Hello,
I am a undergrad student going into my final year of studies in September in the UK. I have been cold emailing IB firms and I have a call with a boutique firm next week. I have no prior internship experience so I’m not sure what to say if I’m asked why I don’t have experience. The truth is I didn’t know I 100% wanted to be an investment banker until about 6 months ago but I don’t think that is a good response? Any help please.
thanks.
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Definitely better than saying that you've had the interest for a long time because then they will think you were too lazy to recruit for internships or failed to recruit for internships. Just be honest and hone your story.
- I spent my first years of university focusing on XYZ
- Mention how your interest in IB came to life. Maybe you became curious after speaking to friend XYZ and then joined student association XYZ where an alumni currently at bank XYZ gave an intro to IB which sparked your interest due to XYZ. Maybe a friend of yours started in IB and shared his / her experiences which made you interested. Maybe you met a guy at a wedding who works in IB and he shared his experiences. Maybe you read an interesting article, which led you to dig into the sector and set up calls with a few alumni who are now in IB to learn about their experiences. After hearing about XYZ you became very interested in pursuing a career in IB.
Just be honest. It is always very obvious when someone is trying too hard. Sure, every kid in the student investment club knew they wanted to join IB at the age of 4 but the reality is that most people in IB had no idea what it was until they started university.
Appreciate the response,
I’ll make note of this because I do have a friend who did an internship last year and introduced me to it and I actually did meet someone at a wedding who used to work in IB a few months ago lol. I’m thinking of writing an outline for responses just so I have a structure to answer questions on. Thanks
No worries.
Also make sure that when you explain why you want to work in IB, you show that you have understood what the work in IB actually means. I've seen too many people go into interviews saying they want to work in IB because they want to advise clients on the largest deals in the industry, senior exposure, financial modelling etc. Those responses just show a lack of knowledge as you won't be advising anyone until you have 10+ years of experience, you won't be allowed on important client meetings until you're VP+ and you most likely won't hold the pen on a model until you're an associate. With other words, you need to explain what attracts you with the analyst position and not what attracts you about the VP / MD positions which so many people do.
With these, and of course I don't know how other bankers handle these calls, but they can get repetitive. Do your research (anything you can learn about the banker and their bank / division), and ask relevant, specific questions.
It's fine to ask them for their story, but try to avoid generic questions like "How is the culture at XYZ?", or "How is dealflow right now?" Make yourself stand out a bit (in a good way!)
The reason I mention the first bit of my post is that this isn't an interview. I don't need to hear about your motivations or background - for me, these calls are an opportunity for you to learn about me / my team / my bank / the industry, so other than a quick intro, I wouldn't expect to get many questions asked by the banker.
Come enthusiastic. Care. Thank the banker for their time today. Take notes (honestly, it might be good to exaggerate this - e.g. ask them if it's ok if you take notes, or visibily show your pen).
Appreciate the reply, I’ll make sure to do my research on all these things and will come up with some more unique questions to ask them. I was also thinking that it would be more me asking them questions since like you said it’s not an interview. Any advice on how I could try and convert this into an interview opportunity? Thanks.
Hope you don't mind me asking , what uni are you at (non/semi/full target)
I’m at the university of Glasgow, non target but in the general scheme of unis it’s quite good, Russel group etc. it helps I study a stem subject I think just coz it’s quantitate. Also I’m cold emailing boutique banks for better chances.
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