The Fast Track: The Insider's Guide to Winning Jobs in Management Consulting, Investment Banking & Securities Trading

by Mariam Naficy

Book Overview

Get an Insider's Edge on Launching Your Career. Are you thinking about working for the likes of McKinsey, Merrill Lynch, or Salomon Brothers?Thousands of undergraduates, MBA students, and others are rushing for prestigious entry-level positions in the highly competitive and lucrative fields of management consulting, investment banking, and securities trading.How are you going to compete?In The Fast Track, experienced recruiter and fast-track insider...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767900405
• ISBN13: 9780767900409
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: Crown Currency
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

the best prep book out there

I came from an Ivy school and got offers from Goldman and Morgan Stanley coming out. My junior year I was recommended this book by a college career counselor as the one indispensable book to own. I agree and have recommended the same to others asking me for advice. It won't get you the job on its own (internet research and calls with former/current employees are a must), but its explanations of management consulting and investment banking are hugely helpful for approaching the interview process. Vault and Wetfeet are fine but too specific -- an applicant who has read this book and understands the overall shape of these two career paths and the goals behind the recruiting process for each will be much better prepared for the rigorous post-college interview process.

Amazing...

This is an amazinglingly helpful book for college student of all years who want to do Investment Banking and/or Consulting. Started looking into similar stuff more than a year ago. Bought this book 3 month ago, just read it yesterday. Reading the book is like hearing your bigger bro/sis telling you about the walks they have walked, about challegens you feel very uncertain/frustrated, and about what things REALLY are and how they could be done the BEST. Those experiecens are not told in a cold tone like in Vault or in some drab books by professionals who write resum/cover letter for a living. It is rather put together in a knowledgable, guiding, rich-in-"meaningful"-example and willing-to-help way. Author's intention and effort in basing the knowledge of job-hunting process on what you may feel about certain things and what you may want to know the most are evident too. Author's own experience where she "battled through grueling recrueting season, totaling about seventy-five intervews..." and getting into Goldman Sachs, and later into Gemini is curcial in above regards.

Great Primer for Management Consulting & I Banking

This book gives a good overview of the different facets of management consulting and investment banking. For those considering a MBA as a transition to these two career paths, this is a good place to start your research. As my personal interest is Management Consulting . . .1) The culture requires teamwork, high quality and constant change. "You are only as good as your last project." (pg 44)2) "Most people at McKinsey don't need to be managed. It is a different dynamic - we are coached. . . managers are graded on how well they coach." (pg 57)3) Critical skills: analytical skills, individualism, interpersonal skills and intellectual curiosity. (pg 145)4) For interview questions concerning resume, use CAR approach: Context: Set the stageAction: What did you do?Results: What was the impact?5) Good list of interview questions (pg 199 - 200). The most interesting one I saw: "Where do you think the consulting industry is headed?"6) Five qualities that distinguish a great case interview:- structured response, shows you think clearly- broad perspective, shows that you cover all the angles- concise and linear manner of thinking and communicating- business judgment, shows you can find the high-impact areas- creative insights, shows that you can come up with ideas on your ownAnother good resource for basics of management consulting:...

Excellent Resource

This is an indispensable resource for any student pursuing a job in banking or consulting. Naficy offers an insightful and well-informed road map for a process that can often be ambiguous and esoteric. As a student from a non-targeted school, this book "leveled the playing field" and allowed me to enter the recruiting process prepared and confident in my candidacy. Naficy is concise and eloquent; The Fast Track is a refreshing departure from other sources on the topic which are commonly superfluous and horribly expensive (e.g. the "packets?" from Wetfeet.com).

An excellent starting point to getting a job in Ibanking.

This book truly offers you everything you NEED to know to get a job in Ibanking...you SHOULD find additonal resources in order to speak intelligently on the subject. I know of several people who have used this book as their primary resource to secure positions at various Ibanks. This book, the WSJ, and people in the industry will get you a job in Ibanking.