What are some potential pathways into IB as a 1st year Finance analyst Graduate in London (also studying CIMA)?

IB has been a keen interest of mine for sometime now, but I've struggled to find a route in. I went to a non-target and haven't secured any form of internship in the industry, so thought it’s best I ask the most believable people when it comes to this (you guys). Would generally appreciate any thoughts, ideas or even web-links that would help widen my understanding of what some common or potential ways in are.

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Your best route in now would be to apply for a masters at a top institution such as the LSE for an MSc in Finance or LBS / Oxford etc. If you rack up a few extra years of work you could do an MBA. Have seen many people in IB at the associate level who have joined from an MBA e.g from LBS. Failing that, other options would be to go into accounting at Big 4 and get your ACA. Work in the M&A team there for a while and then try and recruit for IB roles. Besides that, I think recruiting straight from your current position will be virtually impossible. Good luck.  

 

Those are hard to secure also, typically given to European Master’s students or Graduates from Targets so again you’re at a disadvantage. Try to get some experiences and do a Master’s honestly is your best bet.

 

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