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Corporate Title: AssociateBusiness Area: Investment Banking, Investment Banking Department
Year Joined Credit Suisse: 2003
Journal Entries Welcome to My Journal! - 15 August 2007 I already had a great career going at CS. I started in the Los Angeles office straight out of undergrad where I worked as an investment banking analyst for 2.5 years, then transferred to Chicago where I was promoted to Associate. Once you are an Associate at my firm, you don’t need an MBA degree to continue on. But the truth is, most of my co-workers had a degree from a top business school. I didn’t want to miss out on the MBA experience. In addition, since I was a liberal arts major in undergrad, I thought it would be a good idea to go back to school to brush-up my skills. In the end, CS made the choice easy by offering me a spot in their MBA Ambassador Program, which lets me to stay linked-in with all the folks back in the office while attending school full-time (best of both worlds!). My co-workers at CS were all very supportive (and a little envious) of my decision to go back to school, and now I’m in a great position to help people like you learn more about CS, so keep reading… From Investment Banker to Food Banker 23 August 2007
I got my acceptance letter from Wharton in December 2006 but stayed on with Credit Suisse for 6 more months. Those 6 months were as busy as any I’ve seen in my 4 years at CS, so I was ready for a vacation by the end! At the end of June I packed up my apartment, moved to Philadelphia, and then jumped on a plane back to Milwaukee, WI (where my fiance lives) for a month of vacation before pre-term. So what does a CS investment banker do with a month off? I worked in a bank, of course. Not an investment bank, but a food bank. It was less about stocks and bonds and more about stocking shelves. People don’t always think of investment bankers as the most civic minded folks, but my experience at CS has demonstrated otherwise. Want to see a few examples?
 Here I am at my glamorous new job as a food banker We may not all be Mother Teresa, but the bottom line is that CS culture is very much about giving something back to the community. And trust me, after you have just spent all day running discounted cash analyses, taking the train across town to help kids paint ink blot pictures is a great break! I had a nice, relaxing time sorting canned peas from candied yams, and am now ready for business school. The Break Dancing MD 27 September 2007 It’s quarter till eight. In the background there is a low harvest moon rising over the Philadelphia skyline. In the foreground are my classmates and their families – sipping ice laden drinks and chatting with new friends. It’s pre-term at Wharton. Suddenly the DJ strikes up a hot salsa beat. I watch as the dance floor fills, and my eye is immediately caught by a couple in the corner. She is in high heels a dress and long, sweeping hair. He is a trim young man in a white cotton shirt who knows how to move to the music. When they start dancing I can’t take my eyes off them. Their movement is magnetic and their sheer talent is a joy to watch. I turned to a classmate next to me and said, “That’s one of the things I love about being here – everyone has skills to be doing something completely different – yet we’re all here.” That’s also a reason why I love working for Credit Suisse. Admittedly, it can sometimes take a little time to discover your co-workers’ hidden talents. The MD in the corner office is primarily focused on making sure the team is prepped for the big client meeting on Monday – not regaling the office with stories about his old start-up energy firm. But hang around long enough and you’ll see what I mean. I once fancied myself a decent skier (I used to teach lessons at the local ski park in high school), but when the analyst and associates in the LA office took a weekend ski trip to Big Bear, I was definitely humbled. I’ve seen young bankers perform some respectable break-dancing routines during Friday happy hour. I also understand that there was some serious competition when the NY office hosted a charity event, “Dancing with the MDs.” And don’t even get me started on the office bowling parties. Some guys bring their own balls. It wasn’t too surprising to me to see the similarity in abundance of talent between my co-workers and my classmates. After all, both business schools and banks are highly selective, and they tend to draw from the same talented population. Still, as I watched the salsa dancers tonight, it was fun to be reminded that I’ve left none of that behind when I went from banking to school. For those of you who are also currently enjoying school, it might be nice to know that you won’t have to leave any of that behind if and when you go the other direction.  Downside Scenario 4 October 2007 So I’ve been taking classes at Wharton for several weeks now. I’ve been getting to know my classmates better, and they’ve been asking me their fair share of questions about what it’s like to work in banking. The toughest question I’ve been asked so far was, “What’s the worst part of the job?” What’s interesting is that the answer they were expecting and my honest answer were not the same. Expected Answer: It’s the hours, right? My Answer: It’s not the hours. It’s the unpredictability. Everyone knows that bankers work a lot. But the truth is that investment bankers are not super-human. There will be some late nights, but eventually you will need to sleep. Late nights are balanced out by earlier nights. Some people may disagree with me, but I never thought the sheer number of hours was a problem. For me, the real downside was the unpredictability. The trouble is that you don’t always know in advance which nights will be late and which will be early. It might be your best friend’s birthday on Thursday. She wants to meet for drinks at 9 p.m., but the best response you can give is, “I’ll try.” I’ve been in situations where I’ve had to let down people I care about because there’s a client deadline that can’t be put off. It feels terrible. I’m writing this not to discourage anyone reading from going into the industry. Look at me. I know the downside. Yet I still love the job. But if I’m going to continue to write about all the great reasons to work at CS, I need to be honest about the less great things, too. So that’s the honest accounting. Your Elevator Speech Can’t Save You Now 22nd December 2007 For this journal entry, all the authors on the Credit Suisse (“CS”) website have decided to write about the same general topic, “How to Sell Yourself to a Prospective Employer.” Seems like a timely subject since we’re in the middle of recruiting season on campus. In fact, you’ve probably already heard all the basic tips for the “elevator speech” (what you’d say if you had just 2 minutes in an elevator with a potential employer): • Keep it short and simple Those are all good tips. However, I’d rather focus on what to do in the worst case scenario: you’re in the interview and are asked a question that you have no idea how to answer. Your elevator speech can’t save you now, but you can recover. I know, because this has happened to me. Picture me, a 22 year-old woman all decked out in a freshly pressed suit, sitting in a VP’s office at CS. I’d already breezed through several rounds of behavioral interviews and was feeling pretty confident. Then we got to the technical portion of the interview process. The banker wanted me to explain the impact of a certain accounting transaction on the cash flow statement. My reply was that we hadn’t learned the cash flow statement yet. It was true, I was a senior at a liberal arts college, and was just taking introductory accounting. I tried to answer as best I could, given what little I had learned about accounting. Then, I offered the banker a way out by saying, “You know, in my economics class we undertook a team project to explain the drivers of GDP using regression analysis. I could tell you a bit about that and then you can ask me any question you’d like.” That line of questioning worked much better, and I was ultimately offered the job. Based on my experiences, both as a candidate and an interviewer, I truly believe that most interviewers are not trying to trick you with tough questions. They are just checking to see if you have learned something from your classes. If you don’t know the answer, my advice would be to give it a try and then offer a topic that better reflects your knowledge. Rehearsed elevator speeches will only get you so far in the interview process. The real “sell”happens when you can demonstrate that you are an intelligent human being, prone to mistakes and missteps, but also quick to pick up and move on. |
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