Is Merrill Lynch recruiting this year?

Sorry that wasn't my intention. And I'm sure there are a couple of names going on campus at Wharton that are not at Booth.

Just another observation is that they are "recruiting" how many, if any, offers they're making it's a totally different point.

Haha excellent!!

I haven't had the chance to talk to other people over here about ML, but I wanted to have your opinion about it.

Anyway, from what I understood, Booth and Wharton are roughly on the same level concerning recruiting, with maybe Stern and Columbia. I heard that a lot of Ibanks are still recruiting, but only from a restricted selection of schools, namely the financial ones (HBS wasn't part of the list concerning the company where I heard this - don't ask which one, I can't remember).

Good luck with ML kwam! (bastard )

I stayed up until late at night and I'm running slowly today.

Just to clarify I will put here a list of firms coming on campus for summer internship:

IB:
Robert W. Baird
Barclays Capital
BMO Capital
Citi
CS
DB
GS
Houlihan Lokey
HSBC
JP Morgan
Jeffereies
Lazard Freres
Lincoln Middle Market
ML
Miller Buckfire
Moelis & Co
MS
Prella Weinberg
Rothschild Inc
Sagent
Peter
UBS
William Blair

S&T:
Barclays Capital
BNP
CS
DB
ML
UBS

Many of them are here for several divisions - NYC, SF, London, HK, etc - and there are some corporate companies that also have trade roles with commodities.

Audio are you recruiting for IB or S&T?

Oh man, recruiting season is going to be brutal next year. How do you find time to meet with all the banks? Do you mind my asking which other banks you have landed interviews with?

I didn't find, and I'm recruiting for S&T and Fixed Income IM, so I'm cherry picking.

I have a friend though, who was at my Micro's group, who even got sick of going to presentations, corporate networking and other events. There was one day we were making a group assignment that I though we would need to take him to a hospital. If you think that the application process was brutal wait till recruiting .

Well this year is especially hard, firms is hiring fewer people, and for career switchers it's been even harder.

I also sent you a PM.

You mentioned for career switchers it would be even harder, but do you feel it will be possible or even likely? For instance, I know it will be harder for career switchers to land these jobs compared to individuals with prior experience, but if they are not being interviewed based on lack of position then even the school brand will not help in career switching.

Thanks,

Going back to the original question, I heard from a pretty reliable source inside the new company that for S&T, BofA and ML split up the schools that they used to both recruit at, though I'm sure they kept up dual recruiting efforts at schools with lots of students (Chicago and Wharton would both fit that description). But in many cases, if BofA came, then ML did not (for S&T).

Harder, not impossible.


Pelihu,

BofA came at Chicago for some corporate presentations, but now I don't see any on-campus recruiting offer in our system, I just see ML's, strange. Anyway, if they are doing so it's a good strategy.

Kwam,

Would you be able to comment on some of the keys to landing on closed lists/first round interviews? I don't have any experience in finance, but I am a Level 2 Candidate (and hope to be a level 3 candidate by Sept) and hope to attend a t-10 school this September. I, too, am interested in S&T and would love to get your thoughts on how you landed these interviews!

Everything equal:
NETWORKING > ACADEMICS

It's like B-schools application, if you don't show "love" they won't remember you.

Having said that so far I have 4 interviews (applied to 3, one was "pure" invitational), still waiting to hear from 2 places. All of them are places I would like to be in my summer internship, but in my current position I'm kind of cherry picking - I wouldn't recommend that to anybody though.

Sorry to bug you again, but I'm just curious how you plan on preparing for your upcoming interviews? From what you've heard, do S&T guys/gals ask standard questions or do they mix it up a bit?

Thanks for following up and best of luck on your interviews! It's great to hear that you're doing well despite the current economic backdrop.

that doesn't appear to be the case. Both recruited here, at least, and all of the lists for target schools at the banks came out before the merger announced. The impression may be given because BofA had a much shorter list than ML.

S&T interviews - practice your math, have an economic viewpoint that ties into some industry recommendations that ties into some short and long positions. It should all gel. From my experience that should see off most of the bits. Oh - and actually have an idea what makes for success in the industry, what the firm specialises in (and is recruiting for), and cover off behavioral questions.

It's not rocket science, but they will spend a bit of time trying to kick you around. BNP are by FAR the most technical bank for interviews. As in pricing a ten year bond with a given discount rate in your head, convexity, some steepener stuff.

You get interviews by networking your ass off. Plain and simple - some firms gel, some don't. I went to every event with my best friend, and we worked together at every event, for every bank. When it came to interviews, we only got one shop that we both interviewed at and covered off every single firm. It is the same stuff though - having a considered and well thought out opinion on the markets, an knowing your data.

Honestly - S&T is going to be really rough for the next few years. There isn't going to be much money there either (in any part of IB for that matter) if that is your motivation. It i going to be a lot more pure about it being what you want to do. As someone graduating into an S&T role this year, I would advise everyone to weigh it against buy side opportunities where you can.

Career switching is always possible, though they always want to see something that can hint to grasping on quickly. engineers, economists and stuff have it a lot easier than humanities folks and stuff. It is hard to explain - if you want it enough it should be possible.

All this said, remember that S&T internships are about 1/5 the number of IB ones, and likely to head to being 1/8 or 1/10 going forward. If the numbers looking to get in don't decrease, it is going to be really messy.

Do interviewers actually expect you to price a 10-year bond or are they looking for something in the ball park? Without some sort of aid, like a calculator, I really don't see too many people answering a question like this. Could it be that they want you to walk them through how bonds are priced, possibly leading into a discussion about how prices could change depending on whether embedded options exist?



For S&T, do you apply for a specific desk, or does the bank assign a desk to you? Seeing as how S&T and buy-side are so different, would it be really tough to switch into S&T after a few years working for a mutual fund? (after a few years working under a portfolio manager, would it be more logical to apply for HFs (long/short equity ones) instead?)



In general, do you find that most students prefer IB over S&T? From the MBA candidates that I've spoken to, the ones interested in finance seem to favor PE/ IB over other areas of finance. (not too sure whether this is entirely accurate, though)

The process seems to be that the majority wants VC or PE. When they realise that they are living in cloud cuckooland, they move to IB. IB is a really popular destination, and has been for a long time (less so now, because in general there is at least 40% who want good money however it comes).

I think on the whole, it is more finance people historically who are drawn towards S&T. Not everyone, but in the most part they have some background in the world, and know where they are going.

As regards desks - you get what you are given. Historically you might have had some leverage as to where you go, but that is decreasing to the point you should be happy to get anything. I guess maybe I have an unusual level of humility on all this - I feel that while I had a lot of background related, that people working in the field had a better grasp on where to use me than I did. They feign to accomodate you with you giving your top choices and the desks giving their top choices, but unless you are awesome you have to be crazy to believe that your opinions are given much time or consideration (I believe this about all things, not just S&T - it is crazy nonsense facetime and recruitment consultant hyperbole, nothing else).

With the bond - I don't think they can expect you to nail it. It is like all interview questions (brainteasers etc) - the majority of the aim is to get you to speak while you think, so they can find where you look, how your mind works. I have had more interesting things in this angle more recently, where there is no way in your wildest dreams you would know the answer. Consultants and Investment Bankers with their ping pong balls in swimming pools come out with the nonsense end of it, S&T normally give you absurd questions that are at least remotely related to the job at hand.

S&T historically doesn't give a toss about your education. Mentioning you have an MBA is a good way to go about making enemies. It is a less popular destination for MBAs probably for that very reason (B-School people love telling people they have an MBA). Plus the numbers are less in total, and it is more difficult to reason to have volume than in IB - direct execution over a more lawyerly, "we spent x hours on this, and we reduced it by z hours because we had people on it to 4am" scale benefit.

I apologise - I am in a really bad mood today, and you are getting me at my most cynical and cutthroat.

For what it is worth, the vast majority of the summer intake of 2008 for S&T are now jobseekers.