The Jack Bauer Guide to Investment Banking Success: 11 Reasons Why Watching 24 is Better Preparation Than Financial Modeling Classes

I get a lot of questions on how you can better “prepare” for investment banking once you land an offer, and how you can give yourself an edge once you start.

In the past I’ve suggested going to Thailand and sitting on the beach, but I now have a more formal recommendation:

Go back and re-watch all the old seasons of 24 (You can skip Season 6 – it was bad) and take notes on everything Jack Bauer does.

He could give you quite a few tips about investment banking.

(Warning: Spoilers for all seasons of 24 follow. The following may resemble an Entertainment Weekly article…)

1. Pull All-Nighters Whenever Required (But More Than Once Every 3-4 Years)

What Do Investment Bankers Do?

I’ve seen many explanations of what investment bankers actually do, but they’ve all been either bad or boring.

I can sum up what we do in 2 words and 1 picture:

Ari Gold.