Working the Street: What You Need to Know About Life on Wall Street [Hardcover]

Erik Banks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7, 2004

Written by a former Managing Director at Merrill Lynch, Working the Street is the resource for readers hoping to build a successful career on Wall Street. It is not a "how-to" career book or a job guide. It doesn't tell the reader who to contact for a job or what classes to take to prepare for a career in banking, and it is not a book about the technical "nuts and bolts" of Wall Street. What this book does tell the reader is about some of the "ins and outs" of Wall Street; about how things really work in the banking world; about some of the speed bumps to watch out for and some of the "low hanging fruit" that is ripe for the picking, from getting in the door and developing positive habits, to getting a bonus and handling retirement. In order to really succeed, it is necessary to know as much as possible about how Wall Street really works. Working the Street goes a long way in providing exactly that.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I don't know if I would recommend for anyone to go work on Wall Street. But if she is going there anyway, I would recommend reading this book. The author put in all the necessary tricks." --Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in the Markets and in Life

"The advice that one does not need an MBA is worth much more than the price of this book."-- Jim Rogers, author of Adventure Capitalist

"Working The Street may not get you a job on Wall Street, but it will certainly give you a clear idea of what you are up against. If you are a Managing Director get ready to take a quick ride down memory lane. If you have never been there, I believe you will get a fair picture and enjoy the book." -- Javier Baz, Managing Director, Trust Company of the West

Book Description

Written by a former Managing Director at Merrill Lynch, Working The Street is the resource for readers hoping to build a successful career on Wall Street. It is not a "how-to" career book or a job guide. It doesn't tell the reader who to contact for a job or what classes to take to prepare for a career in banking, and it is not a book about the technical "nuts and bolts" of Wall Street. What this book does tell the reader is about some of the "ins and outs" of Wall Street; about how things really work in the banking world; about some of the speed bumps to watch out for and some of the "low hanging fruit" that is ripe for the picking, from getting in the door and developing positive habits, to getting a bonus and handling retirement. In order to really succeed, it is necessary to know as much as possible about how Wall Street really works. Working the Street goes a long way in providing exactly that.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1 edition (February 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403963770
• ISBN-13: 978-1403963772
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #856,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Erik Banks is the author of more than 20 books on risk, catastrophe, derivatives, emerging markets, and Wall Street. He has spent 25 years as an international banker, working at major financial institutions in New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Munich; he has also worked in the hedge fund sector and has taught at the University level.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pithy, Career Advice about Investmen Bank Corporate Politics, May 1, 2005

By 

Christopher Hefele (Lawrenceville, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Working the Street: What You Need to Know About Life on Wall Street (Hardcover)

One of the great strengths of this book is that it gives straight, pithy, unvarnished advice about how to succeed at an Investment Bank. The author, a retired a Managing director at Merrill Lynch, focuses mainly on the corporate politics rather than the detailed content of the jobs themselves.

The author touches on many areas, from how to get a job, how to navigate the corporate politics, and knowing when to leave. To begin, he reviews the process of picking a job that fits your personality in sales, trading, research, or control/staff jobs. He discusses how to survive the 3-5 years a new analyst/associate while doing the "grunt" work of preparing presentations, prospectuses, or trade tickets. He discusses the demands (12 hr+ days), the toll on your personal life, and the high pay that compensates you for the risk of layoffs. He also reviews the politics within the firm, and the natural tensions between producers & corporate staffers, investment bankers & research analysts, flow traders and "intellectual" traders, and between all departments at bonus time. Helpful work tips are also emphasized, such as multitasking, punctuality, working foreign assignments, and how to build support within the firm to maximize your compensation at bonus time. Through it all, despite the downsides that the author freely acknowledges, he believes that on balance jobs on Wall Street are worth it, because they have it all - intellectual stimulation, excitement, and great compensation.

On the downside, I found the book's title a bit misleading - the focus of the book is on Investment banks, not on Wall Street as a whole. Granted, that covers a lot of `The Street,' but not all ( what about investment management? Credit rating agencies? Commercial banks? Hedge funds? Venture capital? These aren't covered.) I think that if you want a broader view of the financial services industry, or details about specific firms, then there are other guides out there are better for that - such as the "WetFeet Insider Guides," "The Vault" Guides, as well as "The Fast Track" by Naficy. But this book covers the corporate politics better than any of the guides I just mentioned. So if you're buying a few books to read up on how to succeed at Wall Street jobs, put this one on your list.

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful reading, October 24, 2009

By 

Breno Neri "Breno Neri" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Working the Street: What You Need to Know About Life on Wall Street (Hardcover)

It draws a good picture of the pros and cons of working on Wall Street, and it brings a few useful hints on building your career. I wish it had a chapter specific for quants.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insight and Advice, February 15, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Working the Street: What You Need to Know About Life on Wall Street (Hardcover)

The author does a great job of giving you the lay of the land of the heart of the financial world. It is easy to read and understand and presents a very practical and useful picture of a Wall Street career.