In this week’s edition of Mergers & Inquisitions Reader Q&A, the investment banking summer internship theme continues to run strong. Offers have already been handed out at most bulge bracket banks, while middle-market and boutique banks will continue recruiting year-round.

I continue to receive many questions on breaking into banking from other industries, so I feature one recent question on that topic here as well.

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For those lucky enough to go to “target” schools (e.g. the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, and roughly the rest of the top 20 or so schools in the country), breaking into investment banking is easy.

Well, maybe not easy. But getting investment banking interviews is relatively easy.

You go to the career website, check a few boxes, upload your resume, and wait to hear back on which banks have selected you for interviews.

If you don’t go to one of these schools, though, or are trying to get into investment banking from a different industry, the process is not so simple.

If recruiters don’t reach out to you and solicit resumes, you have to be proactive; reach out to them, and find any way in you can.

You have to network.

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Happy 2008 everyone! If you’re looking for an investment banking summer internship, your New Year’s Resolution may be to find one this month. And if you’ve already accepted a full-time offer, you may be looking for tips on starting your job successfully and adjusting to the working life. Over the next month you’ll find answers to both those topics on this site.

After launching in late November just after Thanksgiving and explaining what exactly investment bankers do, Mergers & Inquisitions featured a variety of posts in the month of December.

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What is Investment Banking?: Ari Gold: What Bankers Actually Do, Why NOT Do Investment Banking

Investment Banking Lifestyle: A Day in the Life - Worst Day and Best Day, How to Stay Fit, Investment Banking Wardrobe for Men, Investment Banking Lingo Part 1 and Part 2, A Week in the Life (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday)

Breaking into Finance: How to Get an Investment Banking Job, Networking into Investment Banking, Recruiting in a Tough Market, Breaking in from Engineering, Breaking in from Law, Breaking in from the Back Office

Investment Banking Resumes: How to Write an Investment Banking Resume, How Investment Bankers Read Resumes

Investment Banking Interviews: Investment Banking Interview Guide, The Interview Selection Process, How to Close Your Interviews

Summer Internships: Summer Intern Success Guide, How to Dominate Your Summer Internship, Tips from a Former Summer Analyst, What You Do as a Summer Analyst, 10 Summer Internship "Don't's", How Summer Interns Get Full-Time Offers

Investment Banking Salaries: Investment Banking Salaries vs. McDonald's, Why Investment Bankers Make So Much Money, 2008 Analyst Bonuses

Private Equity / Buyside Jobs: Private Equity Resumes, Private Equity Interviews, The Myth of the Buyside Job, Headhunters: Friend or Foe?

Specific Groups: UBS LA, Boutiques, Restructuring, The Back Office

Quitting Finance: The Conference Room: How You Get Fired, The Farewell Email, A Day in the Life of a Former Investment Banker