worse than Investment banking. I am going into S&T.

To be honest, it is better not to ask questions about how things are in banking right now, as when you hear how bad it is it will be even worse than you expect.

Just out of curiousity.. Is Sales& trading jobs easier than the I banking M&A stuff? I was always under the impression that S&T is very tough to get into.

They are entirely different. There really isn't a direct comparison.

I do feel that S&T want to latch on to some part of your past, whereas IB it isn't necessarily a dealbreaker. And there is a lot less jobs in total. That balance gets worse by the day.

I don't think it's fair to say S&T is easier than M&A/IBanking and vice versa.

Those two are completely different and even within the same firm, they have totally different cultures.

S&T is all about street smarts, quick thinking and ability to grasp market trends based on real time data and other market related reactions. One has to be gutsy and bold to be successful in this field, and due to stressful job nature, many successful traders tend to have outsized ego/cocky attitude. As long as one shows these traits, anyone can be successful. However, if you get easily anxiety stricken - then this definitely isn't the career for you.

IB/M&A is one of the best known front office job in ibanks. Because they have to meet and pitch to clients, one must have prestigious background in terms of education, physical looks and etc.

This is a very stressful job and one needs to put ridiculous amount of time. One needs tremendous technical and analytical abilities. If you can't breakdown the company's industry, financial statements, SWOT analysis and etc, you are not going to be successful in this job.

Another key aspect of M&A job is your physical appearance, networking abilities, networking ties, social status, presentation skills, and etc. Even a brilliant idea won't get much attention if you can't sell your pitchbook to your bosses and clients.

Thanks guys for your responses ... anyone else currently in b-school who can comment on internship recruiting?

I am not disagreeing fully, since I do not know much about IB or S&T, but you made several bold "fit" statements about the entire industry.

I do agree with the job descriptions though, and it seems both positions will involve quantitative skills and analytical skills.

By the way, ninkorn, your networking post were very informative!