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Don't allow yourself to sleep for more than 2 hours a night (ever). This is the best way to prepare yourself for the rigors of IB and will put you in a much better position than your peers. I have personally followed this advice, which has led to me accepting an offer from a top-tier BB (FT Partners - 140k base btw).

 
Funniest

Thanks for the input, very insightful.

Next time before posting a comment I'll run it by you to make sure it meets your standard of humor. 

 

Great question! First of all, you’re very early - don’t try to get all of this done your summer before freshman year.

I would suggest a job or internship related to finance to show your interest in the field. Don’t focus too much on this until your sophomore year when you can land an unpaid role at the thousands of private equity shops who love to have summer analysts (but do not hire from analysts undergrad). That seems to be a very common route for juniors to land an investment banking summer analyst position.

If you consider yourself a reserved person, take advantage of the social aspect of college, get comfortable talking to people and getting to know them. Banking is a service business and the most successful bankers I know are able to hold conversations with just about anyone.

Depending on your university, there will likely be a finance or investment club you can join. Reaching out to alumni to get a better understanding of the role and which teams you gel with will also be helpful.

Generally, preparing for interviews and understanding the process now will polish you for your interviews in the future.

There are tons of resources and great bits of wisdom on this website that you’ll be able to dig up as you are starting your journey. Most of us have been where you are at some point in our careers. Feel free to spend some time getting to know others opinions.

Most importantly, take this time to focus on what you actually want from a career as you mature and come to better understand what matters to you.

Best of luck!

 

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