Help. I need to Bankify myself

I'm a non-finance background entrepreneur heading off for an MBA. I do have some asset management/brokerage experience. I want to land an associate position at a BB M&A department. It's M&A or die.

I've already subscribed to DealMaker, Deal and WSJ, etc. What can I do for the next 15 months to bankify myself?

-Should I get certified in excel?
-Start building models in my free time? (not joking)

I'd like to be the associate with no i-banking background who actually "gets it" and can hit the ground running full steam. Where do you guys suggest I begin?

Really, really appreciate your advice!

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll be applying to the top finance schools: Wharton, NYU, Chicago, Columbia . . .

I've read Monkey Business and Accidental. I have a few contacts too and will continue to network.

I guess I'm trying to get feedback on WSO about acquiring technical SKILLS and KNOWLEDGE to aid me when I start. Books (Accidental) and magazines (DealMaker) only get one so far.I'll take the Series 7 soon, but that's not so relevant to M&A.

Any further comments would be appreciated! What can I do to be developing i-banking SKILLS?

THanks

 

No amount of modeling practice will prepare you for the job. Each model will be different, sometimes radically so, and you won't really learn until you work on the job. Want to be successful in banking? Much more important right now to network and kick ass in your MBA apps, because that will have much more of an impact than reading up on excel and building practice models.

 

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