Analyst, Corporate Finance, Deutsche Bank at Deutsche Bank
What's your name and job title?
Claire Li – Analyst, Corporate Finance.
What did you study? When did you graduate?
I graduated in November 2018 with a dual degree Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Economics from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
Where did you grow up? Can you tell us about your education and any previous employment?
I was born and raised in Sydney. I went to university at UNSW and did a semester of exchange at the University of Texas at Austin. Throughout high school, I worked a couple of part-time jobs at McDonalds and Ben & Jerrys, and in university I went through several internships at various professional and financial services firms.
How did you get to your current job position? For how long have you had it?
I interviewed for a graduate role at Deutsche Bank in my final year of university. I’ve now been working for almost six months.
How did you choose your specialisation?
I chose investment banking because of the unparalleled exposure and learning trajectory that the industry offers to juniors. You also get to learn and apply a range of skills and work across a range of business and client sectors, which keeps the job interesting.
What was your interview process like? What kind of questions were you asked?
The interview process involved a series of in-person interviews where I was asked a mix of technical, behavioral and motivational questions.
What does your employer do?
Deutsche Bank is a full-service investment bank. In the area that I work in, we advise our clients on mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings and offer other financial services with the goal of enabling value creation for our clients.
Can you describe a typical work day? What was the last thing you worked on?
One of the best things about my job is that every day brings something different. Typically though, I would be doing some kind of financial analysis on some potential opportunities for our clients that could unlock value for them in some way. This might involve doing research to understand businesses or industries, or building models and running calculations to measure financial impacts. I would then create presentations to communicate our findings.
What are the career prospects with your job?
Investment banking truly equips you with many valuable and transferable technical and soft skills.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes, for sure – the most important prerequisite is a willingness to learn on the job.
What would your career be if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now?
Perhaps a food blogger eating my way through life.
What do you love most about your job? Which kind of task do you enjoy the most?
I love that every day brings a new challenge, and that I get to work with such smart, interesting people. The tasks that I enjoy the most are those that involve tactical decision-making, combining financial analysis with strategy.
What’s the biggest limitation of your job? Do you bear a lot of responsibility? Do you have to work on weekends? Are the stress levels high?
There are definitely challenges that come with the job, given the amount of responsibility that you are given, and there will be periods of ups and downs. However, I try to take everything as a learning experience.
Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current university student?