Networking Into Investment Banking: It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint
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“Help! I’m a senior who just started my job search and I really, really want to work in investment banking. I have no finance experience and go to a non-target school. I also only got interested a few weeks ago. Can I work at Goldman Sachs?”
I’ve been getting a lot of emails similar to the above recently. While I hate to ruin your hopes of getting into the field, the reality is you are at a pretty big disadvantage if you get started late in the process.
I know this firsthand because I got started quite late myself.
But you’re at an even bigger disadvantage if you rush and try to compete with everyone else who has had previous finance experience, vying for spots at the top names.
The Usual Story
The usual story is simple: banks come to campus to hold recruiting events and you see all your friends running off to the presentations – so you go and do the same. And even if you hadn’t been interested in banking or finance before, suddenly you get interested and wonder how you can break in.
Sometimes this happens later in your career. I receive a lot of email from working professionals in other fields like accounting, marketing and engineering who suddenly realize they want to work in finance – or at least something faster-paced than what they currently do.
Or sometimes MBA students realize, after missing the all-important banking internship their first year, that they really do want to do finance after all.
The Usual Problems
Regardless of how you got here, your problems shared by everyone else in your position: others have had a head start in the field and you’ve been left (relatively) behind.
Even if you’re more interested and capable than the next guy, you won’t have the quality or quantity of contacts in the field that he will. And you won’t have that all-important “finance experience.”
Recruiters will also find it more difficult to believe that your interest is sincere if you only became interested in the last few months.
The Solution?
If you are starting late and need to get in, what can you do?
Well, you could make an all-out, last-minute effort to cold-call and cold-email every bank you can get a hold of and hope you get lucky.
And you could reach out to 50 alumni, friends and acquaintances each day in an effort to get in and take advantage of the fall recruiting season.
But none of that sounds particularly fun (not that recruiting is fun in the first place…).
So the less obvious but better solution is to not make breaking in a last-minute, all-out effort but rather a long-term goal that you work on each week, and make sure you do it consistently.
It’s better to consistently contact 10-15 people in the industry each week rather than 100 per week… and then get tired of it in week 2 and never start again.
Wait, Are You Sure?
This might seem counter-intuitive: if you have less time, shouldn’t you work harder?
It turns out that it’s actually counter-productive and you’ll get tired of trying to cold-call 50 firms per day on top of balancing real life, work, and classes.
And while most major banks recruit mainly in the fall, regional boutiques and other smaller firms – which you should be focusing on anyway – have more flexible hiring schedules, which means you could get lucky at any point in the year.
In short, regardless of whether you’re a freshman, a senior, an MBA or a mid-career professional who’s switching fields, breaking into banking is a marathon, not a sprint.
Constraints
There are a few constraints – if you’re in college, for example, you may need to line something up by graduation. But even if you start “late,” at the beginning of your final year, that still gives you almost an entire year to break in.
Even if you only reach out to 10 alumni or acquaintances in a week, that’s still over 500 in a year – which should be more than enough to get at least one interview.
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Tags: changing careers, investment banking, investment banking jobs, Networking, understanding investment banking
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i have a question… if the banks recruit during the fall is it not wise to study abroad during the fall semester of your senior year?
and if you do, how could you network and such. are the contacts you make and the interviews you go through take place during the fall also, or is it during the spring semester. i thought that resumes were always due by like janurary, and then the selection process begins, which is well into the spring semester.
i hope i made sense. thanks for the response.
Correct, bad idea to study abroad in the fall. If you are doing that I would try to network and such while you’re abroad via email and phone calls. For summer internships resumes are due in January, for formal fall recruiting usually they’re due around now.
Hey, quick question again on deadlines and hiring season for banks.. I was wondering if the resumes for both BBs and boutiques are due by January for the summer analyst/internship positions like u said…if thats the case what are my chances of landing an interview if I start applying now. Generally speaking, do all banks necessarily follow a specific hiring period, (example, only during season) or is it all year round for smaller firms…I know interns are normally hired for the summer and fall only but what about 1st year analysts. Thank u very much, Brian!
Most large banks follow a set hiring schedule e.g. internships in January, so your chances are not good if you start right now. If you’re starting late you should focus on local / smaller firms instead.
Can you please define the all important “finance experience”? Does that include more or less anything in financial services? Because I feel like if that’s the case, most students getting an undergrad business degree have “finance experience”. Or does it mean something more like actual banking?
Thanks and cheers.
Yes, finance experience = work experience in the field. Business degrees do not count.
haha im sorry, i meant fall semester of my junior semester. and if i wanted to be recruited to do a summer analyst stint that summer between junior and senior year. sorry for the mix up.
Summer analyst recruiting is in the winter so studying abroad during the fall should be fine. Just make sure you apply on-time…
I am just looking for some advice.
I really like investment banking and I genuinely love the job but I am in a bit of a dilemma. I enjoy the job BUT the hours and the lifestyle is my problem. I dont mind working the long hours on weekdays but on the weekends I really would like a day or two to just chill out with my friends. So my question is.. Should I be deterred into entering inv. banking just because I cant have much of a social life?
And 1 more question.
How often do you travel as a banker? E.g. Once a month or twice a month
And how many days do you stay there for each trip?
Yes, you should not go into this field if you want a social life on the weekends. You never really have a life until you get much older.
Travel: I barely traveled at all, but most of the companies I worked with were local… otherwise I’d say maybe once a month as an Analyst. Usually each trip is 1-2 days, so nothing like consulting.
BTW, I hate business travel, which is why I avoided it so much. Sounds cool at first but you get tired of it really quickly.
During an interview, if asked the question: “Why do you want to work at (insert firm name)?”
What is an appropriate response to that? Unless I was interviewing at GS or JPM, I can’t really think of a great reason why I’d pick one particular BB over another? This question also applies to boutiques and middle market banks as well.
Focus on the people you’ve met there and say that you like the team / those you’ve met more vs. what you’ve seen at other banks. If the particular group you’re interviewing with is strong in one area you can give that as a reason as well.
Thank you.
I changed my mind… I love the job so much that I decided maybe 1 weekend a month? Is that possible or is it still to much to ask?
Thanks again
It doesn’t work like that. There are no “set hours” or “set days” because everything is completely unpredictable.
There are months where you might get 1 weekend free, and months where you’ll be working every single day.
You have to get used to the unpredictability more than anything else.
I attend a non-target school for certain banks and I am particularly interested in a bank that is coming to a school twenty minutes from me. Would it be okay for me to go to the information session and drop my resume? How do you approach networking not at your school….I also contacted an analyst at the firm i am interested in, spoke to him about recruitment and he forwarded my resume to the HR recruiter. But i’m not sure how banks review resumes from non-target schools, do you think i have a good chance getting an interview? I’ve held a banking internship before, and held another one working in the wealth management division at a bulge bracket firm…but I’m a International relations major and an econ minor…what do you think my chances are?
and when asked the question “why this bank”…for my summer internship interview last spring (I got the job) I talked about some of the deals they’d been apart of, an acquisition the bank had actually made, how they’d expanded in such a short period of time and were “growing” instead of “shrinking” in a tough market. I thought that was a pretty good answer, but I’m curious to see what other people think. I did mention, the culture, people, and ‘flat structure’ but I thought to separate myself I should speak specifically about the banks activity…
Oh and I’ve emailed a number of alumni and I am waiting to hear back from one in particular but have not quite yet. How can I send a follow-up e-mail without sounding pushy?
Yes I would go to nearby target schools for resume drops, no harm in doing that. It’s very random what will happen but it’s worth a shot either way… nothing to lose esp. if you’ve had finance experience.
That answer for “why us” is fine but I would mention specific people too.
Follow-up email: just say, “I contacted you a few weeks ago, just wanted to follow-up and see if…”
I am currently a senior going to school in Minneapolis, MN graduating this fall trying to break into I banking. My school is having a couple I-Banks come in next week for some information sessions. Can anyone give me some suggestions on intelligent questions to ask them?
Focus the questions on the banker, his own career path and background and adapt as necessary.
I’m not sure how long ago this article was published but I just recently stumbled across this website and the information here is great! I am a first year Finance major at OSU, and I am curious as to what I should do for these next few years if I am interested in the investment banking industry. I will technically not even be in Fisher SOB yet, and every internship and business event that I see is available only to upperclassmen.
What can I do now to successfully prepare for investment banking? Also, is a Finance degree from Ohio State even enough to get me a summer internship or job eventually in IB or will I have to move to a much bigger city and start in a smaller field? Thanks for your help.
You’ll have to do a ton of networking if you’re in that position. I would suggest going for small/unofficial internships early on in your first few years and then trying to move to bigger places near the end.
Since OSU is a non-target school, you really need to focus on networking above all else – cold-call, reach out to alumni/friends/acquaintances/anyone else you can think of, and stay laser-focused on that.
Accounting/finance knowledge is good to have but a great network is the most important factor to your success.
Instead of emailing to network, would you ever recommend sending a physical letter to cold-contact a banker saying you want to learn more about the industry, then following up with a call? Someone told me that differentiates you. If not, is a letter ok if email is unavailable? Or cold call instead?
How can an unemployed recent graduate avoid looking desperate? I’m afraid they’ll wonder why I just want to “learn about the industry.” Depending on that, should a recent graduate include/attach their resume when networking to “give a better idea of my background”? I’m very non-target but had a great PE internship if that matters.
Thanks sooo very much from a desperate recent graduate.
I would not send a physical letter, because it takes too long and they may toss it out as junk mail. I always recommend calling rather than emailing.
If you had a PE internship, I would be more direct and say that you’re looking for opportunities and wanted to see what they had available – in your subject, mention your PE internship.
I am currently working in risk management for Bank of America and I would like to transition to investment banking after obtaining an MBA. I am looking into the Duke Cross Continent MBA so that I may continue working while going to school. The program consists of studying in England, India, United Arab Emirates, Russia, and China.
How will investment bankers look at an MBA from this program?
I’m not familiar with that program offhand, but I imagine that kind of experience would look pretty good. Name still matters a lot, but that certainly sounds better than the standard MBA program.
Thanks, very helpful article.
Love the blog.
A.