Investment Banking as a career choice crosses the minds of many people coming to B schools. There are several merits and de-merits to a career in this field, which I won’t get into here (refer to the Investment Banking club for further details). I shall address a couple of dimensions –
- Recruiting implications for Kellogg as a result of the tremendous changes happening over the past couple of years
- Unique challenges faced by an international student and how to overcome them
If you want to be a Banker, Kellogg is the right place. I say this with ample perspective. Many of our peer schools that have a stronger reputation for Finance attract a significantly larger percentage of students who will pursue Banking for their summer internship. Hence, their advantage is a stronger interview prep environment. However, it is important to internalize a couple of points here. First, Kellogg has an excellent Finance Department that stands on par with the best in the country. Second, our Wall Street reputation is very strong, driven by our very successful (and loyal) alum network. As a result, at the end of the day when Bankers came to recruit, I felt that Kellogg had a much lower number of students competing for the internship spots. Further, almost all the major banks recruit at Kellogg. A very few that don’t come on campus have strong and dedicated alum networks, who will facilitate your networking within those firms. Bottomline is this – If you want to do Banking, the numbers at Kellogg work in your favor. The deal is sweetened by the excellent collaborative culture that prevails here (yes, even among Bankers!)
Banking is a career path that is (H1-B) VISA friendly. In 2008, several Banks had to take Government assistance (TARP and its variations) which restricted them from hiring non Americans. In 2009 and so far in 2010, Banking and its sister career paths on Wall Street have bounced back and have proved quite resilient. All the major financial institutions have paid back TARP and are hiring international students now. VISA sponsorship will become a much lesser issue going forward than it was over the past couple of years. However, not all Banks hire internationals. Some of the smaller institutions (known as middle market firms) don’t sponsor VISAs. Knowing this, you can tailor your networking strategies appropriately, early on.
All the resources at Kellogg (CMC, second years, Kellogg alums) do an excellent job of supporting and helping to optimize your IB internship search. We have faculty members here who have worked for many years in some of the marquee firms on Wall Street before deciding to teach at Kellogg. All of them are very accessible and dedicate a lot of time to training students who are interested in Banking. Prof. David Stowell is a great example. Prof. Mitchell Petersen is another example of a stellar teacher. His Fin II class is very highly sought after at Kellogg.
As an international student at Kellogg, especially as someone from India, you are already perceived as being strong analytically. if you are looking to give your analytic skills a serious workout, look no further than Banking!
Banking is a career path that is (H1-B) VISA friendly. In 2008, several Banks had to take Government assistance (TARP and its variations) which restricted them from hiring non Americans. In 2009 and so far in 2010, Banking and its sister career paths on Wall Street have bounced back and have proved quite resilient. All the major financial institutions have paid back TARP and are hiring international students now. VISA sponsorship will become a much lesser issue going forward than it was over the past couple of years. However, not all Banks hire internationals. Some of the smaller institutions (known as middle market firms) don’t sponsor VISAs. Knowing this, you can tailor your networking strategies appropriately, early on.
All the resources at Kellogg (CMC, second years, Kellogg alums) do an excellent job of supporting and helping to optimize your IB internship search. We have faculty members here who have worked for many years in some of the marquee firms on Wall Street before deciding to teach at Kellogg. All of them are very accessible and dedicate a lot of time to training students who are interested in Banking. Prof. David Stowell is a great example. Prof. Mitchell Petersen is another example of a stellar teacher. His Fin II class is very highly sought after at Kellogg.
As an international student at Kellogg, especially as someone from India, you are already perceived as being strong analytically. if you are looking to give your analytic skills a serious workout, look no further than Banking!
Hithesh Raghavan (KSM '11) is a member of the India Business Club and an officer of the Finance Club at Kellogg. Before school he worked with Capital One as a business manager and will be doing investment banking with Credit Suisse in NY during the summer of 2010. He can be reached at hraghavan2011@kellogg.northwestern.edu
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