by Kunal Sharma
The Best Job for an MBA
3 months ago
“We are a hot potato this part of the World,” said Viraj, his eyes beaming. Nakul nodded reverently, just like a monk in a monastery where the head priest was about to reveal their true place in the universe. There was one difference though, between Nakul and the likened monk. The monk would have been driven by a keenness to attain detachment from all worldly things. Nakul’s motivations, on the contrary, pertained very much to the material world. In fact, he had been fighting the recurring impulse to estimate the salary that he would be offered any moment now. If Viraj was to offer him a job as an Investment Banker at PanAsia, that is.
The conference room that Nakul had been ushered into was well stocked with books and paraphernalia. The books seemed to be there just to adore the built-in shelves on the wall though. They related to everything that was premium in the business world, thought Nakul as he scanned the titles on the shelf: A successful banker's take on the future of capital markets, a saga of the most celebrated deal ever, another banker's views on emerging markets and how successful navigation of Asian's markets is akin to enticing a beautiful yet cautious young girl.
“I have made it to the final round, all I need now is to put up a face that will have them buy my story of an astoundingly driven individual surviving solely on numbers and raw data,” Nakul reckoned.
Earlier in the day, Nakul had met Rohtaj during his second interview. Nakul was impressed with the ex-Wall Street banker sitting confidently in front of him, exuding enough pompousness to unnerve the calmest of candidates. Bankers and surgeons are probably the hardiest lot, considering that they have to accomplish so much in so little time, Nakul had thought.
“Nakul is a freaking strange name,” said Rohtaj, smirking good-naturedly.
“Ya, I get that a lot,” said Nakul.
Rohtaj had talked a bit about his time at the Street. “When Lehman went down, I had to take a call. I had to be diligent in my next decision. I wanted to come back to India where there is strong traction in deal making underway...So how was IIMB?” Rohtaj asked Nakul. Rohtaj referred to the school consistently ranked in the top three, nationally. Nakul knew that one's school does have a strong bearing on the kind of business networks that they can get access to. From the number of times his MBA from IIMB was being discussed today, Nakul realized that one's pedigree played a big role at the bulkiest of bulge brackets. He was learning a seemingly minute but important lesson in the way the moneymaking machines work. During deal making you are more likely to hear back from a good fund, for example, if they know that they are dealing with someone with clear and established background. Assumedly, the team's worthy credentials lend the requisite credibility to the deal.
“I tried to gather as much as I could in the time I spent there. I took electives in both strategy and finance in anticipation of building up skills that will come in handy in an investment banking role,” said Nakul.
After a few questions on bond valuation, Rohtaj said suddenly “Why would one invest in you, what is your alpha?”
Nakul smiled, “I would like to think it is pretty high, if not, I am prepared to put in my best effort to see it rise, that is my goal in the firm.”
Nakul had also met Anil Mehta, one of the directors at PanAsia. Mehta had come across a bit shaky, Nakul thought. He had stooped over the table and played with the stationery every now and then. He had discussed stuff covering capital markets, the value of an enterprise and financial statements, topics that Nakul had gone over numerous times when he found time from doodling Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on any piece of paper he could find. Nakul had to force himself to appear to be impromptu than mechanical in reciting his thoughts. Towards the end of the interview, Mehta said something really cool. He told Nakul that in investment banking, the salary base is not as important as the bonus and PanAsia typically paid 200-300% of the base in a good year. To which Nakul said: “I am sure every year is a great year in a prestigious brand such as yours.”
The day was ending at the bank as Nakul was wrapping up the interview with PanAsia's MD and CEO. Viraj had just taken a pause after what seemed forever from telling Nakul how great PanAsia was. When an MD talks of how great his company is, he is either talking to a client or someone he needs to hire.
Nakul heaved a silent sigh of relief even though his neck pained from nodding ever so much today.
A great day, Nakul thought, as he thought of the months of preparation that had led to this moment. As he listened intently, he felt an inherent willingness to let his mind drift towards the salary and the lifestyle that he stood to attain. Neither did he want to think about how little yet he knew about Viraj and PanAsia. As the last round of interview with the CEO progressed, Nakul felt that his preparation had lent him a good deal of confidence. He had practiced his interviews far too many times to reach this state of poised sentience. Whenever he found airtime, he steered the conversation towards topics that he was more familiar with or towards relevant news that he had gone over just before the interview. Nakul mentioned the finer nuances of the overpriced Facebook IPO and talked a bit about the Samsung-Apple debacle, as much as he could remember.
“I have special people covering all of that,” blurted Viraj, as if he had a personal fortune riding on the outcome. Nakul winked, partly out of a small bewilderment and then managed a patronizing smile as if in agreement, playing the eager follower once again.
Then, as if Nakul himself scripted the interview, he heard Viraj say, “So, how bad do you want to be an investment banker at PanAsia?”
Nakul smiled as he offloaded a heartfelt response.