Diversity Recruiting: Your Secret Weapon for Breaking Into Investment Banking?

“Can you tell me exactly what I have to do to get into finance?

There must be a combination of grades, certifications, internships, and activities that will guarantee me a spot at Goldman Sachs, right?

Give me the magic bullet solution for breaking in!”

Ah, another day, another email.

And if you don’t believe that questions like this come in all the time, just take a look at some of the articles here that have hundreds of comments asking for similar answers.

Sometimes I’m tempted to say, “Yes, just pass all 4 levels of the CFA and you are guaranteed to become an investment banker,” but I can’t always bring myself to have that much fun.

The truth is that there isn’t a magic bullet for getting into the industry.

Or is there?

Diversity recruiting may just be the best, most “secretive” way to get into the industry that you’ve been ignoring up until now.

So read on to learn how you can use it, what to do if you’re not “diverse,” and just how effective it was for a reader who won a bulge bracket internship offer and who’s sharing her story here.

The Complete Guide to Cold Calling Your Way Into Investment Banking

Internship recruiting is over.

And you made a valiant effort, securing 10 interviews with everyone from boutiques to bulge bracket banks – but you didn’t land the offer.

And now you only have a few months before your non-existent summer internship begins.

With recruiting finished, your last, best chance of breaking in is to cold call your way into Wall Street.

But will that even work?

Should you bother going all-out and calling hundreds of firms?

And if you do take the leap, how do you cold call your way in successfully without getting slapped with a restraining order for being too aggressive?

How to Answer the “Greatest Weakness” Question in Interviews Without Getting Dinged

“Katie Couric: What one personal flaw do you think might hinder your ability to be president?

Barack Obama: I don’t think there’s… a flaw that would hinder my ability to function as president. I think that all of us have things we need to improve. You know, I said during the primary that my management of paper can sometimes be a problem.”

-Pre-Election Interview Between Barack Obama and Katie Couric

Ah, the “greatest weakness” interview question.

If even Barack Obama – one of the world’s greatest masters of spin – can’t even come up with a good answer to this one, what hope do you have?

It’s one of the most difficult and controversial questions in interviews, but if you follow the guidelines here you’ll at least be able to give a better response than Obama – and you’ll land an offer or 2 in the process.