We've all seen them in their business suits, rushing into precept after an interview or huddled up in the Nassau Inn lobby. But what are these prospective businessmen and women actually looking for? Are they all headed for the same Wall Street job?
The typical route to finance starts with an interview process during junior spring lasting several weeks when students compete for summer internships at top Wall Street firms. While the number of students interviewing for these internships may make it seem like an extremely competitive process, Princeton is arguably the best university at which to pursue finance. Not only is Princeton a "target" school, which means that finance and consulting firms look to hire Princeton students, but it also has a number of resources to aid interested students.
Besides the Career Services office, there are also other less well-known resources on campus, such as the Alumni Athlete Network, which allows athletes to apply for finance jobs early in the year to get a head start on the process. The organization is very helpful, says one student athlete who just got an investment banking internship, "because the alumni know the team mentality and dedication of Princeton athletes."
Both the Business Today magazine and the ORFE major are unique to Princeton. Business Today is an on-campus magazine that puts students in touch with corporate executives. Lauren McKenna '07, an officer of the organization, said that working as a sales associate for Business Today "opened up a lot of doors for me because it introduced me to so many different industries." Not only was McKenna getting exposure to the business world as a sales associate, but she also met many Fortune 500 executives just by working for a Princeton organization.
The ORFE major combines engineering and business degrees to allow a more quantitative approach to business. While this major is great for those students set on going into business, it is not necessary to get a finance job. In fact, most big consulting and finance firms care more about Princeton's name than your specific major. When getting the job, says McKenna, "It is not so much the course work, but learning how to learn."
Summer internships generally come with a guaranteed job offer at the end of the summer. So if all goes well, students could have their dream jobs before the start of their senior year. Yet a lot of times, these high-paying internships help in a less traditional way. "You learn what you want to do by [figuring out] what you don't want to do," says Jane Hong '07, who turned down an offer from her summer employer, Goldman Sachs, this fall. Many students come out of internships with new perspectives on their futures and their careers. For Jane, who is now applying to programs like Princeton-in-Asia and Princeton in Latin America, turning down the job at Goldman Sachs was about not falling into the comfort zone too quickly: "I could easily see myself feeling secure and saying 'I am at a big firm, why not stay,' [but] these next two years, you're fresh out of college. Why not take advantage and try something new?"
Many students who are not satisfied with their summer internships move to a different area of finance, and many more to consulting. Tomas Blanco '07, who worked for Credit Suisse First Boston the summer after his junior year, decided that he would rather try a new group at JP Morgan focusing on internal consulting rather than work the 100-hour weeks in investment banking. His future job will have better hours than what Credit Suisse offered, and it includes time abroad.
Some students continue in investment banking but avoid Wall Street. Preston Comey '07, who is working at Wachovia's Investment Bank in Charlotte, N. C., next year, decided that "[w]orking in investment banking is a hard enough lifestyle as it is, and I did not want to have to deal with high rent and prices as well as horrible traffic, and constantly worrying about my safety. Charlotte is very clean and new. I can walk to work, and the city is fairly safe." Since Comey's pay in Charlotte is comparable to what his pay would be in New York, there is no monetary loss in taking a finance job outside of New York City. The draw of New York for many Princeton students seems to be more the city itself than the high-paying job that comes with it. Alex Smith '07 did not even consider finance until the application process came around the spring of his junior year. "I knew that I wanted to try and live in New York, and applying to internships seemed like a good way to make that happen."
While we might assume so from their similarly tailored business suits, these future financiers and consultants are not pursuing the finance track for the same reasons. When they enter the industry, Princetonians don't all head for the same address on Wall Street.
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