From Citi to Morgan Stanley: How to get into investment banking

TL;DR

• Breaking into investment banking is highly competitive but an MBA can offer a structured pathway into the industry
• Prepare early so you’re ready for investment banking recruitment as soon as you start your MBA
• Build relationships through coffee chats and networking, since referrals often influence who gets offers
• Lean on school resources, such as career services, IB clubs, and mock interviews, to strengthen your technical and interview skills

Investment banking is an industry that brings with it a double-edged reputation: you’ll maximize your earning potential while also ‘drinking from the fire hose’ when it comes to your workload.

For many business school students, investment bankingi is the most alluring of all post-graduation career paths. Of course, when it comes to career paths and job placements, popularity means competition, and investment banking is a notoriously competitive industry.

To find out just how competitive the industry is, GMAC spoke with three MBA graduates currently working in the industry at top financial institutions, Citi and Morgan Stanley.

They shared their key insights on the recruitment process students must go through while studying at business school and revealed key advice on how to get into investment banking after graduation.

How business school can lead to a career in investment banking

Typically, the entry level position for an MBA graduate joining an investment bank is as an associate, one above the role of analyst which is where grads from master's degrees enter firms.

This can vary between different locations, however the investment banking recruitment process out of business school is usually highly structured, particularly within the US where grads follow the same path each year. 

Top investment banks tend to hire from a selection of target schools. Often these are the most prestigious, with M7 schools and other big name institutions in the US among the most prolific in securing investment banking positions. In Europe, top schools such as INSEAD and HEC Paris also regularly help students become investment bankers. 

Recruitment typically takes place through a stream of on-campus events, with students initially gaining opportunities to attend company presentations before taking part in coffee chats with team members from various divisions. Candidates who are viewed as having potential will then receive invitations to more exclusive events, such as invite-only dinners. 

Those who pass through the investment banking recruitment process will be invited to interview. This usually involves a mixture of traditional motivation and fit related interviews, situational dilemma questions, and those requiring candidates to tackle complex case studies. The select few successful applicants then receive formal offers for investment banking jobs.

In the US, the investment banking recruitment process generally begins with hiring for summer associate internships, where students on two-year MBAs gain the opportunity to spend their summer at a firm, hoping to secure a full-time role come the end of the period. In Europe, where two-year MBAs are less common, recruitment is typically for full-time positions. 

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How to navigate the investment banking recruitment process

How can you give yourself the best chance of working your way through the various stages of the investment banking recruitment process and landing yourself a formal offer? 

Start early 

Well, the key is to start early—before you even arrive on campus, according to John Scalamandre, investment banker in M&A at JPMorgan Chase and former MBA at Columbia Business School. 

“That really allows you to hit the ground running once you start the program,” he says. “Having a base knowledge about what you want to do allows you to be focused once you come in and helps you begin to craft your story, your pitch, your ‘why investment banking’.” 

On-campus recruiting can start as early as your first month, so adequate pre-MBA preparation will not only help you when devising your recruitment strategy, it will also ease the transition to business school as you balance attending classes, networking with classmates, and undertaking extracurriculars. 

Network 

The emphasis on events and coffee chats within investment banking recruitment highlights the importance of networking during the process. When it comes to decision time, you need to have people advocating for you and highlighting the value you can bring to the firm. 

For Lois Lee, now a senior associate in investment banking at Wells Fargo, networking proved essential to breaking into the industry. She first landed a summer associate role at Citi through her MBA at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and she credits networking with making the difference.

“I expressed interest in everyone I was talking to and no matter what group they were in, I was really keen and curious to learn more,” she explains. “Being enthusiastic and interested when talking to people, no matter what the subject matter was, was very helpful.”

Lois continued to focus on building her network when she joined Citi during the summer between her first and second year. She feels this was crucial to landing a full-time offer.

“Being likeable, having a very good alumni network and just a broad network in general will help people pitch for you when they're trying to figure out whether you are able to land the return offer,” she adds.

Leverage the school’s resources

One of the benefits of pursuing the investment banking route at business school is there are large numbers of students who go through the same recruitment process each year. This ensures the process at many schools runs like a well-oiled machine, with students receiving extensive help from careers centers and investment banking clubs. 

“The Career Management Center is extremely effective in helping you prepare for your pitch and develop your resume, as well doing mock interviews and building a strong toolkit to be able to go to those initial interviews,” John adds. 

Investment banking clubs allow MBAs to interact with their peers, many of whom are second-year students who have already been through the summer internship and recruiting process. 

These clubs provide aspiring investment bankers with a student perspective while also offering additional preparation resources. Clubs host mock interviews, coffee chats, and provide access to relevant prep materials.  

“Being able to have relationships with the students who are a year above you and who can guide you through the process, that's critical as you're thinking about your preparation and how to go into the process most effectively,” John adds. 

Prepare for interviews

Investment banking interviews are rigorous. Hiring managers want to know whether you have the ability to undertake the job, the resilience to deal with the workload, and the passion to excel within the challenging environment of an investment bank. 

You must, therefore, prepare for everything they might throw at you during the interview process. “Practicing mock interviews early and frequently and getting feedback from different people as often as possible is really important,” explains Lois. 

Often, investment banking MBA applicants have prior work experience in a related field such as corporate finance. Banks value the skills and knowledge this brings, however it’s not impossible to secure a position at an investment bank as a ‘career changer’ from an alternate sector. Doing so will require you to show how you are unique and why this makes you a top candidate. 

“Carving your own path and staying in your own lane, not being too focused on what other people are doing, is essential during the stress of the recruitment process,” Lois explains. 

“If you have time management skills, you're managing people already, have good attention to detail, have experience working long hours—these are all very transferable skills and things that you can talk about in interviews.”

Brush up on your skills 

During investment banking interviews you’ll get the chance to highlight your key skills and abilities. But back on campus and inside the classroom is where you need to hone those skills so that you can hit the ground running when you eventually secure a role. 

"Coming out of an MBA, the ability to be client-facing very early and quickly is a considerable advantage and skill set that they'll look forward to developing in you, a new junior,” says Conrad Lochovsky, an investment banking vice president at Morgan Stanley and graduate of the INSEAD MBA.

Working in investment banking will see you regularly delivering presentations, communicating with a variety of stakeholders, managing projects, and organizing your own workload. The business school experience—with its curricular demands and emphasis on practical learning and group work—will allow you to refine your capabilities to not only impress during recruitment but also excel in the role. 

“I think what is underappreciated is the level of multitasking that goes on in the role,” Conrad explains. "There's also a lot of self-organization and management because the hours are long, and it takes a lot of concentration. So, it's the ability to manage that. 

“The MBA helps that challenge, especially at a place like INSEAD on a one-year MBA—it’s fast and furious," he adds.