You're going to love this! To save you time in applying for jobs, I've collated links that take you directly to the recruitment section of the top 50 investment banks' websites. I list the top 20 then the next 30, each group is in alphabetical order.
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​Barclays Capital is the investment banking arm of Barclays plc. Headquartered in London, they are a large full-service investment bank with offices in over 29 countries. In 2008, when Lehman collapsed they acquired many of Lehman's US assets thus increasing their presence in North America by a significant margin. 

​BNP Paribas is headquartered in Paris with a second global headquarters in London. You might not have heard of them but in 2010 they were actually ranked as the largest bank by assets according to Bloomberg and Forbes (with $3 trillion in assets).

In 2011, BNP remained the world's biggest bank by total assets as seen in this article by Global Finance. After acquiring a 75% stake in Fortis Bank in 2009, BNP became the largest bank in the eurozone by deposits held.

​Citigroup is one of the world's largest banks with some presence in over 140 countries. The current entity is a product of one of the world's largest mergers that combined Citicorp and Travelers group in 1998. They suffered massively during the 2007-2009 credit crunch but ultimately survived the whirl winds.

For each region where they operate, the Citi website has a descriptive page explaining the programs available in that region. 

​Headquartered in Paris, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) has some presence in 58 countries.

​Headquartered in Zurich (Switzerland), Credit Suisse has a presence in 50 countries.

I do try to remain neutral in these profile but I am positively impressed by the Credit Suisse careers section. It's very well structured, easy to navigate and filled with information.

Select the desired country before exploring the career opportunities.

​Headquartered in Frankfurt (Germany), Deutsche Bank has a presence in over 70 countries.

​According to Euromoney, Deutsche was the top FX dealer in 2009 for the fifth year in a row with a 21% market share. More recent surveys are available but require a subscription to access.

​Headquartered in New York City and initially founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs has a presence in every major financial center in the world. 

Use the links below to get to the recruitment section that you need. 

Having worked as an IBD Analyst at Goldman Sachs for two years myself, I can vouch for them as a great employer. Get your application in right away. In addition to the link below make sure you peruse the site thoroughly because they periodically also offer off-cycle and other 'non-standard' programs.

​Headquartered in London, HSBC has a presence in over 85 countries. HSBC's routes lie in Hong Kong and Shanghai but after its acquisition of UK's Midland Bank in 1991, HSBC has positioned itself as a British bank with a global presence. 

Its Asian roots uniquely positioned HSBC to participate in interesting emerging market transactions during the worst of the 2007-2009 credit crunch immediately diversifying their business away from faltering developed economies.  

With just under five years of experience in HSBC's Derivatives Structuring business I can definitely say that you will enjoy a varied and broad career at HSBC. 

Headquartered in Turin (Italy), Intesa Sanpaolo is the product of a merger between Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI in 2007.

They currently have a corporate and investment banking division in c.39 countries.

​Investment banking revenue forms only about 20% of the group's revenues at the moment. Intesa Sanpaolo is very much a European bank with over 90% of revenues coming from Europe and over three-quarters of that is still from Italian business.

​Headquartered in New York City, JP Morgan is the largest bank in the US by assets and market cap according to Forbes' 2011 list of the 2,000 largest publicly listed companies. HSBC was second on this list. 

The JP Morgan's careers site is filled with information so in addition to using the below link make sure you look around the site for more tips.

​Headquartered in Tokyo, Mizuho is the third largest bank in Japan after Mitsubishi UFG and Sumitomo Mitsui FG. Mizuho is the product of a 2001 merger of three other Japanese banks.

The English version of their careers website is still very basic. If you read Japanese, however, you're in luck, that section seems to be packed with information.

​Headquartered in New York City and initially founded in 1935, Morgan Stanley has a presence in 42 countries. 

​Headquartered in Toronto (Canada) RBC Capital is huge but is regionally concentrated; they operate across 15 countries in North America, Asia, Australia and Europe (including the UK).

​By market cap, RBC is the 10th largest major bank globally on the 2011 Forbes 2000 list. 

​Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland RBS is a commercial bank with a significant investment banking division.

In addition to a summer internship program, take note that RBS also offers winter and spring (Easter) programs in London and Europe.

​Headquartered in Paris, SocGen is one of Europe's oldest banks with origins dating back to 1864.  

​It is the second largest French bank after BNP Paribas. SocGen Corporate & Investment Banking is the investment banking arm of SocGen.

The SocGen careers site has generic role description pages. You will need to specify your region and role of interest in the application form. Get your magnifying glass out, however, the font size on the website is tiny!

​Headquartered in Zurich & Basel (Switzerland), UBS was founded in 1854 and has offices in over 50 countries.

​UBS is mostly recognised as an asset management powerhouse but also has a significant investment banking division.

​Headquartered in Rome & Milan (Italy), Unicredit can trace its roots all the way back to 1473. The current entity is a product of many historical mergers.

Unicredit has a significant capital markets division but a relatively smaller corporate finance unit. Investment banking activities are located in London, Milan, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Warsaw

​Headquartered in San Francisco (USA) and founded in 1852, Wells Fargo is the largest US bank by market cap.

The Wells Fargo careers site for the US is a lot more developed than their international site.

​Headquartered in Düsseldorf (Germany), West LB has some capital markets activity as well as a corporate finance division.

Currently the WestLB careers site is focused on Germany and highly generic so please excuse the paucity of links below.

​Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) is one of the "Big Four" banks in Australia along with Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac. 

​Founded in 1835, ANZ has its headquarters in Melbourne, Australia. Recruitment is generally focused on Australia and New Zealand.

​I love the rockstar theme of their recruitment pages though, according to ANZ, "When it comes to your career, who you choose for your first gig is everything." Love it.

​Banco Popolare was established in 2007 from the merger of two Italian banks: Banco Popolare di Verona e Novara and Banca Popolare Italiana.

You might find capital markets roles here. That said, unfortunately, the recruitment process is not explained in any detail, the recruitment site goes almost immediately to an application form.

Founded in 1912 and headquartered in Beijing, Bank of China is one of the "Big Four" banks in China.

It is also the oldest bank in China. BOC opened their first overseas branch in London in 1929 and their first New York branch in 1981. 

​They first went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2002. 

​Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Munchen (Germany), Bayern LB is one of the ten largest banks in Germany.

To apply to Bayern LB you need to be a fluent German speaker, according to their website. I guess that makes sense because they are trying to serve German speaking customers.

​There doesn't appear to be a corporate finance function at Bayern but you could get good capital markets exposure.

​Formed by a merger between Banco Bilbao Vizcaya and Argentaria in 1999, BBVA is headquartered in Bilbao (Spain).

​The bank can trace its roots all the way back to 1857. After a major expansion overseas BBVA now operates in over 30 countries.

​Formed from the acquisition of Nesbitt Thomas in 1987, BMO Capital Markets is headquartered in Toronto (Ontario, Canada).

BMO is very much an investment bank with both a fully fletched corporate finance department and a full capital markets offering.

Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Beijing, China Construction Bank is one of the "Big Four" banks in China.

CCB only recently started expanding abroad: they opened a London office in 2-Jun-09 and a New York office a few days later on 6-Jun-09. Investment banking functions were added a couple of years later.

​Bank of America bought a 9% stake in CCB in 2005 but in order to raise cash in 2011 they decided to sell a large portion of their shares.

​Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, CIBC was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto (Ontario, Canada). CIBC is a commercial bank and its investment banking arm is CIBC World Markets.

​CIBC World Markets has grown through a series of acquisitions that have included US-based Oppenheimer & Co. and the Canadian brokerage Woody, Gundy & Co.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Beijing, CICC is more investment banking focused than the Big Four (AgBank, BOC, CCB and ICBC).

​CICC was started as a JV between various parties including Morgan Stanley. They sold their stake to a group of private equity investors including GIC, KKR and TPG capital in 2010/11.

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Shenzhen in the Guangdong district of China, Citic Securities like (CICC) is more investment banking focused than the Big Four (AgBank, BOC, CCB and ICBC). Citic Securities listed on the Shanghai stock exchange in 2003.

​Founded in 1870, Commerzbank is the second largest bank in Germany after Deutsche. Their headquarters is in Frankfurt.

In 2009 they acquired Dresdner Bank which was another large German bank. They have a significant capital markets division, however, corporate finance activities were wound up.

​Commonwealth Bank is one of the "Big Four" banks in Australia along with ANZ, National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac. 

Originally established as a state-owned bank in 1911, Commonwealth Bank was publicly listed in 1991. They are headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

​Headquartered in Tokyo and founded in 1902, Daiwa is Japan's second largest brokerage house after Nomura. 

​Headquartered in Frankfurt and founded in the mid-1800s, DZ Bank is one of the five largest banks in Germany.

DZ Bank is a commercial bank with some investment banking activities. They serve a German-speaking client base so you're probably going to need to speak fluent German to work at DZ.

​Headquartered in Frankfurt and Erfurt (Germany), Helaba was formed from a merger between three separate German banks in 1953. Helaba's origins date back to 1940.

Helaba is a commercial bank with some investment banking activities. They serve a German-speaking client base so you're probably going to need to speak fluent German to work at Helaba.

Currently the careers website combines commercial and investment banking roles. 

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Beijing, ICBC is one of the "Big Four" banks in China. It is the 'youngest' of the Big Four but is the largest bank in the world by market cap; at the time the Forbes 2000 list was constructed its market cap was $239.5bn. HSBC came next with $186.5bn, closely followed by JP Morgan Chase with $182.2bn.

They don't have a dedicated investment banking careers site, it's combined with commercial banking.

​Headquartered in Amsterdam (Netherlands), ING was formed from a merger in 1991 but the bank can trace its roots all the way back to 1743.

ING has a large international presence with offices in over 40 countries.

​Headquartered in Stuttgart (Germany), Helaba was formed from a merger between three separate German banks in 1999 and a fourth bank BW-Bank in 2005. The bank can trace its roots all the way back to 1818.

LBBW is a commercial bank with some investment banking activities. They serve a German-speaking client base so you're going to need to speak fluent German to work at LBBW.

​Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International (MUSI) is the investment banking unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG).

MUSI was founded in 2005 through a merger and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. They operate a fully-fletched Debt and Equity Capital Markets Business. They do not currently have a corporate finance unit.

​NAB is one of the "Big Four" banks in Australia along with ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac. NAB was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

​They have operations across 10 countries primarily is Australasia but are also located in London. They have some retail banking in the US.

NAB have a thriving debt capital markets division.

​Founded in 2006, Natixis is headquartered in France. They operate a fully-fletched Debt and Equity Capital Markets Business. They do not currently have a corporate finance unit.

The application form suggests that you can look for opportunities in Paris, New York, Texas, Mexico, Peru and Sao Paulo.

​With foundations dating back to 1925, Nomura is headquartered in Japan. They are the leading securities firm in Japan.

They operate both a debt and equity capital markets business as well as a corporate finance unit.

​Founded in 1970, NORD/LB is headquartered in Hanover, Germany.

NORD/LB perform a variety of investment banking functions and are particularly prominent in bond origination.

They operate both a debt and equity capital markets business as well as a corporate finance unit.

​Founded in 1857, Santander is headquartered in Santander, Spain.

Santander is in the list of the top ten "Major Banks" by market cap on the Forbes 2000 list.

​Founded in 1832, Scotiabank is headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada). It is one of the top 3 banks in Canada by market cap.

​Founded in 1969, Standard Chartered is headquartered in London, UK.

​Standard Chartered is largely a commercial bank with an expanding investment banking unit. It has a presence in about 70 countries.

​Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) was founded in 2002 by the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).

​With foundations dating back to in 1855, TD Securities is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

They provide both corporate finance and capital markets activities.

​Westpac is one of the "Big Four" banks in Australia along with ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank (NAB). Westpac was established in 1982 but can trace its roots all the way back to 1817. They are headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Westpac's equity and debt capital markets division gets a fair amount of flow.

That's all 50!

​Save this page to your web browser favourites to ease the job-hunting burden. Need help deciding where to apply? See how can help you. 

How were the banks chosen? 

These are the Top 50 deal makers as described in Table 2.3 of To Become an Investment Banker. To make navigation easier, they list is divided into 'Top 20' and 'Next 30' then each list is ordered alphabetically. 'Analyst' programs are designed for recent graduates with no full-time work experience and 'Associate' or 'Ph.D.' programs are designed for those with two years or more of full-time work experience.

​by Girl Banker

Getting an internship is hard, getting one when you don't fit into the standard criteria is even harder. I recently held a talk at Birmingham Business School on strategies for finding a job or internship when the standard programmes won't accept you. I thought I would share a few of the points here with you.

1. Networking

Networking is very important but it becomes critical when you can't get an internship. Recruiters host most of their events at universities so look for events at your university as well as other nearby institutions. Do some serious reading on how to network effectively.

How to Network Yourself into an Investment Bank (part 1)

2. Leverage your friends

This doesn't necessarily fall under networking because when you "network" you try to forge new connections, however, have you looked at your friend lists (and friends of friends) closely? If you haven't been in touch with certain friends for a while look them up on LinkedIn to see what experiences they have recently had that you may not necessarily know about. 

If your friends haven't started working then speak to them about contacts that they may have through family as well as via their own networking efforts.

Don't feel embarrassed to ask for help! Even if you are shooting for banks that you believe won't give you a second look chat to friends about your plans. They may surprise you with the feedback that they give you.

3. Focus on Them Not You

Be guided by the principle that people love themselves. If you haven't already read, How To Make Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie who explains this concept eloquently. If you can make a potential employer look good, they will love you immediately. If you can solve a problem that they have they will want you to come in.

4. Keep In Touch With Your Careers Office

Your careers office is there to help you even after you graduate; connect with them. 

• Check-in regularly for new information. 
• Sign up to all their relevant mailing lists
• Speak to them about your issues

5. Speak To Headhunters

If you have previous RELEVANT experience, they can help. If you don’t, this avenue is not open to you. Here are some headhunters you can start off with: 
GirlBanker.com/Headhunters

6. Look At Associate-level Internships

The requirements to get onto internships for Associates can be more flexible than analyst-level programmes, however, you need to have relevant work experience.

7. Look For Off-cycle Internships

These are harder to find but they will be more accessible to people that don’t fit into standard internships. E.g. the Goldman's returnship. Go to banks’ websites to find them.

8. Go For Smaller Firms

Look at boutiques and small firms, e.g. firms listed number 11 and lower in my book: 
Pages 42-44 in To Become An Investment Banker, Tables 2.2, 2.3, 2.4.

9. Chase Bankers That Are Similar To You

Fact: People like people that are like themselves so seek out:

• Alumni from your school
• Alumni from your university
• People from your country
• People of your race (!)
• People with similar (unique) hobbies
• People that have undertaken challenges that you have, e.g. Ironman Triathlon

10. Don't Forget The Other Stuff

• Grades matter;
• Presentation, i.e. the way you look and come across matters;
• Presentation, i.e. the way your CV/resume or cover letter looks matters. Don't make basic errors especially with grammar and spelling!

Hope this helps!
Heather -> BOOK COACHING

​by Girl Banker

In addition to their summer program, some banks now take in interns over the Easter period for two or three weeks for a more informal introduction to investment banking. 

Key differences between a spring internship and summer internship:
1. Summer internships are typically 10 to 12 weeks whilst spring internships are only 2 to 3 weeks.

2. London seems to be the only financial region that is currently popularising spring internships into a regular program.

3. Banks expect less of you in a spring internship than they do in a summer one which means it's easier to impress.

4. A spring internship gives you a very basic overview of several desks whilst a summer internship gives you a much more in-depth experience of one to three desks in an investment bank.

5. A summer internship can lead to a full-time job, a spring internship does not lead to a full-time offer