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Abstract

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    </div><p id="4ee5">You can also ensure that you don’t embarrass yourself by not being prepared for their quantitative interviews.</p><p id="ee51">They’ll ask you a bunch of math-related and quick, quantitative thinking questions that you’ll need to be comfortable answering.</p><p id="ab5d">Don’t worry, there’s a plethora of resources out there to help you prepare for these interviews, worry about the more urgent things first.</p><h1 id="34f2">Work Experience</h1><p id="51ec">A candidate’s ability and aptitude in applying the theoretical knowledge they’ve learnt in class to real-world situations is demonstrated by practical experience in the finance industry.</p><p id="4a69">You can gain this by taking up part-time positions in finance-related jobs, (which is admittedly quite rare and only usually happens through a personal connection/network), or getting internships under your belt.</p><p id="9679">You want to make sure that by the time you graduate, you’ve done at least one solid summer internship at an investment bank and ideally some other work experience programs as well, such as a corporate finance internship at a big four accounting firm like PwC.</p><figure id="cc9a"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*yVsXjtTcOgwvCZQ7"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p id="988d">Having relevant work experience is going to signal to investment banking recruiters that you’ve learned the ropes, and that you are at least somewhat familiar with the workflows inside of an investment bank.</p><p id="b309">Always do your own research and learn about all the different opportunities to gain work experience offered by your school, and don’t be afraid to take action by going out and reaching out to potential network leads or recruiters!</p><p id="3eb8"><i>Learn more:</i></p><div id="8427" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://readmedium.com/heres-how-you-can-best-leverage-school-career-fairs-to-open-up-opportunities-as-a-student-b361ad514f6f">
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            <h2>Here’s How You Can Best Leverage School Career Fairs to Open Up Opportunities as a Student!</h2>
            <div><h3>Here’s your unfair advantage over other student candidates!</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*OSYGkO66hcUB4qaI)"></div>
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    </div><div id="712b" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://readmedium.com/11-important-reasons-why-you-should-consider-doing-a-summer-internship-as-a-student-dcbcbbba7236">
        <div>
          <div>
            <h2>11 Important Reasons Why You Should Consider Doing a Summer Internship as a Student</h2>
            <div><h3>What’s all the hype for these summer internships about?</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
          </div>
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            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*4fdsHR9dVBokIfAf)"></div>
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    </div><h1 id="d8f7">Communication and Interpersonal Skills</h1><p id="f9e0">Building and maintaining client relationships is one of the most important roles of an investment banker.</p><p id="b4c4">Without clients, these multi-million or billion dollar firms would have no work, and there would be no investment banking industry.</p><p id="e60d">Therefore, investment banking recruiters need to be sure that you’ve got the necessary communication and interpersonal skills you need to be able to succeed in this industry.</p><p id="8303">Plus, as with pretty much any other career field, you need to be able to work collaboratively in a team and and communicate your thoughts and ideas effectively to others.</p><figure id="fb51"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*PSDrwdiEKj4_jdt7"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p id="8f42">Without teamwork, it’s impossible for investment banking teams to get their work done, increasing the need for investment banking recruiters to handpick the right candidates who have shown strong communication skills.</p><p id="e4ec">I would highly recommend that you take the time to go out and join social groups/events such as student societies and clubs at your school, as this is going to expose you to more social settings and naturally help you become a better communicator.</p><p id="4829">There are also other ways that you can work on and improve your own communication skills as a student, and I’d recommend that you check out this article to learn more about it:</p><div id="e63d" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://readmedium.com/i-figured-out-a-way-to-help-students-quickly-develop-their-communication-skills-and-charisma-5f561cca9212">
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            <h2>I Figured Out a Way to Help Students Quickly Develop Their Communication Skills and Charisma</h2>
            <div><h3>Charisma is defined as the “compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.”</h3></div>

Options

<div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*n2Bp2V3Buw2WBYQE)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="8599">Leadership Experience and Capabilities</h1><p id="4849">The ability to take initiative, lead projects, and demonstrate a strong work ethic is a good indication to employers that you’ve got what it takes to keep up with the dynamic nature of investment banking.</p><p id="60c3">Having leadership experience, or anything that proves one has leadership capabilities sets candidates apart in the eyes of the investment banking recruiters.</p><p id="7714">These qualities can be demonstrated through participation in extracurricular activities, leadership roles, or entrepreneurial ventures that you start on your own (such as starting an online business of some sort).</p><p id="43de">Again, I’d highly recommend that you get out of your comfort zone and go out to try new things, which is going to certainly help you develop your leadership skills naturally and strengthen your case for an interview at the investment bank.</p><h1 id="31ba">A Genuine Passion for Finance</h1><p id="ccaa">Investment banking recruiters know exactly what these candidates are applying for, and they will know that not everybody is cut out to survive and be able to keep up with the fast paced environment of an investment bank.</p><p id="5fa2">Lots of people burn out and quit just a few months or a year into their investment banking careers, as the hard work and grinding simply isn’t worth it to them.</p><p id="bc54">However, having a strong, genuine passion for finance is going to help persuade and convince investment banking recruiters that you’re going to stick it through, and won’t be thinking of quitting just because times get hard, as you’re going to be doing something that genuinely excites you and that you’re passionate about.</p><p id="0139">There are a few different ways you can show this.</p><p id="1623">Candidates who stay informed about market trends, economic activity, and industry news (such as current M&A deals or IPOs) demonstrate a proactive interest in finance, and send a strong signal to recruiters that you’re who they’ve been searching for.</p><figure id="3324"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*GhWg1g8S97uCQgPU"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p id="6f72">On top of this, candidates who have started some sort of business venture that relates to finance (such as a blog about economics, finance, investing or investment banking) also look much more proactive and genuinely interested in finance.</p><p id="0563">So, it’s a good idea for you to out and start being interested in finance!</p><p id="ec52">Keep up with the news, make sure to stay updated about current deals, and find a way that you can properly set yourself apart from the other candidates by doing something they haven’t done.</p><h1 id="bf1e">Team Compatibility and Cultural Fit</h1><p id="a8fe">Now, it’s no secret that investment banking is notorious for having long working hours that are often twice to three times as much as the regular forty hour work week.</p><p id="797b">As a result of this, investment banking recruiters are going to have an especially strong focus on candidates’ team compatibility, and how well they can see you fitting into their team(s).</p><p id="0220">The question is: <i>is this person someone I can see myself enjoying working with?</i></p><p id="1eef">Remember, you’re probably going to see these people a lot more than you’ll see your own friends and family.</p><p id="db7e">Likewise, they’re going to be seeing you just as much.</p><p id="4601">If you’re not a fun, enjoyable person to be around, or you don’t fit into the culture and don’t seem like you’d make the workplace environment a better place to be for 70 or more hours a week, you’ll be hurting your chances of getting an interview and job offer.</p><p id="de2a">To develop this, I’d recommend that you look up what investment banking cultures are like, and again, work on your communication and social skills so that you can be someone everyone enjoys being around.</p><p id="bfba">A candidate with a strong background, but poor social skills and a weak team compatibility is likely to be beaten by a candidate with a more mediocre background, but can make a good impression of their peers and have a good time at work.</p><h1 id="a3bb">Final Thoughts</h1><p id="57a0">All in all, it’s important for you to be a well-rounded individual if you want to break into a career in investment banking.</p><p id="342e">It’s by no means easy, but working on all of these aspects of yourself throughout your high school and college/university years is going to pay dividends of all sorts later on in life, especially when it comes to applying for jobs and advancing in your career.</p><p id="78ae">Take the tips I’ve given you throughout this article, continue to work hard and do your best, and I’m sure it’ll take you far!</p><p id="06cd">If you’d like to learn more about excelling as a student and breaking into a competitive industry like investment banking, check out the rest of the Medium publication, <a href="http://medium.com/grad-excel">Grad Excel!</a></p><p id="97bb">Other than that, wishing you all the best in your recruiting!</p></article></body>

Here Are the 7 Key Things Investment Banking Recruiters Are Looking for in Candidates

Wondering what the certain skills and areas you should be focusing on are as an investment banking candidate?

In a ever increasingly competitive world and global job market, you’re going to need to find ways to stand out above the rest of the candidates applying for the same jobs as you.

Especially if you’re wanting to get into a hypercompetitive field like investment banking.

However, in order for you to be able to do this, you need to first know exactly what investment banking recruiters are actually searching for in their candidates.

That’s what I’m here to help you explore in today’s article.

Just quickly, these 7 things are:

A strong academic background
Analytical and quantitative skills
Relevant work experience
Communication and interpersonal skills
Leadership experience and capabilities
A genuine passion for finance
Team compatibility and cultural fit

For each point, I’ll give you a detailed explanation, as well as some pointers to help you develop yourself efficiently in these key areas, to make yourself the strongest, most promising investment banking candidate you can be.

A Strong Academic Background

Realistically, no matter what the rising internet gurus try to tell you, your academic background and record is the best indicator of your intelligence that your prospective employers, and investment banking recruiters have.

They don’t know anything about you, they’ve probably never seen you work before, and therefore they’ll have no choice but to look at your academic record to gauge your level of intelligence (which investment banking requires a lot of).

The quality and reputation of your school also matters, and students applying from ‘target schools’ such as some of the Ivy Leagues in the USA, or the Go8 universities in Australia, will have a higher likelihood of succeeding.

On top of this, having a strong academic record is going to send strong signals to your future employers that you’ve got it takes to survive and keep up with the fast paced demands of the industry.

In particularly, the rigorous demands of a first or second-year analyst.

In today’s job market, having a strong academic background is no longer all that’s required for you to land a top job.

In fact, there are lots of other factors that could be just as, if not more important than your academic record.

However, when it comes to internship and graduate program recruiting for investment banks, many recruiting teams have a soft cut-off threshold at a certain GPA (grade-point average).

For some top banks, it might be a 3.7 GPA or something equivalent in your country, while others might accept slightly lower.

Unfortunately, all resumes will be screened for their GPAs, and not meeting the academic record requirements can cost you the opportunity of even landing an interview, let alone an offer.

So what can you do to ensure that you have a strong enough academic record to even be considered for a job or internship in investment banking?

Well, there’s no other way to put it.

You’re going to need to:

Study hard in high school to get into a target school (look up the target schools in your country)
Continue to study hard in university or college to maintain a strong GPA throughout
Be tactical with your studies, for example by choosing to stick with a single degree in a single relevant major, if it means you won’t have to compromise on grades and academic performance

Analytical and Quantitative Skills

This next point goes hand in hand with the previous.

Of course, as investment banking is all about financial modeling and being able to utilize financial information to drive high-stakes investment decision making, investment banking recruiters are going to be on the lookout for candidates that can prove they have strong analytical and quantitative skills.

You’ll get the chance to display these skills on your resume, by showing employers that you’ve got a good academic record in a quantitative and technical area of study, such as engineering, economics or finance.

Read more:

Choosing the Right College Major Can Make or Break Your Career — Here’s How to Pick a Good One.

One of the most important decisions you’ll ever make for your career!

medium.com

You can also ensure that you don’t embarrass yourself by not being prepared for their quantitative interviews.

They’ll ask you a bunch of math-related and quick, quantitative thinking questions that you’ll need to be comfortable answering.

Don’t worry, there’s a plethora of resources out there to help you prepare for these interviews, worry about the more urgent things first.

Work Experience

A candidate’s ability and aptitude in applying the theoretical knowledge they’ve learnt in class to real-world situations is demonstrated by practical experience in the finance industry.

You can gain this by taking up part-time positions in finance-related jobs, (which is admittedly quite rare and only usually happens through a personal connection/network), or getting internships under your belt.

You want to make sure that by the time you graduate, you’ve done at least one solid summer internship at an investment bank and ideally some other work experience programs as well, such as a corporate finance internship at a big four accounting firm like PwC.

Having relevant work experience is going to signal to investment banking recruiters that you’ve learned the ropes, and that you are at least somewhat familiar with the workflows inside of an investment bank.

Always do your own research and learn about all the different opportunities to gain work experience offered by your school, and don’t be afraid to take action by going out and reaching out to potential network leads or recruiters!

Learn more:

Here’s How You Can Best Leverage School Career Fairs to Open Up Opportunities as a Student!

Here’s your unfair advantage over other student candidates!

medium.com

11 Important Reasons Why You Should Consider Doing a Summer Internship as a Student

What’s all the hype for these summer internships about?

medium.com

Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Building and maintaining client relationships is one of the most important roles of an investment banker.

Without clients, these multi-million or billion dollar firms would have no work, and there would be no investment banking industry.

Therefore, investment banking recruiters need to be sure that you’ve got the necessary communication and interpersonal skills you need to be able to succeed in this industry.

Plus, as with pretty much any other career field, you need to be able to work collaboratively in a team and and communicate your thoughts and ideas effectively to others.

Without teamwork, it’s impossible for investment banking teams to get their work done, increasing the need for investment banking recruiters to handpick the right candidates who have shown strong communication skills.

I would highly recommend that you take the time to go out and join social groups/events such as student societies and clubs at your school, as this is going to expose you to more social settings and naturally help you become a better communicator.

There are also other ways that you can work on and improve your own communication skills as a student, and I’d recommend that you check out this article to learn more about it:

I Figured Out a Way to Help Students Quickly Develop Their Communication Skills and Charisma

Charisma is defined as the “compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.”

medium.com

Leadership Experience and Capabilities

The ability to take initiative, lead projects, and demonstrate a strong work ethic is a good indication to employers that you’ve got what it takes to keep up with the dynamic nature of investment banking.

Having leadership experience, or anything that proves one has leadership capabilities sets candidates apart in the eyes of the investment banking recruiters.

These qualities can be demonstrated through participation in extracurricular activities, leadership roles, or entrepreneurial ventures that you start on your own (such as starting an online business of some sort).

Again, I’d highly recommend that you get out of your comfort zone and go out to try new things, which is going to certainly help you develop your leadership skills naturally and strengthen your case for an interview at the investment bank.

A Genuine Passion for Finance

Investment banking recruiters know exactly what these candidates are applying for, and they will know that not everybody is cut out to survive and be able to keep up with the fast paced environment of an investment bank.

Lots of people burn out and quit just a few months or a year into their investment banking careers, as the hard work and grinding simply isn’t worth it to them.

However, having a strong, genuine passion for finance is going to help persuade and convince investment banking recruiters that you’re going to stick it through, and won’t be thinking of quitting just because times get hard, as you’re going to be doing something that genuinely excites you and that you’re passionate about.

There are a few different ways you can show this.

Candidates who stay informed about market trends, economic activity, and industry news (such as current M&A deals or IPOs) demonstrate a proactive interest in finance, and send a strong signal to recruiters that you’re who they’ve been searching for.

On top of this, candidates who have started some sort of business venture that relates to finance (such as a blog about economics, finance, investing or investment banking) also look much more proactive and genuinely interested in finance.

So, it’s a good idea for you to out and start being interested in finance!

Keep up with the news, make sure to stay updated about current deals, and find a way that you can properly set yourself apart from the other candidates by doing something they haven’t done.

Team Compatibility and Cultural Fit

Now, it’s no secret that investment banking is notorious for having long working hours that are often twice to three times as much as the regular forty hour work week.

As a result of this, investment banking recruiters are going to have an especially strong focus on candidates’ team compatibility, and how well they can see you fitting into their team(s).

The question is: is this person someone I can see myself enjoying working with?

Remember, you’re probably going to see these people a lot more than you’ll see your own friends and family.

Likewise, they’re going to be seeing you just as much.

If you’re not a fun, enjoyable person to be around, or you don’t fit into the culture and don’t seem like you’d make the workplace environment a better place to be for 70 or more hours a week, you’ll be hurting your chances of getting an interview and job offer.

To develop this, I’d recommend that you look up what investment banking cultures are like, and again, work on your communication and social skills so that you can be someone everyone enjoys being around.

A candidate with a strong background, but poor social skills and a weak team compatibility is likely to be beaten by a candidate with a more mediocre background, but can make a good impression of their peers and have a good time at work.

Final Thoughts

All in all, it’s important for you to be a well-rounded individual if you want to break into a career in investment banking.

It’s by no means easy, but working on all of these aspects of yourself throughout your high school and college/university years is going to pay dividends of all sorts later on in life, especially when it comes to applying for jobs and advancing in your career.

Take the tips I’ve given you throughout this article, continue to work hard and do your best, and I’m sure it’ll take you far!

If you’d like to learn more about excelling as a student and breaking into a competitive industry like investment banking, check out the rest of the Medium publication, Grad Excel!

Other than that, wishing you all the best in your recruiting!