BA Physics -> PhD Mechanical engineering -> Investment Banking

Graduate School
1

<p>^Is it possible?</p>

2

<p>Why waste all that time? If you’re a good candidate for IB, just go for it now. If you have no desire to study Mechanical Engineering at the PhD level for purely academic reasons, you will not succeed and eventually drop out of the program. It’s not as easy as one thinks.</p>

<p>Just jump into IB straight, assuming you have what they’re looking for already. I highly doubt you’ll be considered more appealing just because of the PhD in MechE, if anything, only by a little bit.</p>

3

<p>IB is just one of the options after PhD… I mean would it be possible to get into IB with a PhD in ME if I ever decide to… I don want to jump straight to IB</p>

4

<p>Yes it’s possible.</p>

5

<p>the person who runs stingyinvestor.com has a PhD in physics from York University, you can read his resume: <a href=“http://www.ndir.com/resume.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ndir.com/resume.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>I used to work in investment banking, and I’d say that making the jump from an ME PhD to banking would be difficult. First, I doubt any banks recruit at the PhD level for their IBD (investment banking division); they’re either recruiting undergrads for analyst positions or MBA students for associate positions. Second, a PhD in ME wouldn’t prepare you for banking in any way – I’d imagine that you’d only be prepared to start as an analyst (maybe a second-year analyst as opposed to a first-year analyst). Would you want to do that at this point in your life? </p>

<p>A PhD in ME lends itself more to quantitative buy-side positions: working at a quant fund, a hedge fund, etc. It’s also a viable background for a trader. But I think breaking into investment banking would be difficult with a tangentially-related background like ME. Investment banks are notorious for not giving graduate degrees aside from MBAs much respect; one of the analysts in my class had an MS in quant finance and still started as a first-year.</p>

7

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<p>Oh yes, they definitely do. And yes, you’d be coming in as an associate: same as the MBA’s. In fact, several guys I know who are graduating with their PhD’s in engineering from MIT have landed bulge bracket IB associate offers.</p>

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<p>Well, frankly, let’s be honest, MBA’s often times don’t exactly prepare you for banking either. For example, I know a guy who graduated with his MBA from MIT and got an investment banking offer despite the fact that he took only a single finance course, which he took only because it was required. And frankly, that course really isn’t that hard: certainly not so hard that a guy who is good enough to get a PhD in ME should be able to pick it up in a matter of weeks. </p>

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<p>Now this I agree with. An MS alone probably won’t get you far. But a PhD is somewhat different.</p>

8

<p>May I know what is the difference between investment banking and hedge fund/quant fund?</p>

<p>Those with a PhD in ME can definitely go into IB or hedge funds?</p>

9

<p>Sakky, did your friend get a job in IB because he had a PhD from MIT? What if someone have a PhD from Duke engineering or other lesser schools?</p>

10

<p>“First, I doubt any banks recruit at the PhD level for their IBD (investment banking division); they’re either recruiting undergrads for analyst positions or MBA students for associate positions.”</p>

<p>That is not true of PhDs from elite universities. I personally know that IBs and management consultancies aggressively recruit PhDs at Oxford University in general and particularly target the Said Business School. However, I do not know if that happens with PhDs from the lesser universities.</p>

11

<p><a href=“http://www.amazon.com/My-Life-Quant-Reflections-Physics/dp/0470192739/[/url]”>http://www.amazon.com/My-Life-Quant-Reflections-Physics/dp/0470192739/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

12

<p>anyone else?</p>

13

<p>anyone?..</p>

14

<p>When people say “Investment banking” they are typically referring to M&A within an investment bank. Of course you could work for an investment bank and do any number of things – i.e. trading, equity research, M&A, equity sales, HR, marketing etc. </p>

<p>Similarly for Hedge funds, there is a difference between what it is and what one can do for one. Hedge funds are really just funds – i.e. money that is being invested according to a specific style “quant” “macro” etc. One could be a trader, a back office person, etc.</p>

<p>This
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<p>should give you a sense of what life is like starting as a junior analyst in banking.</p>