Breaking into Sales & Trading?

There's a ton of advice out there on WSO about breaking into investment banking, in terms of majors, target GPA, classes, internships, etc.

What advice would you guys have for undergraduate students considering prospective careers in Sales & Trading though? What sorts of majors, classes, and GPA cutoffs do recruiters look for? What sorts of internships, backgrounds and characteristics do successful applicants have?

I don't know a whole lot about S&T, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

238 Comments
 
Best Response

S&T is big - do you want to be a sales guy or a trader, a quant or a cash trader/derivs trader/ algo trader, structurer, etc...? People are banging on about math and computer science. It depends what type of trader you want to be etc... I'd say math would be more useful than computer science, the programming can be learned later on the job.

I read Liar's Poker, after that I told myself I'll never do this job. Ended up doing it for 8+ years before changing career path. Read about it first - your question is like asking "I want a job, what do people like in someone to give them a job?"

Pretty fucking broad question. Sure trade on your own and have one or two stock ideas, we don't ask you to have your own portfolio and a three year track record either...

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (66) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”