Student looking for a path into Investment Banking

Hi All,

Long-time lurker, first-time poster here. Thanks for taking the time to read this, I will try to be as brief as possible in order to not waste your time. All input is much appreciated.

For a long time I have been interested in investment banking as a career path and I am posting this in the hope that you guys will be able to advise me on things I can be doing now that will be able to offer advice on what I can do to become a better potential candidate for banks in the future.

A little bit about myself:

  • 17 years of age, I am in my penultimate year of school.
  • Studying Maths, Further Maths & Economics at A-Level. Hoping to achieve 3 A*’s
  • Going to study Economics at university (Or economics and management if I get accepted into Oxford.)
  • I try to read the WSJ cover to cover every day
  • Keen reader, love to read around finance.
  • Currently, I work as a web developer and consultant, I contract my services out to large multinational PLC’s. I currently am working with a recruitment firm to develop a bespoke web system.
  • Was involved in politics for a period of time, running local campaigns during the 2015 general election. Unpaid.

I would be immensely grateful for any general tips for getting into investment banking.

I have made a list of questions below, if you feel you could answer any questions, please do!

  1. What things can I be doing now to help strengthen my CV?
  2. What books might you recommend to me?
  3. To what extent do mentors exist in the industry? How can I find one? When should I look for one?
  4. Realistically, how hard is it to get an offer at a BB?
  5. Is there any point at networking at my age? I was interested in attending a WSO event, would I be told to go away?
  6. Would it be cheeky to give out my LinkedIn?

Thank you for taking the time to read this thread.

 

Hehee, I can show you the pile of printouts on my floor.

Every morning I wake up at 6, iron a shirt for the day, make a coffee, download the pdf and print it off, read it and I'm out the door for 08:00.

I genuinely enjoy reading it, although I admittedly skip life & arts section usually. Although you are probably right in pointing out it's not impressive or too believable.

 

Fantastic, should I start looking to reach out to people? How receptive do people in finance tend to be to this sort of thing? I know my step mum is friends with an ex MD at Goldman. Might that help?

 

Don't reach out now, you're still in high school. Just focus on getting as high marks as you can and learn about finance on your own time. Your priority right now should be getting into the best university possible. Then focus on learning finance and making connections

 

Heya! Well I am also going to major in Economics and Finance and have an offer from a strong semi target ( think Bristol/Notts, i couldnt get into target uni to do economics as i am from non traditional background). Well i research a lot about investment banking and try to go through WSJ cover by cover and also spend my time reading bloomberg. Well i would suggest you to start reading the intelligent investor by Benjamin Graham and also i found securities analysis a good one. I also loved More Money Than God which is kind of a history about hedge funds and all that good stuff and also I am planning to read liar's poker which kind of seems a good one.

LinkedIn was super flop for me. It maybe because i tried it out in India but i could get 2 to 3 response but the responses didnt went far. So i would suggest not to try it out right now. PM me, and we could discuss about it

 

Quia laborum eum et et. Dignissimos consequatur ab eos incidunt et expedita aut.

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