General Templates & Resources

Industries 101 & Specific Resources

What is Investment Banking (IB)?

Investment bankers are the intermediaries between investors and corporations. They help companies raise capital through debt and equity as well as structure M&A (mergers and acquisitions) between corporations. After graduation, you’re hired as an analyst, and most banks offer a promotion to associate after two years. In your analyst program, you’ll develop financial modeling skills and business valuation knowledge, build pitch books for clients, and learn about relationship management with clients. If you want a two-year crash course in finance, the investment banking analyst program can’t be beat. Be aware of the long hours in IB (75+ per week), but the hours improve as you move up. Exit opportunities from IB include private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, corporate finance, and more.

What is Consulting?

A company in any given industry, oftentimes one that is looking to improve in some way (ie. increase profit or improve company culture), will hire a team of consultants from a consulting firm to work for them (on average 2-3 months) and identify the key issues and necessary changes. This gives the client access to expertise in the space while saving time on their end. No specific skill set is required to enter consulting, but because consulting projects are completed on a team (on average 3-5 people), consultants are expected to work well in teams, and also be willing to work long hours and travel to their clients.

Out of college, consulting is a popular career path because it allows exposure to many different industries and skill sets that can later be applied to countless other jobs. For this reason, and because there are many promising exit opportunities given that employers seek the skills that analysts develop in a consulting role, consulting is seen as a gateway to other career paths. However, while many leave consulting after 2-3 years after using it as a jumping off point, many also stay in consulting to “move up” to a manager and eventually partner position.

What is Tech?

The Tech industry includes anything regarding the distribution, research, or development of technologically based goods and services. Anywhere from manufacturing electronics to developing softwares, the tech industry spans and produces a wide range of consumer goods and enterprise softwares. Working in tech requires innovation, creativity, and room for development. The industry is dominated by what is known as the Big Five: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft. Although these companies are the known giants of the industry, smaller companies dabble in more specific expertises, for examples Canva and Adobe, and serve as vessels for the industry’s constant growth and develpment.

What is Marketing & Communications?

The Marketing & Communications industry serves to effectively communicate companies’ visions and offerings to potential consumers/clients. Those who work in the Marketing side of the industry are effectively the gap between the company and their consumers within the general public. Members of the marketing industry create ideas that present a product, service, person, whatever it may be in the most desirable manner. Although Marketing and Communications go hand in hand, those who work in the Communiciations side often deal with the inner workings of companies and relations. The Marketing and Communications industry is full of individuals who feed off of curiosity, innovation, analysis of the consumer, and product manipulation, with very good interpersonal relations. The industry serves as the being in between society as a whole and the corporations we purchase things from daily. This industry includes but is not limited to advertising, distributing and selling, human resources, brand management, public relations, analysts and coordinators, and event planning.