Living It

As I was finally finishing up this two-year project, I thought that with this section I could really shed some light on what it was like to be on Wall Street.  While this web site contains every shred of information I could come up with for getting an investment banking analyst position, I realized that rather than extending this web site into a memoir of my investment banking experiences, you would be far better served by reading one book in particular.  The book is called
Monkey Business by John Rolfe and Peter Troob. 

I debated for a while as to whether or not I should include a reference to this book.  As I read it, I felt like I was reading my own memoirs.  It's truly amazing how similar the Wall Street experience is for everyone who does it.  Therefore, it wasn't lack of accuracy that made me think twice about the book but, ironically, rather it's "bare it all" approach.  Wall Street banking is tough and brutal - the book doesn't disguise this fact.  Even so, I decided that the mental preparation offered by this book outweighed the danger of scaring you away from pursuing your dream.

When you finish reading the book, you may wonder why anyone would want to be an investment banker.  Some people like it a lot, others tolerate it, and others leave it.  Regardless of how you'll ultimately feel about investment banking, you'll agree that you're better off because of the experience.   Even Troob and Rolfe admitted that looking back, they're glad they did it.