Advice for a High School Senior trying to break into high finance?
*my dad is not an md btw (unfortunately)
For some context I’m a senior from the NY Metro who happens to want to get into the investment banking realm.
Most likely getting into a semi, but still possible I don’t get in at all, targets are near zero chance but possible.
I also have a bunch of IB related connections on linkedin because I decided to network at 17 because it’s so competitive.
I have no clue what a DCF is, just know basic finance, barely any technicals. I do know more about finance than about 98.5% of high school seniors though.
I know I shouldn’t be worrying about this at my age but it’s whatever, if I don’t work now it’s going to get exponentially harder to break into the field.
Appreciate any advice, criticism, and hell even a joke or two.
Ty
I was equally in a hurry when I was your age. But, ill start with the very obvious thing: Your young, don't worry about it yet and have fun in college and develop the type of outgoing personality colleagues would want to be around at 12 p.m. while doing v37 of a pitch book. Anyhow, with that out of the way:
Most everything you learn in college is next to useless. If I where you I'd start reading as many books and textbooks by practitioners as you can. That said, don't mess up your GPA.
Id hold off on messaging those LinkedIn connects for a bit. There's a protocol for reaching out to them and if you don't follow it you may end up burning a contact. Happened to me my freshman year.
Summer internships are huge. Make sure you do them.
If you're going to a large school, find out which professor(s) study/worked in the fields you find interesting. You may be able to ask one if you can assist them or a grad student with one of their projects. Be warned tho, while it's a good resume booster, the type of work that they'll feel comfortable with you doing will likely be boring and repetitive.
Finally, join a club or group that engages in a fun/interesting NON-banking extraxurricular activity so you can add it to your resume. I've seen plenty of resumes turned away bc a kid seemed like an unrelatable robot
If you do the above you should be on solid footing.
Thanks for the great advice and I appreciate the feedback
Lots of pressure to break into the field because of the fact that it’s extremely selective, idk, maybe I just don’t feel like I would be able to get in even if I tried hard enough, but I still have a while to go and learn as I do.
In sit eum sit nam ducimus. Quibusdam minus modi aut ex accusamus eius. Qui ea fugit nobis vel consequatur officia.
Doloribus quia perferendis omnis totam ut et. Omnis labore rerum rerum et nostrum debitis pariatur. Qui repellat exercitationem deleniti atque fugit.
Debitis corrupti quam consequatur voluptatem commodi dicta. Ipsam aut eligendi eaque expedita. Ut et voluptas eveniet aut doloremque. Aut quaerat harum excepturi totam rem. Sunt et dolores aut ut.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...