Combined Commerce (1 Viewer)

[gzhu]

Hello fellow BoSer's. I am about to finish my HSC and want to pursue a career in investment banking. Of course I know its not all about academics in order to get your foot in the industry but more about a balanced lifestyle, personality and interpersonal skills and work experience as well as being able to deal with high levels of stress/workload.

Currently I am stuck between these degree choices at UNSW and would like some help. I know Comm/Law is highly regarded but despite its prestige I don't think I could stand doing a literature based subject and I also hate reading LOL.
So these are the 3 degrees which I am stuck on.

1. B of Commerce (International)
2. B of Commerce/Economics
3. B of Commerce/Advanced Mathematics

Now the main reason I want to do the international commerce is because I want to continue learning Japanese since I studied Japanese Extension this year and possibly pick up Mandarin as well. However I am not sure to what extent being multi-lingual will really be beneficial to employment prospects within the investment banking sector.

The Comm/Eco is something I know would definitely give me an advantage over other others doing straight commerce due to the possibility of 3 business majors. Although I did HSC Economics there were many areas which I felt were boring (Labour Market Policies, Trading Blocs, Environmental Sustainability) but there were also areas like Macro and Micro which I enjoyed. So not really sure how Uni ecos is like.

Now for the Comm/Adv Maths degree, I feel that it might be a waste if I studied Ext 2 Maths and did not continue to apply my mathematical ability at a high level. Also there is a subject called Quantitative Financing (You have to be selected by the Dean for this which would be very difficult Id assume but I'm just keeping my options open) which involves assessing financial risk for banks with a lot of mathematics so I think that would definitely help my employment prospects within the IB sector.

Sorry about the long post but there is so many options for me right now and what I would like to hear from you all is. For those who have experience whether in uni doing any of these degrees or has knowledge about it, working in the IB sector or can simply contribute some genuine advice. Please comment and help me!

Thank you.

 

[apollo1]

those were my first three preferences. comm (international) i probably wont do because i dont have any knowledge of languages. im starting to lean towards com/eco myself

 

[runnable]

Hello fellow BoSer's. I am about to finish my HSC and want to pursue a career in investment banking. Of course I know its not all about academics in order to get your foot in the industry but more about a balanced lifestyle, personality and interpersonal skills and work experience as well as being able to deal with high levels of stress/workload.

Currently I am stuck between these degree choices at UNSW and would like some help. I know Comm/Law is highly regarded but despite its prestige I don't think I could stand doing a literature based subject and I also hate reading LOL.
So these are the 3 degrees which I am stuck on.

1. B of Commerce (International)
2. B of Commerce/Economics
3. B of Commerce/Advanced Mathematics

Now the main reason I want to do the international commerce is because I want to continue learning Japanese since I studied Japanese Extension this year and possibly pick up Mandarin as well. However I am not sure to what extent being multi-lingual will really be beneficial to employment prospects within the investment banking sector.

The Comm/Eco is something I know would definitely give me an advantage over other others doing straight commerce due to the possibility of 3 business majors. Although I did HSC Economics there were many areas which I felt were boring (Labour Market Policies, Trading Blocs, Environmental Sustainability) but there were also areas like Macro and Micro which I enjoyed. So not really sure how Uni ecos is like.

Now for the Comm/Adv Maths degree, I feel that it might be a waste if I studied Ext 2 Maths and did not continue to apply my mathematical ability at a high level. Also there is a subject called Quantitative Financing (You have to be selected by the Dean for this which would be very difficult Id assume but I'm just keeping my options open) which involves assessing financial risk for banks with a lot of mathematics so I think that would definitely help my employment prospects within the IB sector.

Sorry about the long post but there is so many options for me right now and what I would like to hear from you all is. For those who have experience whether in uni doing any of these degrees or has knowledge about it, working in the IB sector or can simply contribute some genuine advice. Please comment and help me!

Thank you.

What! Another investment banking!

Anyways. A few advice.

1) Don't do languages at uni. Especially if you are just starting. They will kill your WAM. At the very least, they will not be a benefit to your WAM. Do this outside of uni if you really want to take on languages. BComm (Int) is a gimmick and I wouldn't bother with it.

2) It's good you do have interest in Maths and Economics. My advice is similar to what I gave in the other thread. Do BComm straight. Secure high marks, keep the flexibility of transferring to BComm/Eco or BComm/Maths. You can do that transfer even until the last semester of your 3 year BComm degree, at least for BComm/Eco.

Marks are critical to pass the screening stage in IB. It doesn't mean much even if you are doing BComm/Adv Maths/Law with a 75 WAM. Do BComm, get high marks and plan to internal transfer if you need to so you can extend your degree or learn something else. Also gives you more time to build up your resume in ECs.

Good luck. This is of course more specific to investment banking so if you are really sure on joining this industry.

 

[Shadowdude]

If you want to do investment banking, Comm/Adv Maths is probably not for you. Picking maths because "Oh I did maths before so I should keep doing it" is silly. Because with that logic, you'll finish your honours in Mathematics (because that's what the Adv Maths degree is) and then go "Oh wait I can't do investment banking now because I already did an honours in maths!"

 

[jaychouf4n]

Lol, if you want to do IB, the best thing to do during uni is not to worry about majors or your degree, but to get some work experience. Try and get some internships at boutique firms at some time in your degree. (cold calling works) Also, you really need to keep up to date with what's happening in the IB world. (I had an interview with a fund management firm where I had not prepared. Got completely destroyed because I had no idea about what was happening in the australian economy, global economy, etc)

Maybe keep a back up option? Every man and his dog wants to get into IB these days so the competition is really fierce.

 

[hungwell1337]

However I am not sure to what extent being multi-lingual will really be beneficial to employment prospects within the investment banking sector.

It wont. Even if this is nomura, they would rather hire a better applicant and give him an interpreter than a worse applicant that speaks japanese. However it might make you more interesting and this actually adds a line on your resume.

The Comm/Eco is something I know would definitely give me an advantage over other others doing straight commerce due to the possibility of 3 business majors.

It wont. IB's dont look for people who have done the most majors. However as jaychouf4n mentioned in a post either here or on WP, by extending your degree it gives you an extra year to mature, learn more things, not necessarily from uni, learn more soft skills, but yeah just older and wiser.

Now for the Comm/Adv Maths degree.....which involves assessing financial risk for banks with a lot of mathematics so I think that would definitely help my employment prospects within the IB sector.

It wont, because you wont know how to assess the financial risks even if you are brilliant at maths. Its more of an art than science.


I think generally:

1. show them you are capable: This normally comes in the form of academics/awards/doing stuff to show you have good time management

2. show them you are passionate: Speculating/trading/investing will get you further than "reading the news and knowing whats going on"

3. show them you will be fun/interesting to work with: be nice, dont debate your interviewers, and have stuff like work experience/extra curriculars/life experiences

Though I think you should really find out what you want to do specifically, other than an "investment bank", like you can be a dumb secretary and still work at GS.

 

[Azure]

^^ Must spread rep.

 

[seremify007]

Interesting approach hungwell1337. I personally would've gone for the more 'challenging' and 'insightful' approach but that's just my personality. Depending on what level of experience you are, people might expect someone who is able to challenge the norm, identify opportunities, add value through insights, etc... rather than just being methodological and following due process. But then hey I don't work in IB so maybe that's why

 

[lyounamu]

omg...why so many investment banking? Only very very few can handle the workload....

But since I need to keep the topic in mind, I think if you are doing Comm/eco or Comm/science for the sake of IB, just do normal comm and ace it. Oh, also get some work experience!!!

 

[Vagabond]

omg...why so many investment banking? Only very very few can handle the workload....!

More like... why so many generalisations about investment banking. The junior traders I know all leave by 7pm. In most cases their degrees didn't matter as much as the fact that they were good at programming/algos.

 

[seremify007]

More like... why so many generalisations about investment banking. The junior traders I know all leave by 7pm. In most cases their degrees didn't matter as much as the fact that they were good at programming/algos.

LOL one of our alumni returns.

 

[runnable]

More like... why so many generalisations about investment banking. The junior traders I know all leave by 7pm. In most cases their degrees didn't matter as much as the fact that they were good at programming/algos.

I think colloquially investment banking refers to IBD/M&A, not Sales and Trading or any Markets side business. All the Markets side people I know wouldn't refer themselves as "investment bankers" but they work in an investment bank.

 

[NeroSpace]

Like 1% of people who apply for IB get the job. The pay isn't that good when you look at the hours that they do, and the stress they're put under, and you probably don't have a fucking clue what they actually do on the job.

 

[a037422944]

mmm if you wanna do a language and maths why not think about commerce (lib).
I had no idea what it was before uni but the people i've met doing it seem to really enjoy it. you have heaps of flexibility in the units you do and can do 3 majors from arts/science/commerce faculties. and if you do it at usyd (dunno about other unis) it means you dont have to do all the core units but can focus on what you want.
the only downside (not sure if its even a downside..) is that it isn't a double degree but a 4 year single degree (which is the same as commerce (int).

just a thought though

 

[runnable]

Like 1% of people who apply for IB get the job. The pay isn't that good when you look at the hours that they do, and the stress they're put under, and you probably don't have a fucking clue what they actually do on the job.

Depending on the company, it's usually less than 1%. The hourly pay may not be the best but it adds up. When you buy a meal, car or a house, do you pay by the hour? And assuming you only use those facilities with "full time hours with no overtime". Pretty sure you pay in absolute figure terms.

And no one in IB works just for the starting salary. It grows at a very fast rate and outstrips other options very quickly except successful entrepreneurship.

 

[Vagabond]

Depending on the company, it's usually less than 1%. The hourly pay may not be the best but it adds up. When you buy a meal, car or a house, do you pay by the hour? And assuming you only use those facilities with "full time hours with no overtime". Pretty sure you pay in absolute figure terms.

And no one in IB works just for the starting salary. It grows at a very fast rate and outstrips other options very quickly except successful entrepreneurship.

Not to mention all the money you save eating dinner at work and getting a taxi home!

LOL one of our alumni returns.

You can tell i'm studying for the CFA right?