Investment Banking recruitment

I was having this discussion with my friend about this. To break into investment banking you need to prove you are determined, hard working and so on.. What if you have bad grades at A level ( due to mitigating circumstances) but you got extremely good accolades at school e.g "the best student in the year group", "determination is unmatched" "extremely hard working" and "destined for greatness" and so on... Also if you got accepted to do maths at a lower rung university and are told by tutors as having that "touch" and someone special would you stand any chance? Or would the grades still hold you back? Im new here by the way so hello everyone. if this is int he wrong place i aplogize.

8 Comments
 

Honestly buddy you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was worried about something so I asked on this good forum. Its not like their is some sort of rule regarding what can and can't be asked.

 
Best Response

Your in a tough position my man, personally, I'm still going to school so I wont be able to give you IB insider information, but in general, IB's do focus alot on grades, try to step up your game. If your attending a target school (i.e harvard, yale...etc.) your in a better shape. However, if your like me, attending a non-target school, you have to work even harder. If IB is the thing you know you want to do than I suggest 3 things that have been told to me over and over again by people I've met some of whom were in IB. In general,

1) Grades - you need to be getting all A's if you want to be competitive, theirs so much competition that its going to be hard to stick out.

2) Network -- arguably even more important than grades... if you have good connects and know people you'll be in a much better position for finding internships and FT jobs.

3) Hustle - hustle that ass... IB is a very competitive field... you need to get out and get going, get internships (If you cant get an IB internship, at least get any finance/banking related internship) and don't waste any time.

To answer your question, the "I'm very dedicated" approach wont work, you always need something to back it up...

Good luck bro and also to your friend... I'm going through the same struggle and you gotta work hard to make it. If you put in the work...results will come.

It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English -- up to fifty words used in correct context -- no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese.
 

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This to all my hatin' folks seeing me getting guac right now..

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