Student wondering about industry options and entry

Hi all,

I'm a 1st year commerce student looking at my options into and throughout the CANADIAN industry. 

Firstly, what are certain things I can do during my undergraduate that will boost my hirability? Other than the typical internship during penultimate year, what factors should I be paying attention to? Example, what should my target GPA be? Will my Alma mater be considered? How important are extracurriculars? What other factors are critical for landing a job in the industry? 

Second, what are the different paths into and within the industry? Are direct entries common for those graduating in a non-target school with less than a 3.5 GPA? Not that this would be my case, but if somehow it were, would this make direct entry impossible? If it does, how can I enter? By working at a retail bank for a few years?.... In terms of career progression, what kind of variations are there? Of course I've heard of the classic IB to PE scenario, but would T&S transition to PE aswell? Would IB transition to asset management? Then, what would AM further transition to?Are there paths that lead to dead ends? It would be easier understand all of this if someone had some sort of diagram of all the pathways. 

Last, what are the typical entry level salaries of the different paths? How about mid to senior level position of different industries? How do the hours differ for each industry?

Hope this post wasn't too confusing....

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