Becoming an Investment banker is one of the most sought after and competitive jobs for good reasons. Your competition will be fierce as many new analysts are doing exactly what your doing and researching how to become an investment banker. Starting salary for an investment banker can be over $150,000 for your first few years and the career can put you on the fast track to becoming a multimillionaire. The hours are grueling, with 100+ hour weeks and weekend work mandatory for new hires. After staying with firm and making associate investment bankers will have plenty of exit opportunities to new better paying jobs if they do decide to move to a different company or smaller firm. There are many ways on how to become an investment banker but your path will be much smoother if you follow these few steps.
How To Become An Investment Banker: The Education Needed to Become An Investment Banker
Investment banking is extremely competitive and they usually take only the cream of the crop. The first step for those asking how to become an investment banker, is to go to an ivy league school or a top 10 business school. This is not a necessity but can give you a huge advantage as most firms recruit only the best schools. You must also possess a GPA as close to 4.0 as possible. You can get an interview through connections but most applications will be thrown out if the GPA is less then 3.5. Just having a good GPA is also not enough, you must have extra curricular activities to round out your resume. Internships also play a large part in your resume as you should have 2-3 internships under your belt heading into your junior year of college. Investment banking usually recruits interns in their junior year or senior year and will extend offers to only the best of the group. In process of how to become an investment banker, make sure you also have extra curricular activities. These don’t require much effort and most clubs all you have to do is sign up. If you really want to get involved becoming a president or VP will boost your resume immensely.
How To Become An Investment Banker: How To Overcome A Poor GPA Or A Non-Prestigious College
If you didn’t receive top marks at a good college you will have an upward climb but with a strong work ethic you can become an investment banker. The one thing you should do immediately is sign up for the CFA level 1 exam. If you can pass this grueling exam (30% pass rate) you will put yourself immediately ahead of most candidates. This is a game changer and can really boost your resume.
The second thing you can do to improve your chances of becoming an investment banker is to gain experience in the investment banking field. A paid internship in your first two years of college is generally the experience investment banks look for. If you have no finance experience and want to break into investment banking you need to get an internship immediately. If you couldn’t land a paid internship you need to stick it out and look for an unpaid internship. Many hedge funds and financial companies will take you on as unpaid, and the experience and knowledge you acquire will help your resume.
How to Become An Investment Banker: Network, Network, Network
There are many cases of student with poor grades or no finance experience landing investment banking jobs. Usually there is more to their stories then they let on. They either worked really hard in finding an investment bank to hire they or they knew somebody. You need to start networking with as many financial professionals as you can immediately. Remember your competition is also networking and just one connection can land you the job. Look up your schools alumni list and see if you can contact anybody who is high up in investment banking. HR representatives can work wonders in getting your resume in the correct hands. If your school doesn’t have a large alumni list you can go to finance events and seminars and look to network with some professionals.
Final Thoughts On How To Become An Investment Banker
Investment banking is extremely competitive and a great deal of work will be needed just to get to the interview phase. Consider yourself ahead of the curve, especially if you are already researching how to become an investment banker. Make sure you have a good competitive resume and have the work experience investment bankers are looking for. From there it is just a numbers game. You will need to send your resume to hundreds of firms and really cast a wide net. Apply to other states and even countries and see what kind of response you get. Keep your head up and remember it only takes one firm to hire you and the game becomes much easier. The path to become an investment banker will not be easy, but those who succeed shall reap the rewards of financial success.