Investment Banking Guidance

On Wednesday, May 23rd, Drexel student and former DFIG President, Benjamin Arinze, shared his experiences and guidance behind getting into the competitive cut-throat world of investment banking.

      Ben has recently secured a summer analyst position at William Blair, a highly regarded investment bank which will serve as his third co-op. He is currently on his second co-op at SIG and did his first co-op at Blackrock.

The major takeaways from the talk were as follows

1) For students in the co-op search process, there is no embarrassment in going into B round. While an offer in the A round does offer a peace of mind and security, if it is something that does not align with your long term goals or something that you simply do not find connected to, it would be preferable to reject it and go into B round.

Many of the big firms do have offers in B round also and the competition will be slightly less difficult because of the decreased application pool.

2) It is advisable to get technical skills with your major. This could mean adding subjects like mathematics or computer science as your minor/major. This allows you to stand out to the recruiters.

      Make sure you are getting the most from your degree and be ready to express your passion for your major in the interview.

3) Read, read and read. From the Wall Street Journal to Barrons, consistent reading will help you stay abreast important market issues and you will be able to leverage that earned knowledge to show that you are a highly informed individual to your recruiters.

4) Connect to Drexel Professors for resources and networking. Being a part of organizations related to your major (like DFIG) will definitely speak in favor of you. What you need to do is to convey your interests in an effective manner.

5) Do not be constrained under that advice (which many may have given you with regard to investment banking) that it is all about networking. Yes, networking is very important but it is not all.

      Feel free to simply apply on your interested company’s websites. Remember that Ben himself did just that and eventually got an interview with William and Blair.

Feel free to connect with Ben with any form of questions, comments or concern. He wants to be a high resource to all of you and wants to create a cohort of Drexel Investment Bankers!

His email is boa34@drexel.edu