Investment Banking

Kris Howard Investment Banking The intensely competitive, action-oriented, profit-hungry world of investment banking can seem like a bigger-than-life place where deals are done and fortunes are made. Investment bank includes but is not limited to bringing an established company to the market, by that I mean taking company with the capabilities but not capital of expanding, and raising money through other investors or the stock market (IPO) for a commission, I chose this field because of my personal experience with my father and his company, I 've seen him go from starting off as a cold calling broker, to running a brokerage firm, to starting a brokerage firm, all the way to having his own investment firm. I feel like I would do better with jobs where you set your own hours and work at your own pace. A lot of the work is commission based so the more your work the more you make, this would also benefit me because it would drive me to work more, money is my motivation. To be hired you will need good people and communication skills, highly analytical skills, high ability to synthesize and high creative ability. You will also need experience in modeling, valuing companies, and financial accounting.

Accounting
If you don 't have a deep background in accounting, but if you are strong in math, then don 't worry, you 'll be able to pick it up fast enough once you 're on the job. If you do have a background in accounting, then it gives you a nice edge.
Corporate Finance
Corporate finance is different than accounting in that corporate finance relates to valuation and financing decisions. The purpose of accounting is to create statements that lay out the historical financial health of a company for management and investors. The purpose of corporate finance is to apply the results of these statements (along with intangibles such as the strength of the industry and the management team) to a valuation model in order to arrive at a value for the company.