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.
​

​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.

​Most people embark on their journey to wealth with nothing significant in their bank account. I’m one of them.
 
This is why “Earn More” is one of my key principles towards building wealth.
 
Back when I was 21 m earn more strategy was to get the best paid job possible and two years later when I had more skill and value I sought to earn more by finding an even better paid job.
 
Anyhow, if your only strategy for getting better paid jobs is looking for them yourself then you’re doing the wrong thing.
 
In my last job my best bonus was 6-figures, yes, forget a 6-figure salary, my bonus was 6-figures and I wouldn’t have found that job if it wasn’t for a headhunter.
 
All you have to do is call a headhunter up and say, “Hi, I’m {name} and I work at {institution}, I’m kinda a big deal around here but I’m definitely worth more than these guys are paying me – can you hook me up?”
 
Just kidding, it’s not quite that simple.
 
Firstly, you need to be fully aware of the headhunter’s mindset and what motivates them.
 
You can have 5 headhunters running around looking for jobs for you if you follow my strategy.
 
Headhunters are free for you to use, they get paid by whichever company ultimately hires you.
 
A headhunter’s main goal is to place people in jobs as quickly as possible: they only get paid if they find the recruiting company a suitable person for the required role.
 
If a headhunter has 100 job seekers on their books, for example, they’ll look after the people that they think will be most attractive to an employer first and of those, they’ll focus on those that are going to be paid mad dollar because they get paid more.
 
So, when you call, you need to make yourself look SUPER attractive – oh, and by the way, when you really are a BIG deal – headhunters will be calling you.

First, state your name and where you work.
 
Then say a bit about the experience you’ve had. For example, “I’ve worked on two of my {institutions} top 10 deals and I’m looking for a bigger challenge. I’m already the go-to person here and I think moving firms will help me grow.”
 
If the transactions you’ve worked on have been well covered by major news outlets like The FT or The Wall Street Journal, drop that piece of intel into the conversation too.
 
If you have any impressive stats, e.g. what your sales are like or how big the transactions you’ve been involved with are, mention that too.
 
If your boss is well known in the industry, drop that in too. For example, “I work for John Ingermason-Scwartz who one Deal Maker of The Year in the Annual Banker awards. I’ve grown so much under his mentorship. There really isn’t a better person to learn from in the industry and I know several institutions are looking to grow their deal teams so I’m interested in the opportunities you have on your books.
 
Flattering the headhunter doesn’t hurt either, e.g. “I know {Big Cheese Recruiters} are the biggest and the best in this game so I called you first.”
 
Keep two provisos in mind:

​1. If you are a newbie headhunters are not interested in you.
 
Many industries, notably investment banks, only hire experienced people in this way;
 
For entry level positions most companies expect you to apply directly through their website usually through a formal graduate, internship or apprenticeship scheme that run.
 
2. At the moment, it's an employer's market.
 
There are many highly skilled individuals currently unemployed so in some cases employers will find it more cost efficient not to fill positions through third party recruiters. That said, I recommend using both avenues – direct approaches via the company website or connections you have inside the business and indirect approaches via headhunting firms.
 
EXAMPLE
 
Usually, an employer will list a job on their website then after a week or so hire a recruitment agent to help them fill that role.
 
This is what life is like in an employer’s market: my friend was chatting to a headhunter about the availability of jobs and he said he was having to go to firms and ask them to help them fill positions when in good economy they come to him.
 
The headhunter said one noteworthy time, after seeing a job posted on a hedge fund's website, he approached the hedge fund to see if they needed help filling the role.
 
The response: “We put that job up four days ago and have so far already received 600 applications”.
 
That, my friend, is how competitive it can be to get a job but don’t despair, there are plenty of jobs out there and the below are Girl Banker®'s pick of recruitment agencies. I am not being paid to promote any of the below.
 
These recruiters specialize in the finance and investment banking industry. If you’re in another industry you’ll have to look around a bit more.

The above are my personal favourites but there are other headhunters out there. If you're in the US, the above three are a great start, as the process goes on you may discover more. For the UK, here are a few more firms.

Source Executive Grapevine (2015)

​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

Listen to the iTunes podcast instead. 

I get asked a question related to this topic every single week! The answer is yes but even from target universities they are looking for the best of the best. 

First off, let's define what we mean by "target universities": 
Every major investment bank has an annual hiring cycle. The human resource department has a limited budget to spend on recruitment and as such will choose a handful of universities to focus their recruitment efforts on. These form their "target universities".

As a target university, that institution will get:

• Visits from HR and people within the business on recruitment days as well as for that bank's individual hiring events.
• Extra resources via their university careers office e.g. extra emails from the investment bank informing students when the bank's doors are open to applications and other information pertinent to getting a job in that bank.

Students from target universities do not get their applications looked at in preference to students from non-target universities. That said, because of the extra effort in recruiting from a specific campus the investment bank will receive more applications from their target universities. Fewer students from non-target universities have the relevant information and as such will apply in smaller numbers.

The top investment banks will have the very top universities on their target list. Mid-ranking investment banks are realistic and will include mid-ranking universities on their target list because they have lower potential to attract students from top institutions.

Here are three example emails that I have received in relation to recruitment from non-targets:

​Heather,

Thank you very much for your time!  I recently purchased your book and I absolutely love it; it was the exact kind of information I was looking for!

With that being said, I have recently become interested in pursuing a career in investment banking.  However, I am worried that my current/past experience will prevent this from happening.

Without sparing too much of your time, I went to a mediocre school for my undergraduate degree (University of [Blah], USA).  I majored in engineering and economics, the former being my original career goal and the latter a result of going back to school because of the economic crisis.  My GPA was 3.0 due to a lack of effort on my part.  I did not participate in many clubs or extracurriculars in school, which of course I regret now.  Anyways, I have worked in both fields since graduating in 2010, and have concluded that engineering just isn't for me.  So I am considering changing careers into finance, specifically investment banking.

FYI, the extent of my experience in finance was getting FINRA Series 6 & 63 licensed and working at a company that manages retirement plan accounts.  I would deal with all account information, withdrawal requests, deferral changes, plan inquiries, trade requests, etc.

I am concerned that my school, my mediocre GPA and my lack of experience will completely prevent me from getting any kind of job in this field.  I view my engineering degree as an advantage in the sense that it shows technical and time/project management expertise, but the more I read about IB the more I am realizing that I would be competing with people that have gone to top tier schools, gotten excellent grades, participated in all relevant social groups and school orgs, and hooked an internship at a big bank while in school.

How am I supposed to compete with this?!  Is there any hope?  I know you offer consulting, and I was hoping such a simple question wouldn't fall under that.  I guess I am just looking for an answer to this question from an IB so that I know how to move forward or at the very least don't waste my time trying!

Thank you again!
Best Regards,
[American Guy]

​hi 

I am emailing you regarding the coaching sessions you give to students who trying to get a foot in to the IB industry. i would like put a strong point forward i know the competition is tough out there in this disastrous period we are seeing in the economy but for stuudents who do not come from the top target universities, dont stand a chance in this industry espcially if we are looking for roles in sales and trading its more about the univeristy reputation these days to those applying to bulge bracket banks as i have noticed from yourself who went to cambridge all i see is all top universities which is  when i look at the people who have been offerd interhsips. Its very unlikey to catch a non target school who gained a internship. The reason i say this is that i am extremely passionate about working in the financial markets as i am stuyding my degree in investment banking banking and finance at a school who specifically teach you the detail knowledge of the financial markets ,but i am being held back by the reputation of the school as its not a target and the HR don't think these days will invite students from a non target school for an interview i am currently going into my third year so what do i do ? how can you help me ? i know what i have just stated is quite negative but i think if i am so passionate i should given a chance thank you

h

[UK Student]

​Hi Ms. Katsonga,

my name is [ ]. I am a 15 year old independent equities and bond trader. I am intrigued by investment banking. I am ordering your book on Amazon and would like to ask a few extra tips from you directly.

What degree do you recommend to be well prepared for banking?

Will it help a great deal in my application process the fact that I have a trading track record since I was 15 with high returns? Or with your experience is that easy to come across by and not something investment banks value.

When should I do my CFA? After my degree, during work? And what else stands out on a resume for investment banks?

Your book might answer these already when I receive it but it's not always the same as speaking directly to a person.

I really appreciate your expertise. I really love your videos because they are very concise and 'to the point'. I would extremely appreciate and value a response.

Sincerely,

[Boy in Canada]

I thought this sample of three emails is adequate to get my point across.

Part of the reason that students from the best universities stand a better chance is that they are taught or they find out for themselves "the rules of the game"; in addition to going to a top university they:
a) Get coaching (I did too) 
b) They seek out services for mock interviews 
c) They make sure their application is written in great English with no grammatical errors and 
d) They do A LOT of research.

For instance, let's take a look at email 2 - it's full of grammar errors and even has some spelling errors. There was no subject on the email; it didn't address me directly and it was not signed off properly etc.

Investment bank recruiters are VERY critical and they would reject an application for as small a transgression as not capitalising the "i"s.

Do you see where I am going? 

Now look at email 1: it's very well written, has a great structure, addresses me correctly and conveys the keenness of the writer perfectly. Similarly, email 3 is extremely polite and one can immediately tell the writer is a high achiever. 

The young man in email 3 actually thought there are many people his age dabbling in share dealing. I was so intrigued that I wrote back to find out more about him. He's the type of guy you really want to help get in front of the right people and that is the crux of getting a job in an investment bank: you need to portray yourself in a way that makes people immediately want to help you!

Students from target universities do not get in just because of the institution they are from. If you are serious about getting into an investment bank you need to be at the top of your game.

​by Girl Banker

This is a very popular question amongst students who want to become investment bankers. The process is very similar across different investment banks and works as follows:

1. An internship application is submitted, usually using a standardized online form (rather than your own stylized résumé/CV).

2. Once your application has been accepted, the interview(s) you are invited to will normally entail all of the following:

• An aptitude test online or on paper
• A case study and/or brainteasers
• A competency based interview
• A technical interview

3. Accepted to intern in the summer.

4. After the summer internship, you receive a hire letter or a letter stating that you will not be offered a full-time position.

The proportion of interns offered full-time contracts varies from year to year and from bank to bank; it is never 100%. Usually banks will recruit a few more people from outside the summer program but at the moment many are not doing this; banks are selecting the best summer interns and that's it, so getting an internship is critical to becoming an investment banker. 

If you’ve interned but have not secured a full-time job, you will have a better chance of securing an alternative entry-level position than if you hadn’t interned at all, so do not despair. Some banks may not have filled all of their positions from the internship program and will look to fill in those roles with people like you. 

​by Girl Banker

If you are trying to become an investment banker, there are two routes you should look at if you are still in university and three routes if you are already a couple or years or more into your career.

1. Use your university’s careers service. 

Investment banks may visit your university specifically to recruit the best scholars. If you are at a top-end university they may even have a unique recruitment program/process for your institution that you can use.

Even if you graduated ages ago, call up your university to check if they have resources that might help you in your job search. I recently discovered that the university of Cambridge offers lifetime help and support to alumni, I had no idea. I am sure this is not unique to my university.

2. Apply directly via the bank’s website. 

Your university careers service won’t have knowledge on every single investment bank. It is definitely worth exploring the careers section of banks independently and applying more widely to increase your chances of becoming an investment banker. 

3. Call up some headhunters

If you have work experience that investment banks would find valuable above the entry level, you can use headhunters. If you're young and haven't started your career yet, this route is mostly closed to you.

In a recession, headhunters' books will also be thin but the very best ones will still have access to new positions especially at the senior level. Call them up and get your resume/CV in front of them.

Whichever method you use, network proactively. Get to know people connected to the industry and learn as much as you can from each.