Global Advisory Women's Horizon Insight Programme Review

There were altogether four days, consisting of a range of talks on the internal structure of Rothschild, presentations from different teams (e.g. Equity Advisory/ Debt Advisory & Restructuring/ Wealth Management etc), a presentation to walk through a deal that Rothschild has done, Q&A networking sessions with investment banking analysts, technical knowledge training sessions as well as a group project on an M&A deal. Moreover, we were also paired up with an analyst buddy for the duration of the programme to answer any questions.

Absolutely! As I come from a non-finance background, I managed to significantly improve my technical valuation skills while working alongside a finance student to complete the valuation/deal structuring section of the group project. Moreover, the experience of having to attend various sessions while juggling the group project further hones my time management and multitasking skills.

My prior understanding of investment banking was solely about M&As, but during this programme, I have learnt a lot about what other IB teams (such as debt advisory/equity advisory/restructuring) are doing, which is eye-opening. Moreover, having the opportunity to talk to the analysts gave me a direct insight into what the career life entails and debunked some of the myths that I had previously believed in about investment banking.

I am truly impressed by the company culture and general atmosphere - definitely not the cut-throat type that I have previously expected of investment banking. People that I met on the programme, whether they were fellow attendees or employees of Rothschild, were friendly, approachable and genuine. As I have heard about the news going on with the crazy working hours at some of the investment banks at the moment, I specifically asked one of the analysts about her usual working hours and it was reassuring to know that she often managed to get sufficient sleep.

I absolutely enjoyed it! I learnt a lot about Rothschild, the technical aspect of investment banking and what the different IB teams do, which is enlightening for my career choice.

Yes

The application process is quite standard - CV and covering letter through the online application portal, an online numerical test and an Assessment Centre which consisted of 4 - 5 back-to-back group interviews. Yet, rest assured - the format of the group interviews was quite unique in the sense that it was intended to be non-adversarial amongst interivewees in the same group. The fellow interviewees I met in my group were all very friendly, and I enjoyed talking to them during the break and we added each other on Linkedln.