Investment Banking Interview Prep for Inexperienced Undergraduates
Hey, I am a rising Junior at Auburn University majoring in Finance and I wanted to know everyone's thoughts and opinions on IB. I am clearly not from a target school, but I am very interested in IB and would love to land a summer analyst position. So, I just wanted to see what everyone's advice is. Specifically, what are the best ways to prepare for an interview; what are the skills and knowledge that I need to have for the job; and what strategies work best for getting into IB from a non-target. I'd love to hear some feedback and if anyone would like to message me directly, please do so, I'd be happy to connect.
I'm also a rising junior at a nontarget and if you haven't started recruiting you're already very late to the game. A bunch of banks have already finished recruiting for next summer. And it's incredibly difficult to get a full time position without having had a summer analyst position. If you want to get an internship you need to start now. Look at places that are still accepting candidates, most of these banks (BBs, a few EBs like Evercore, and a few MMs like Jefferies) open their applications in July (July 1st). If you apply online without networking it'll be thrown in the trash, you need to network.
When you say "networking" in this context what do you mean? The guy has very little time so are you referring to contacting alumni at those firms or what? Thanks.
Do you already have an interview lined up? In which case just study the M&I 400. But the way your post is worded, it sounds like you don't have any upcoming interviews. If you're at a nontarget like me, applying online won't get you anywhere. You can have a 4.0 GPA, prior internships, extracurriculars, it doesn't matter. The only way to get your foot in the door (an interview) is to network with people. I'm assuming your nontarget doesn't have any on campus recruiting for IB. In this case you have to network with alumni at the banks you're interested in and have them refer you. VPs and above have the ability to place you in the recruiting process. Analysts and associates can recommend it but nothing is guaranteed.
I second the above. The learning curve for the technical questions can seem very daunting, but by far the biggest hurdle coming from a non target school is getting an interview in the first place. Without having networked, there is little to no chance of ever getting the chance to even prove your technical knowledge. That said, I would spend some time browsing school alumni, fraternity alumni, and any other connections you can find on LinkedIn, and deciding (a) if you can find a target audience of people to network with, and (b) whether you are willing to put in the time and effort to both network and cram to learn the technicals over these next couple of months.
If not, it definitely isn't too late to try to land an internship with a small, regional boutique firm somewhere in Alabama or whatever major city is close to your hometown, or even anywhere you can get a hold of someone at all. From there, you can try to recruit for full time positions at a more reputable firm. It is incredibly difficult to enter at a full time level, since banks aim to fill their full time class from analysts, but that is not to say that it's impossible.
I am non diversity and super non target. Applied 500+ internships, got to several interviews and got an offer. Only got interview bc of networking/cold calling/cold emailing/LinkedIn premium/etc. Coming from a non target, no one gave a shit about me so I had to basically make sure that recruiters had no excuse to ding me. My offer was not an IB offer but a more finance related offer that was something that I wanted to do/grinded to the top for.
IMO technicals are not hard. Read through the IB bible (Rosenbaum) , read WSJ, Economist, and Bloomberg. You are going to have to put in the hours to network and nail down all your technicals but it will pay off.
Use your non target status to make yourself stand out. At every interview I went to, I was the only kid from a non target and it made people remember me. The best advice I can give is to not give up. Keep hustling, keep grinding, and DO NOT LOSE HOPE. Never lose sight of what your goal is and how far you have come.
Just start applying as an LGBTQIAP+ (or however many letters there are in 2019) individual so you can receive special treatment. They won't be able to prove whether you are or aren't and no one will interrogate you on your sexuality. I would legitimately do this if I was currently in university today.
My wife is 3% Hispanic per whatever genealogy service she used, yet she got her new job after applying and interviewing as a Hispanic. Play their stupid leftist games if that is what it takes...
Do you have any thoughts on which LinkedIn premium will benefit a target school junior year kid? I've already hit the search limit and can't decide if career or business premium would work best.
I bought the standard one. Used it for 3 months. I found that using my network to connect me to more people was better than reaching out blind. Go for quality, not quantity.
First things first, know the timeline. Banks are filling these spots very early in the fall; a few of them even started filling them this summer (I know a couple rising juniors who got offers 2 weeks ago for next summer).
So you have, at most, 2 months to learn valuation cold and I think it also helps to get some exposure to basic modeling. Not because modeling is in the interviews but because it helps crystallize the valuation knowledge.
I recommend the Breaking into Wall Street products, I think they lay it out the best.
As for networking - I've always known SEC alums to be pretty dedicated about fighting for their people, so I wouldn't be shy about finding Auburn grads and hitting them up for a chat.
BIWS products are very helpful, however focus on getting the interviews and the techs down prior to getting too into the modeling. Like Ptero said above - the modeling will help you with the valuation knowledge but I think this should be the final step in your process.
Yep totally agree. I should've said, just get into the basics of modeling as the icing on the cake, once you're pretty good with your technicals.
Thank you
Thank you. I have looked into those, but didn't want to pay for the courses; however, I have been utilizing other resources that have been very helpful.
Network. Network. Network. This is the most important part of the entire process. Even if you memorize every technical question perfectly, it means nothing if you don't have an interview. Definitely still have a chance if you play your cards right, its possible if you are willing to work for it. On a side note, many regional banks recruit into September and October if you need more time to network/prepare for interviews.
what is a regional bank
As the name implies, regional investment banks typically focus on a certain area or region. Deals for regional investment banks can be comparable in size to BB's but often they will be less than $1 billion. Typical deal size will be higher than most boutiques and range between $100 million to $1 billion.
Large Regional Investment Banks: https://www.wallstreetprep.com/knowledge/regional-investment-banks-list/
Small Regional Investment Banks: https://www.axial.net/forum/companies/regional-banks-investment-banks/
My goal is likely to aggressively pursue MM or Boutiques because BB is not reasonable for my current situation. For networking though, I have found it difficult to reach people at firms that are willing to talk. Any advice for that?
Hmmm, might defer that question to some of the more senior WSO users. My best guess would be to use alumni connections and career center resources to the best of your ability. After that, your response rate will be a lot lower unfortunately.
One suggestion I would make is to try to find common ground. For example, maybe you are both from the same small town, high school, etc. Maybe you share a similar hobby or are passionate about the same sports team. For instance, Patrick Curtis (site founder) recommends this approach when reaching out to new people on LinkedIn:
"Hi Mr. Smith, I am currently in my sophomore year at [Oasis University] majoring in [Oasis Sciences]. I'm sending you a message because I am interested in pursuing a career in [investment banking/management consulting/trading/private equity] and saw that [you are originally from Boston like myself / you were also involved in XYZ business fraternity like myself, you were insert anything reasonable in common here like myself]. It would be great to connect so we might be able to speak in the future as I learn more about [investment banking/management consulting/trading/private equity]."
Hope this helped.
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