actuaryalfred Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > john_mclaugj Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > 1. I don’t believe you will see a mass exodus > of > > people from the industry but you may see wages > > normalize and come down over time. In my > opinion, > > banks have been overpaying many employees. > > Declines in wages may encourage bright > undergrads > > to consider careers in the sciences, education, > > medicine etc. because the opportunity cost of a > > job in financial services has lowered. This is > > probably in society’s best interest. > > well put! If Einstein was around today he would probably work at a HF…
needhelp Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Is anyone really truly surprised that the US > financial system tore apart at the seams? I see > the people running corportae america exhibiting > all the behavioral pitfall covered in L3 and more > - arrogance, greed, incompetence. > > I for one am not surprised at all. THings have an > uncanny knack to return to their mean in the long > run, and I am afraid this is the mean not the 5th > percentile outcome. Not surprised at all … but will people learn from the greed and cut corner factors - I dont think you can regulate the greed factor. even amongst people in the cfa world have this warped sense of how wall street should work … hmmm i wonder if this weekend has created an awakening yet?
If you are in institutional sales at a remaining firm how much are you loving life right now? BS, MER, and LEH all gone.
The Edge Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > needhelp Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Is anyone really truly surprised that the US > > financial system tore apart at the seams? I see > > the people running corportae america exhibiting > > all the behavioral pitfall covered in L3 and > more > > - arrogance, greed, incompetence. > > > > I for one am not surprised at all. THings have > an > > uncanny knack to return to their mean in the > long > > run, and I am afraid this is the mean not the > 5th > > percentile outcome. > > > Not surprised at all … but will people learn > from the greed and cut corner factors - I dont > think you can regulate the greed factor. even > amongst people in the cfa world have this warped > sense of how wall street should work … hmmm i > wonder if this weekend has created an awakening > yet? I dont think that people will learn much from all of this. The basic human nature is vile. I can foresee a lot more emphasis on enterprise risk management in the future which serves me well since thats my practice area.
Needhelp are you at a big 4 firm?
TJR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Needhelp are you at a big 4 firm? No.
Well I think ERM might not be such a bad thing to be in right now.
TJR Wrote: > If Einstein was around today he would probably > work at a HF… I read an article on “Top 10 Reasons to Hate Wall Street”…and brain drain was among the reasons. Imagine if all the quant monkeys, mensa members, and sky high IQ eggheads were all working on quantum physics, a cure for cancer, or space exploration instead of dreaming up new algorithms for Simon’s HF; trying to eek out an extra .00001% of alpha. We’d probably be living in a very different world.
Chuckrox8 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m already feeling bad for the 09’ graduates. I > thought I had it bad graduating this year. Jobs > in financials are going to be scarce in the next > few years. 09 grad right here. 
I’ve been reading AF and if it wasn’t grim/pessimistic before tonight, it’s beyond ugly now. Personally, I’m reconsidering my options at this point. I don’t even know what to think or where to look as far as jobs are concerned. If these huge bulge bracket banks are crumbling and laying off/firing thousands of employees, a new graduate like myself doesn’t exactly have much hope of landing a job in this industry. My question to you guys would be, how long before you see the industry turning around? Will investment banks ever turn around and get back to more stable hiring? Frankly, at this point, I’m not even sure what to even look for as far as job post-grad is concerned. So worrying about if/when the industry turns around isn’t even the biggest concern, but still, the entire industry is changing, unfortunately, it looks like it’s for the worse.
I have friends at boutique shops that are still hiring - maybe look there instead of BB.
projectplatnyc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have friends at boutique shops that are still > hiring - maybe look there instead of BB. While I’m obviously not an expert on the industry by any means, I just figured that essentially a “domino effect” would take place and that even boutique banks would be hit as well, and consequently wouldn’t be hiring either. Is it the case that this crisis is more geared and centered around these BB firms, and the boutiques are actually doing better/fine? Even if they were, wouldn’t it stand to reason that with BB firms struggling as badly as they are, will lead people to go for boutiques, increasing the competition for the limited spots since those firms are smaller? It just seems to me that there will be too few jobs when compared to the number of applicants/candidates. But, again, I’m no expert, and would appreciate the insight from you guys on this matter and how you believe it will play out. (btw - can you share the name of the boutiques that are hiring? If you would rather email it, my addy is kp0824@gmail.com. If not, no worries, that’s fine, just thought I’d ask!)
I always said that if I can’t get a job in IB or ER after I graduate (this December) I’m going to the USMC, Officer Candidate School. I’m still going to be applying like crazy, but it looks like I better start getting back in shape starting NOW
I have two friends at Cowen now (one analyst and one assocaiate that I am really good friends with). They are both in Healthcare IB and another '09 graduate from all of our same school is getting hired for next year. He interned there and did well so was sent an offer. I did not mean to imply that they are doing ‘fine’, but may offer more opportunities than the big banks (and maybe not, just my perspective). They definitely had their bonuses cut for this year and reduced the number of interns that they plan to hire for the '09 graduates. My other friend was in M&A at Wachovia and got cut a month or two ago - so I am a bit biased in that aspect as well towards jobs at big banks.
Good luck to ya, Florida_Gator! I was aiming for a job in ER after graduation as well (May), haven’t worked out a backup plan yet, but I’m thinking it would be wise for our graduating class to think of something else. Hopefully I’m wrong.