Banker Blueprint

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Forward it to as many people as possible. The more the merrier!
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Table of Contents
Why I Wrote This Guide and What Youre Going to Learn ......................................... 3
Does This Guide Apply to You? ................................................................................. 4
How to Become a Drug Dealer................................................................................... 5
Why Would a Bank, or Any Company, Want to Hire You? ......................................... 8
Action Plan, Step 1: Plan Your Strategy ................................................................... 10
Your Strategy: Action Steps ..................................................................................... 15
Action Plan, Step 2: Craft Your Story ....................................................................... 16
Your Story: Action Steps .......................................................................................... 22
Action Plan, Step 3: Network Like a Pro................................................................... 25
Networking Strategy #1: Developing Relationships .................................................. 25
Networking Strategy #2: Cold-Calling (and Cold-Emailing) ...................................... 34
Your Networking Crash Course: Action Steps.......................................................... 39
Action Plan, Step 4: Write a Resume / CV That Wins You Interviews and Offers ... 42
Your Resume: Action Steps ..................................................................................... 44
Action Plan, Step 5: Ace Your Interviews and Win Investment Banking Offers ....... 46
Acing Your Interviews: Action Steps......................................................................... 52
World Conquest & Domination ................................................................................. 53
For Further Learning ................................................................................................ 55
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Why I Wrote This Guide and

What Youre Going to Learn
When I first started Mergers & Inquisitions, I knew almost nothing about
breaking into finance (aside from my own personal experience, which
you can read about by clicking here).
Over 508 articles and 35,298 comments later,
things have changed.
There are now about 25-30+ books worth of
information on the site, but theres no guide
that tells you how to break in right now.
So I wrote The Banker Blueprint to give you the action plan you need to
get into investment banking.
Sections 4 8 are the main parts of this guide, but the first 3 sections
teach you something even more important: why a bank (or any
company) would want to hire you in the first place.
Oh yeah, youll also learn how to become a drug dealer.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Does This Guide Apply to You?

How to Become a Drug Dealer
Why Would a Bank, or Any Company, Want to Hire You?
Plan Your Strategy
Craft Your Story
Network Like a Pro
Write a Resume / CV That Wins You Interviews and Offers
Ace Your Interviews and Win Investment Banking Offers
For Further Learning
Each section has a checklist of specific action steps and links to

relevant articles and videos.
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Does This Guide Apply to You?

This guide shows you how to get entry-level roles in investment
banking.
When M&I first began in 2007, we only covered investment banking.
Since then, the site has expanded substantially and we now cover fields
like private equity, hedge funds, corporate development, corporate
finance, equity research, asset management, sales & trading, and more.
Addressing all those industries in a single guide would make this
document about 2,493 pages long.
So if youre more focused on one of those industries, or youre more
senior (i.e. youre NOT an undergrad or MBA student), or youre reading
M&I for entertainment value rather than career advice, go check out the
specific articles youre interested in right here:
All M&I Article by Category and Subcategory
Here are a few good examples of what you can find there:
How to Break Into Private Equity as a More Experienced Hire
How to Start Your Own Hedge Fund
How to Break Into Corporate Development and Make Bank
Without Selling Your Soul
How to Break Into Venture Capital
The Top 3 Methods of Breaking Into Private Banking Even If
Youre Not The Son of The Sultan of Brunei
Return to Table of Contents.
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How to Become a Drug Dealer

In the series finale of Breaking Bad, the protagonist, Walter White, a
high school chemistry teacher turned drug dealer, sees his wife for the
last time and admits something to her:
The entire series, he maintained that he started selling crystal meth to

keep his family afloat financially and that he also killed dozens of
people in service of his family.
But with the end in sight, he admitted the truth: he had done it all
for him.
In the same way, you must have your own Walter White moment
before you take the plunge and go for investment banking roles.
Here are reasons why you should NOT pursue investment banking:
You Want to Save the Whales / Cure Cancer / Help the Poor
Forget it. You are making rich people richer (or sometimes poorer
maybe that helps?). You can do some good in fields like impact /
infrastructure / renewables investing, but not in traditional M&A
advisory roles (unless you donate your bonus to non-profits).
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You Want to Make a Lot of Money Very Quickly Its a long

haul, it takes a ton of work, and you have to sacrifice
friends/family/hobbies along the way with no guarantee of success.
You Want It All You want a job where you work 8-10 hours per
day, never work weekends or stay late, never get stressed out,
never take risks, and also make a ton of money. Keep dreaming.
You Want to Say You Could Hack It You might as well pour
gasoline on yourself, light a match, and see how long you can
hack it.
Models and Bottles Please jump off a cliff right now.
So why would you want to enter this industry?
Ive been advising students and career-changing professionals for
almost a decade, and I can think of only 2 good reasons to break in:
You Want to Gain a Skill Set and Experience That You Can
Leverage for Related Jobs Despite everything going against
the finance industry, you will almost certainly learn more, and learn
more quickly, in 2-3 years at a bank than you would in 99% of
other jobs.
You Are Interested in the Work and You Want to Make a LongTerm Career of It Some people find financial analysis, valuation,
and advising companies interesting and engaging. If this is you,
great! Youre set. Keep reading.
To get a few more reality checks, check out these articles on how much
you can expect to earn and what it takes to get there:
No, You Cant Have It All: Why Finance Does Not Guarantee You
$10 Million and Your Own Beach in Thailand
The Myth of the Career Path
Also, theres no guarantee that finance in its current form will be around
forever.
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Companies have been raising capital and buying and selling other
companies for hundreds of years; the first M&A deal took place in 1708.
However, the finance industry as a percentage of GDP was
significantly smaller before 1970 and compensation was much
lower, only slightly above what normal jobs paid.
Since then, a combination of policy changes (going off the gold
standard, deficit spending, deregulation, etc.) and huge changes in the
way governments and financial institutions work together (to put it
nicely) have enabled the rise of industries like investment banking,
private equity, hedge funds, and more.
The detailed explanation is too long to get into here, but check out this
excellent book for more on the topic.
Many finance professionals are too insular to acknowledge this, but
thats why youre reading this guide: I tell it like it is.
And I want you to be fully aware of what
youre getting into.
Nothing I can do personally will change the
industry or the rules of this game it is what it
is.
So just like Walter White, youve got to admit why youre really in this.
And if its for one of the points on the reasons NOT to do investment
banking list, or you were shocked by the last few paragraphs, you
should re-think your plans.
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Why Would a Bank, or Any Company,

Want to Hire You?
Still with me?
Good.
Before planning your strategy, you need to understand why companies
hire employees in the first place.
There are only 3 reasons why a company would hire you:
1. To earn additional revenue.
2. To reduce expenses.
3. To save time or make a process more efficient.
If the company is going to spend $50,000, or $100,000, or any other
number on your salary, they better MAKE or SAVE more than that
each year.
This is especially the case at small and
mid-size companies, which do not have
the money to waste on frivolous hires.
If youre applying for junior-level roles in
investment banking, your ability to help
the bank earn additional revenue will be
nonexistent.
Therefore, you must save them time and money by proving that you
can hit the ground running and do the work thats required of
analysts and associates.
If you can do the work reliably, you can tolerate the hours and work
environment, and you are a sociable person that others want to work
with, then you have what it takes
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But demonstrating all those qualities is more difficult than it sounds.

For one, theres a heavy bias toward the university or business
school you attended so even if youre more capable than Ivy League
or Oxbridge graduates, you have a much lower chance of breaking in.
Then there are other biases, such as those against age and work
experience (the older and more experienced you are, the harder it is to
break in they want younger candidates who are easily molded).
Also, large banks do not make hiring decisions based solely on the
criteria above.
They hire a certain number of people each year based on their
departmental budgets, and they have so much money to spend that
theyre not as ROI-focused as smaller places are.
Then theres the matter of presentation: even if youre the best
candidate in the world, it means nothing if you cant convey that
effectively in the recruiting process.
That is the purpose of this guide: to bridge the gap between who you are
and the type of candidate that bankers want to see.
To do that, youll need to understand:
How to Gain Proper Access to Recruiters and Bankers
How to Craft a Winning Story That You Present in Interviews
How to Network Effectively and Win Interviews
How to Write a Winning Resume / CV
How to Interview Like a Pro and Win Offers
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Action Plan,
Step 1: Plan Your Strategy
So now you know what banks are looking for and why its so hard to
break in but how do you get on their radar in the first place?
There are 3 entry points into investment banking:
1. On-Campus Recruiting Banks come to your school and recruit
you in a formal process.
2. Networking (Developing Relationships) You meet bankers at
events or via LinkedIn or your alumni database, build relationships
over months or years, and leverage those relationships to break in.
3. Cold-Calling / Cold-Emailing You find the names of local firms
and cold-call (or email) until they say yes.
Strategy #1 is the most effective one because banks come directly to
you but you can only use it if youre at a top school like Harvard,
Wharton, LSE, or Oxford, where banks recruit.
Strategy #2 works well, but its a time-consuming process and you need
a lot of persistence to make it work.
Strategy #3 only works well for undergraduates and recent graduates
with limited work experience, and you should not rely on it 100%
because the results are very random.
You will use a combination of all
these strategies to break in. Yes,
even if youre at Harvard you cant
rely on on-campus recruiting.
You might focus on a certain strategy
depending on your background, but
you cant rely on one to break in.
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To give you a few examples, Im going to suggest specific strategies for

different backgrounds and experience levels:
Undergraduates / Very Recent Graduates
You should use a combination of on-campus recruiting and networking
to break in. If you dont go to a target school (a university that many
banks recruit at) or youve already graduated, you will have to focus on
networking.
Cold-calling / emailing can work, but you should only use it if its the lastminute and you only have 1-2 months to find an internship; it is also
appropriate if you just graduated without a full-time job.
As an undergraduate, you need at least 1 banking internship to
maximize your chances of winning full-time roles. If you cant get a
banking internship, go for related fields like corporate finance or private
wealth management.
Reader Success Story Case Studies:
From Private Equity Internship to Bulge Bracket Investment
Banking: How to Cold Email Like a Pro and Win the Offer
(Exceptional Cold-Emailing Case Study)
How to Get Into Investment Banking from an Unknown State
School with No Finance Background: Case Study (Exceptional
Cold-Calling Case Study)
How to Break Into Investment Banking as an Engineer With No
Finance Background: Case Study
From International Student at Non-Target School to Bulge Bracket
Investment Banking: How to Beat the Odds and Break In
From Non-Target and No Finance Experience to 2 Full-Time Bulge
Bracket Investment Banking Offers
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From Non-Target School and Unpaid Wealth Management

Internship to Full-Time Bulge Bracket Investment Banking Offer:
How to Make the Leap
Recent Graduates (< 3 Years of Full-Time Work Experience)
At this stage, cold-calling is less effective, and you can no longer use oncampus recruiting.
You have 3 options if youve graduated and youve been working fulltime for a few years:
1. Network via alumni, co-workers,
professional organizations, and so on.
2. Apply to Masters in Finance (MSF)
programs at well-known schools.
3. Wait until you have at least 3 years of
experience and apply to top MBA
programs.
The longer youve been out of school, the tougher it is to break in at the
entry-level even with extensive networking.
One option is to hedge yourself by applying to degree programs only if
you cant catch a break via networking after 6 12 months of effort.
How to Network Like a Ninja in London and Break Into Finance
with Low Grades and a Non-Target School on Your CV (Masters
Program Case Study)
From the Back Office to Front Office Private Equity: How to Make
the Leap (Masters Program Case Study)
From Big 4 Restructuring to Investment Banking: How to Make the
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Leap (Networking / Lateral Hire Case Study)

From Valuation Advisory to Investment Banking: How to Make the
Lateral Leap (Networking / Lateral Hire Case Study)
How to Defy the Odds and Break Into Private Equity in China as a
Foreigner Even as Everyone Else is Getting Deported
(Networking / Lateral Hire Case Study)
Experienced Graduates (> 3 Years of Full-Time Work Experience)
Apply to business school. Only bother with top schools if investment
banks dont recruit there, its not worth it.
Why cant you just network or cold-call to break in at this level?
Because banks wouldnt know where to place you. Youre too
experienced to be an Analyst, but not seasoned enough to be an
Associate.
Business school gives you the credibility and the recruiter connections
you need to break in as an Associate.
Yes, sometimes you can still network your way in without an MBA even if
youve been working full-time for more than 3 years, but it gets harder
and harder to do that over time.
MBA Students
Similar to undergraduates, if you go to a target school where a lot of
banks recruit, then on-campus recruiting is your best bet.
And if you dont, then you need to do a lot of networking to get in.
But even if you do go to a top school, you still need a lot of networking to
break in at the MBA-level.
Everyone else is savvy and driven, and many of the career-changers
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there also want to break into finance so networking is critical.

How to Break Into Investment Banking as a Career-Changer in a
Part-Time, Non-Target MBA Program
How to Break Into Investment Banking at the Associate Level from
a Part-Time / Evening / Weekend MBA Program
How to Do Everything Wrong and Still Land an MBA-Level
Investment Banking Internship
Beyond the MBA-Level / Over 10-15 Years of Full-Time Work
Experience
At this level, you will not be hired as an Analyst or Associate at an
investment bank. Your best option is work in another industry, advance
to a high level, such as C-level executive or Partner, and then
leverage your contacts to move into banking or related fields like private
equity or venture capital.
Here are a few articles you can draw inspiration from:
How to Break Into Private Equity Straight from a 17-Year
Veteran of the Industry
Hedge Funds vs. Institutional Asset Management: Is a Billion
Dollars Really Cooler Than a Million Dollars?
On the Job as an Associate Portfolio Manager in Asset
Management: The Fastest Path to Becoming the Next Warren
Buffett?
How to Break Into Venture Capital
OK, But What About
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So now you probably have 2 questions:

1. How do you effectively network, cold-call, and cold-email?
2. What if youre not in one of the categories I mentioned above?
For question #1, see the networking section of this guide.
For question #2, please take a look at the following pages on M&I that
have collections of case studies and advice for different backgrounds:
Case Studies & Reader Success Stories All Articles
Investment Banking Recruiting All Articles (Go to the Career
Transitions section)
Its impossible to cover every single background although we do have
one on how to break in as a male escort but we add new case studies
frequently, and youll get new material as soon as its added to the site.
Your Strategy: Action Steps
You get off easy in this section. You just need to answer 2 questions:
What level are you at? If youre an undergraduate,
you can use all 3 strategies above but you should
focus on networking. If youre older than that, you
also need to network but you may need to attend a
Masters program or MBA program to have a good
shot.
How much time do you have? If the answer is not
much and youre an undergraduate or recent graduate, you will
need to cold-call as well.
Now that youre in the right mindset to break into investment banking,
lets move onto the next step: telling your story.
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Action Plan,
Step 2: Craft Your Story
Once you figure out whether youre
going to focus on networking, coldcalling, on-campus recruiting, or
Masters / MBA programs, you need to
craft your story.
What is your story?
Its your response to an interview question such as Walk me through
your resume or Tell me about yourself; its a 1-2 minute pitch that
answers these 3 questions:
1. What have you done before?
2. Why banking, and why now?
3. Why should we hire you?
A 1-2 minute version of your story is fine for interviews, but for
networking purposes youll also need a 2-3 sentence version.
Heres how you structure your story:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Beginning
Your Finance Spark
Your Growing Interest
Why Youre Here Today and Your Future
The Beginning
Say where you grew up if youre an undergrad or recent graduate or
where you went to university and where you started your career if youre
more experienced.
Also mention what you were planning to do before you got interested in
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finance (or before you got interested in the specific group youre
interviewing with).
Your Finance Spark
What made you interested in finance in the first place?
Were you working at a non-profit when it merged with another non-profit,
which made you interested in the M&A process?
Did one of your parents start an ice cream truck business that needed to
raise capital so it could add chocolate chip mint to its inventory?
Did you win an investing competition by picking a pharmaceutical stock
that outperformed the market by 150%?
Naming specific people, places, and numbers, and citing unusual
experiences are the most powerful strategies here.
Your Growing Interest
Walk through your jobs, internships, and activities
(if youre a student) and explain how each one led
you in the direction of finance and investment
banking specifically.
With each experience, mention something that
you liked and something that you wanted to
change.
Keep this part of your story to 2-3 hops at most and simplify your
history if youve changed careers more than 2-3 times otherwise you
sound too indecisive.
Common mistakes in this part include not explaining each transition (if
you moved from asset management to equity research, and now you
want to do banking, why?), and using too much negativity in your
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explanations (There was no upward mobility, so I left).

Always say: But I wanted to do more of / I liked X, but I also wanted to
do more Y instead of I didnt like A, B, and C at this firm.
Why Youre Here Today and Your Future
You should state: Im interviewing here today because and spell it
out explicitly.
Ideally, you will link this to your background: Im interviewing here today
because I want to combine my background in strategy at retailers and
knowledge of finance to become an adviser to consumer retail
companies.
If you cant do that, talk about why youre interested in the deals this
bank/group works on.
At the end, give some indication of your future plans by stating: In the
long-term, I want to [Explain your future plans] and I see this firm/group
as the best way to get there because [And point to their clients, deals, or
other details].
Popular future plans include advising companies in a particular industry
(this always works for investment banking roles) or becoming an investor
(better for buy-side roles such as private equity and hedge funds).
At the Associate level, you need to show more long-term commitment to
investment banking specifically; vaguer plans are fine for Analysts.
Example Story Financier
If you have a finance background, you need to focus on what made you
interested in the industry and why you want to do investment banking
specifically.
Heres a sample story:
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Sure. I grew up in China, attended high

school in the US, and then began studying
at the University of Chicago to learn more
about finance while gaining a strong liberal
arts background.
I got very interested in finance at a young
age because my parents were both active
day traders, and they did well trading natural resource and construction
stocks just as the financial markets in China were opening up.
I did a double major in Math and Philosophy, and then went back to
China to work in wealth management at a local firm after my first year. I
liked working in the financial markets and advising clients, but I wanted
to work with more institutional clients and do more in-depth analysis.
So the year after that, I went to Hong Kong and worked in asset
management at JP Morgan I liked the institutional investor focus and
the more in-depth analytical work, but while I was working there I got
more interested in M&A because one of the companies I followed was
acquired at a huge premium (over 100%).
So I started speaking with alumni and others in the investment banking
industry, and also learning more of the technical side valuation and
financial modeling on my own. I want to do IB rather than asset
management because you advise companies on decisions that impact
their long-term business prospects, instead of just following companies.
Im here today because in the future, I want to become a trusted adviser
to companies with presences in both the US and China and advise on
cross-border deals, leveraging my background in both countries and my
experience in finance. And Im confident your group is the best way for
me to get there, because of your track record working on these types of
deals.
Example Abbreviated Story Financier
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Im a Math and Philosophy major at The University of Chicago, and Ive

worked in wealth management and then asset management at JP
Morgan in Hong Kong the past 2 summers. Im interested in going into
investment banking, applying my finance background to larger-scale
transactions, and advising US and Chinese companies on deals.
Financier Story Analysis
Heres what he used for each element in his story:
1. The Beginning: Brief mention of being from China and why he
attended UChicago.
2. Finance Spark: Parents day trading note the specificity because
he mentioned the sectors they traded.
3. Growing Interest: Wealth management internship and asset
management internship at JP Morgan, plus why the AM internship
made him more interested in investment banking.
4. Why Youre Here Today and Your Future: Becoming a trusted
adviser to companies in the US and China and working on crossborder deals; this group has a solid track record in that area.
This story might be a bit too long for real interviews, so parts such as the
first wealth management internship could be cut.
Example Story Non-Financiers and Career-Changers
If youre coming from a non-finance
background, you need to show how
combining your background with
finance will help you achieve your goals.
Heres a story from one of our clients who
worked in the tech industry, and then
attended an MBA program and won an investment banking offer
(personal details and names have been changed):
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I started out doing an electrical engineering degree at UT Austin, and

then after undergrad I worked in IT consulting at IBM for 3 years.
I liked working with clients, but I wanted to do something more businessoriented where you could make a long-term impact, so I moved to
Oracles corporate finance team and worked there for 2 years.
Working in corporate finance, I liked the finance and analytical focus and
the ability to impact the companys strategy, but I also wanted to
continue to hone my client relationship skills.
When I was at Oracle, the company went on a massive acquisition
spree, and I got very interested in that side of the business. I thought
about corporate development, but from watching the deals firsthand I
decided that I would rather work on a wide variety of deals in different
sectors.
To gain the required knowledge and experience, I applied to business
school and decided to attend the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
There, Ive taken classes on accounting, finance, and M&A, and Ive
spoken with many alumni in the industry.
Im here today because I want to combine my tech industry experience
with my client relationship skills and the finance knowledge Ive gained
at Oracle and business school, and become a trusted adviser to
technology companies in the long-term.
Given your firms track record in technology and the recent deals youve
done there, your group is the best way for me to get there.
Example Abbreviated Story Non-Financiers and Career-Changers
Im a Stanford MBA student and I did IT consulting at IBM and corporate
finance at Oracle. I want to combine my tech, consulting, and finance
experience and work in technology investment banking, eventually
becoming a trusted adviser to tech companies.
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Non-Financier / Career Changer Story Analysis

Heres what he used for each element of his story:
1. The Beginning: Engineering undergrad at UT Austin, IT
consulting at IBM, and then corporate finance at Oracle.
2. Finance Spark: Getting exposed to major M&A deals at Oracle
during an acquisition spree.
3. Growing Interest: Speaking with the corporate development
team, applying to the Stanford GSB, and networking with alumni in
the industry while taking classes.
4. Why Youre Here Today and Your Future: Leverage
tech/consulting/finance experience to work in tech IB and advise
companies there; this group has a great track record in the area.
You may not have as clear a fit with the group as these two candidates
did so make the last part more general and talk about deal types or
industries you're interested in, even if the group doesnt focus on them.
Your Story: Action Steps
Look at your resume and think about what youve done over the
past 10-15 years. Now, determine what youre going to say for
each of the following points:
1. The Beginning: Where you grew up? University?
Business school? First job after graduating?
2. Your Finance Spark: Parents? Event? Activity? Student
Group? Something in your first job?
3. Your Growing Interest: Which 2-3 key internships or jobs
will you discuss? How did each one bring you closer to IB?
4. Your Future and Why Youre Here Today: What will you
do, and how will banking get you there? Why this firm over
others, and why are you well-positioned to work here?
Now take those points and make a brief outline of your story. Do
NOT script it out 100%, or youll sound like a robot. Use only
an outline, and practice with that version.
Once youve done that, make a 2-3 sentence abbreviated version
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of your story similar to the examples above. This is what youll use
when networking (see the next section).
Even More?
This just scratches the surface of what goes into your story to get
more, check out the IB Recruiting section of the site and review
everything story-related under Interviews.
And if youre looking for even more comprehensive tutorials, plus 15
templates for telling your story, check out the IB Interview Guide:
Gain an 'Unfair Advantage' Over

Other Interview Candidates
The BIWS Investment Banking Interview Guide gives you a detailed
breakdown of the 15 categories of "fit" questions... preparation
guidelines... and response structures. There are 127+ questions
with model answers. You also get 15 templates for walking
through your resume, covering most common backgrounds.
The IB Interview Guide is the best and most comprehensive resource we

have on this topic.
If youre looking for 1-on-1 support and personalized assistance with
your own story, we also offer coaching services (along with resume and
cover letter editing), where we help you refine your pitch, answer your
career questions, and even revise your networking emails.
Depending on the package you sign up for, a personalized Action Plan
and your own LinkedIn profile may also be included.
NOTE: These services are NOT right for everyone we focus on
undergrads with significant work experience (e.g., several internships),
professionals with at least several years of work experience, and career
changers.
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So if youre a 1st or 2nd year university student with no internship

experience, please do not sign up. Make sure you read the descriptions
of both services carefully before you sign up:
Investment Banking Resume Editing Services
Investment Banking Coaching Services
Win the Finance Interviews and Job

Offers You Desire and Deserve
Discover how to pitch yourself perfectly, network like a pro,
present your work experience in the most effective way
possible, and convert your networking efforts into interviews
and offers more effectively.
Finally, there are also a few relevant articles and videos on M&I:
How to Tell Your Story In Investment Banking Interviews in 5
Simple Steps Video Tutorial
How to Walk Me Through Your Resume in Investment Banking
Interview: The Top 6 Mistakes to Avoid (Infographic)
Mistakes to Avoid with Your Story Part 1
Mistakes to Avoid with Your Story Part 2
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Action Plan,
Step 3: Network Like a Pro
With your story and strategy in hand, next up
on your action plan is networking and gaining
access to the proper recruiting channels.
There are 2 approaches to networking:
1. Developing Relationships You do
this by conducting informational interviews and weekend trips,
attending information sessions, and meeting bankers in any other
way you can. It works well and it can get you into bulge bracket
banks, but it takes a lot of time and you need to start 6 12
months in advance of recruiting season.
2. Cold-Calling / Cold-Emailing Find lots of local boutique banks
(or even PE firms or other finance firms), set aside an hour each
day for cold-calling or cold-emailing, and dont give up until you get
a good answer. This is more about persistence and consistency
than skill, though using the right tactics helps.
I mentioned in the first section that youll also use on-campus recruiting if
youre at a target school. Im not mentioning it here because theres
not much to it.
You submit your resume online and you get selected for an interview.
The only way to tip the scales in your favor is to network with alumni
beforehand so that they know your name and are more likely to give you
an interview. Heres how you do that:
Networking Strategy #1: Developing Relationships
This strategy is more appropriate if you have 6-12 months of lead time,
you have access to a solid alumni network, or you can otherwise get
referrals to bankers through mutual connections.
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Here are the steps:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Make Your List

Make the Initial Outreach
Follow-Up If You Dont Get a Response
Do Additional Research
Make the Call / Attend the Meeting
Make Your Mini-Ask
Follow-Up
Make Your Real Ask
Now lets look at each of these in more detail:

1) Make Your List
Start with alumni, family, friends,
professional contacts, and anyone you meet
at information sessions, and then expand
into student groups, professional
organizations, volunteer groups, and
professors.
Nothing is unfair or morally wrong when it
comes to making your list. If you have Capital IQ or
Bloomberg access, use it. If your uncle is Head of
Investment Banking, embrace nepotism.
Look at individual banks websites, go to other
schools information sessions, travel, and do
whatever it takes to build a solid list of industry
contacts.
Aim for at least 20-30 before you begin your
outreach, and expand that list over time.
2) Make the Initial Outreach
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Email each contact to set up a 10-15 minute informational interview. Put

your school and/or workplace and/or mutual connection in your subject,
then introduce yourself and say how you found them in 1-2 sentences.
Then give 1-2 sentences on your previous work experience and
propose a specific range of dates and times to speak with them or
meet in-person.
Say you realize theyre busy and understand if they cant make the time
but youd really appreciate it if they could spare a few minutes.
NOTE: You will always get better response rates if youre contacting
someone you already met in-person at an event such as an information
session. The look up random alumni and email them approach comes
off as spam to many people.
3) Follow-Up If You Dont Get a Response
If you dont hear back within a week, follow-up
via email. If you dont hear back after another
week, move to the phone.
Keep these emails short, use the same subject,
and use this template for your email body: Im
the student from [University Name] / guy/girl from [Company Name] who
contacted you last week just wanted to follow-up and see you would
be available to speak for 10 minutes on [Date/Time 1] or [Date/Time 2].
If you still dont get a response after 3-4 attempts (each a week apart),
put the person on the backburner and move onto other contacts.
4) Do Additional Research
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Once youve set up your call or meeting, spend 20-30

minutes doing research on Google, LinkedIn,
Facebook, and any other sources you have access to
(e.g., Bloomberg, FactSet, or Capital IQ) and figure
out where they went to school, where theyve worked,
and other details such as the deal types theyve
worked on.
Dont go crazy with this you just want enough information to properly
frame your questions. Dont turn into a stalker and create 10-page bios
of everyone.
5) Make the Call / Attend the Meeting
Aim for 10-15 minutes for a call, and
30 minutes for a coffee meeting. Start
by asking about their work and
educational background and how they
got to where they are today.
Try to draw out their interests, hobbies,
and anything notable theyve done as
opposed to asking generic questions (Where do you think the industry /
economy is heading?). Be personal if you want to be remembered.
Dont brag about your accomplishments or
attempt to sound smart. If they want to test your
knowledge, theyll test it so be prepared, but
dont pre-empt them.
It can also help you to show a vulnerability; you
dont want to come across as so confident that
you dont need their help. So after youve asked
about the other person, ask for his/her advice on
a challenge you have.
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6) Make Your Mini-Ask

As the conversation or meeting is drawing to a close, ask if its OK to
follow-up with any additional questions you have, ask for referrals (if
applicable), and suggest meeting in-person in the future.
Why should you ask for favors in your first call or meeting?
To condition the person into helping you.
Its just like dating: if you treat someone as a friend, you will never move
beyond the friend zone. If you want a relationship, you need to act like
more than a friend from the start.
And if you want to get interviews from your networking efforts, you
need to ask for them.
7) Follow-Up
This is very simple:
1. Aim to follow-up at least once every 2-3 months so they
remember you.
2. But only follow-up when you have a reason why a request
for referrals, advice, help with recruiting, a planned weekend
trip, etc. If you dont have a reason why and you need to followup, make one up. Youll be doing this a lot in finance
3. Email is fine for quick requests you can ask for a phone call or
an in-person meeting for something more detailed, but its not
always necessary.
Follow-up is good, but making a great first impression is far more
important. This is why you spent time outlining on your story and
researching the person beforehand.
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8) Make Your Real Ask

I hope all is well. With recruiting season approaching,
I wanted to follow-up and ask you how I could best
position myself for an interview with your firm.
Youre not asking for an interview youre asking how to position
yourself for one.
If you dont hear back, follow-up once more via email and then move to
the phone.
Your goal is to get the other person to ask for your resume/CV, and then
receive a strong recommendation from that person at their firm.
One Final Point: Just because the other person passed along your
resume/CV does not mean he/she actually did anything.
Often, busy professionals say theyll help you but forget to do it, or they
get too busy and never get around to it.
So even after you send your resume/CV, you still need to follow-up and
ask about your status.
Relationship development is an exhausting process, and its not
feasible to stay in touch with 500+ people consistently.
As you contact bankers, though, youll realize that only a small
percentage are willing to help you so focus your efforts on that smaller
set (20-30 solid, helpful leads is a good result).
Here are examples of the specific numbers to expect when youre
networking:
300-400 Emails Sent; 80-90 Responses; 10-20 Actually Helpful
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4 Months Spent Networking; 60 Informational Interviews; 14 First

Round Interviews
Cold Emailed 100 PE Firms; 15 Responses; 1 Internship Offer
5 Hours Per Week Spent Networking; 40-50 Conversations with
Bankers; 2 Interviews
1000 Emails Sent; 200 Responses; 50 Actually Helpful
Other Avenues: Information Sessions & Weekend Trips
Those are the ABCs of how to conduct informational interviews but
you can always meet people elsewhere.
The strategies below go beyond this guide, so check out The IB
Networking Toolkit if you want the juicy details. Heres a quick summary:
Information Sessions
Focus on people with the fewest number of
wannabe bankers surrounding them.
Go up and make a joke about the news, the
information session itself, or other people
there to win their attention, chat for a few
minutes and focus on personal matters,
travel, and their hobbies/interests, and
avoid So, whats it like being an investment banker?-type questions.
If you get along OK, but not spectacularly, make an excuse after 5-10
minutes and say you have to run, and then get their business card
before you take off. Then, move on and repeat this process with
everyone else in the room.
If you do hit it off really well, stay and chat and leverage the crap out of it
you might win an interview on the spot.
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Afterward, quick follow-up is essential contact everyone who showed

any interest in you within 1-2 days and ask for 10-15 minutes to speak
on the phone or meet in-person and request recruiting advice.
How to Break Out of Harold & Kumar Mode and Use Investment
Banking Information Sessions to Break Into the Industry
Weekend Trips
A weekend trip to New York, London, or whatever financial center is
closest to you is an excellent way to get interviews but only if you do it
the right way.
Aim for 5-10 meetings each day, split between morning and afternoon,
and make sure each block of meetings is in the same area of the city
so youre not running around constantly.
Plan for each meeting to be 30 minutes, and request everything 2-3
weeks in advance of your trip then follow-up right before the trip to
confirm.
The weekend of your trip, make sure
you have a reserve list of people
you can contact in case any
meetings are canceled (50%+ will be
canceled due to work emergencies),
and that you have all the necessary
phone numbers, email addresses,
and bios with you.
The goal of a weekend trip is to meet as many as people as
possible near their offices, and then get invited INTO the office to
meet everyone else there.
Weekend Trips: The Best Way to Break Into Investment Banking?
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Spring Weeks
Spring weeks are introduction to banking-type programs offered in the
UK and made available to students in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East,
and Africa) region.
You typically rotate between different groups in the course of 1-2 weeks,
and you shadow professionals and/or participate in valuation and case
exercises (at least for IB spring weeks).
If you use them well, spring weeks can significantly boost your chances
of winning internships and offers for more, see the article below:
Investment Banking Spring Weeks: The Single Best Way to Break
Into the Finance Industry in the UK?
Sample Relationship Development Process & Timeline
Heres a sample timeline you might follow if youre in school right now
and youre looking for a summer internship next year:
July: Begin making your list and contacting people.
August: Continue to get referrals and focus on the most helpful
contacts.
September: Move to in-person informational interviews and think
about weekend trips.
October: Plan for your first weekend trip early in the fall.
November: Follow-up with everyone youve met, and plan for your
2nd weekend trip to occur just before recruiting starts.
December: During your second weekend trip, make sure youre on
the interview list everywhere.
January February: As you move through interviews, continue
networking and setting up in-person meetings.
March and Beyond: If you dont already have an offer, dont give up
just shift your focus to boutiques and smaller firms, cold-calling where
necessary.
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The entire networking process is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration

(maybe even less than that if you use our templates).
By following the guidelines above, youll be ahead of 90% of prospective
bankers when it comes to networking.
Get Your Foot In The Door For

Investment Banking and Finance
Interviews...
Discover how to request, conduct, and follow-up on informational
interviews, how to convert relationships into offers, how to cold-call
your way into Wall Street, how to rock your information sessions, and
how to plan weekend trips that get you offers. Complete with
templates, audio lessons, and online quizzes.
Networking Strategy #2: Cold-Calling (and Cold-Emailing)

Cold-calling is even simpler than developing relationships because
you dont need to develop a relationship you just need to call boutique
banks (or other small finance firms) repeatedly and ask for a job.
Here are the steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Perfect Your Pitch

Make Your List
Refine Your List
Place Your Calls
Follow-Up
Rinse, Wash, and Repeat
Lets look at each of these in more detail:
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1) Perfect Your Pitch

See the Abbreviated Story samples above. Your
pitch for a cold-call is just a 1-2 sentence version of
your story, plus a request for an interview at the end.
Heres a template you could use:
Hi [Person Name], my name is [Your Name] and I am [Student at
University Name / Analyst at Firm Name etc.]. I wanted to get some
information from you on how best to secure a [Name the Position]
position at [Bank Name]. Is now a good time to speak?
Even though this is short, you are likely to stumble and stutter unless
you practice a few times first. Try it in front of the mirror, and then
practice for real by cold-calling companies in a different region, or
banks you dont care about as much.
2) Make Your List
Focus on local and boutique firms in most cases
its a waste of time to cold-call people at large
banks. If you happen to get their contact
information somehow, sure, go ahead and call, but
focus on the smaller places.
If you want names of local firms in your area, The IB Networking Toolkit
has the names and contact information for 10,000+ banks, private equity
firms, and hedge funds. Use the list there, do some Google searches, or
ask a friend with Capital IQ access to run searches for you.
3) Refine Your List
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Its better to get bankers contact information, but if

you cant find it, settle for the main line, look up
banker bios on the website, and ask to speak with
a specific person when you call.
Before calling, verify that everything is up-to-date
and that all the banks and people still exist.
But dont go crazy with refinement breadth is more important than
depth with cold-calling.
4) Place Your Calls
Now start placing your calls aim for 5-10
minutes at most with each one. If you get
the main line, ask for a banker by name. If
you get sent to voicemail, hang up, call the
secretary back, say you got disconnected,
and ask for the bankers direct line or cell #.
Do not take no for an answer until you speak with someone who
makes recruiting decisions. Answer any negative comment with: So,
youre in charge of recruiting there? and when they say No or Well
ask to speak with whoever is in charge.
If they resist or say theyre not hiring, find out why Is it money? Lack of
time/resources? They dont need anyone?
Answer their objections head-on by offering to work for free, asking if
they ever hire multiple people, pointing out that deal flow may pick up
and they might need someone, and checking back every few weeks.
5) Follow-Up
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Follow-up every 3-5 business days with each firm

until you receive a definitive yes or no response
even if they say no, still follow-up every few
weeks to remind them who you are and see if
anything has changed.
If theyve said no to you consistently over several months, then its time
to move on and stop bothering with them.
6) Rinse, Wash, and Repeat
Once you get the basic process down, repeat it
until you win interviews and offers. If you run out
of local firms to contact, expand your scope and
travel to other cities in your state or country that
have more opportunities.
More so than relationship development, cold-calling truly is 99%
perspiration and 1% inspiration.
Its like hitting on people randomly in a bar: most of them will say no
immediately, but eventually someone will cave in and say yes (or at
least maybe).
Whither Cold-Emailing?
We have focused on cold-calling here, but cold-emailing can also be
highly effective. Some people argue that it works better than cold-calling
since finance professionals dont like to be interrupted in the middle of
the day; your mileage may vary.
The difference is that youll almost always need relevant work
experience to get results when cold-emailing. Examples:
You completed a private equity internship, and now you want to
work at a bulge bracket investment bank.
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You completed a private wealth management internship, and now

you want to work in equity research or asset management.
A sample cold email might look something like this (taken from a reader
who used cold-emailing successfully in the UK):
Dear Mr. [Last Name],
I am writing to you to see if [Bank Name] might be interested in taking an
intern in its [Industry Name] team. I am available to start immediately.
I am a [Year] [University] graduate ([Grades and GMAT score]) with six
months consulting experience at [Firm Name], fluent in [European
Language] and technical skills which I have developed in my current
private equity internship at [PE Firm Name]. My CV is attached.
I understand that [Bank Name] has a formalized recruitment process, but
if the [Industry Name] team is currently experiencing high deal flow then I
could be of assistance.
Would it be possible to arrange a call? I would be very grateful for an
opportunity to discuss this with you.
Thank you,
[My Name]
And then you follow-up if you dont hear back, try other people on the
team, try other teams, and so on.
Here are our best tutorials and case studies on how to cold-call and
cold-email successfully:
From Private Equity Internship to Bulge Bracket Investment
Banking: How to Cold Email Like a Pro and Win the Offer
The Complete Guide to Cold Calling Your Way Into Investment
Banking
How to Get Into Investment Banking from an Unknown State
39 / 57
School
How to Break Into Private Equity Right Out of Undergraduate with
No Investment Banking or Private Equity Internships
Your Networking Crash Course: Action Steps
First off, are you going to develop relationships or cold-call / coldemail? Pick one.
For developing relationships, heres your quick-start guide:
1. Make a List of 20-30 Names Get these from your alumni
database or LinkedIn by searching for investment banking in
your region or for specific firm names; ask family, friends,
student groups, and professors; use Capital IQ, Bloomberg, or
FactSet if you have access.
2. Write a 5-Sentence Email Template List your school or
company in the subject; the body should have 1-2 sentences
introducing yourself and stating how you found them, 1
sentence suggesting an informational interview, and then 1 final
sentence suggesting specific dates and times.
3. Send Out 20-30 Emails Take the template you just created
and customize it for the 20-30 names you found in step #1.
4. Follow-Up After 7 Days If you dont hear back within a week,
send another email to each person to follow-up and remind
them of your request.
For cold-calling, heres your quick-start guide:
1. Write Your Elevator Pitch Yes, you should write it down. Fill
in the blanks in this template: Hi [Person Name], my name is
[Your Name] and I am a [Student at University Name / Analyst
at Firm Name etc.]. I wanted to get some information from you
on how best to secure a [Name the Position] position at [Bank
Name]. Is now a good time to speak?
2. Make Your List Find as many firms as you possibly can
ideally over 100. You can find the names via Capital IQ, Google
40 / 57
searches, LinkedIn, or The IB Networking Toolkit, which has

over 10,000 firms listed.
3. Call 5-10 Firms per Day Start with 5-10 firms per day, verify
the information before calling, and deliver your pitch from step
#1. Do not give up until you reach a real banker or someone in
charge of hiring.
4. Rinse, Wash & Repeat This is the key to success with coldcalling. You have to keep calling firms and following up every
few weeks even if they say no initially.
These action steps will get you up to speed with networking ASAP.
Even More?
This just scratches the surface of the networking process to get more,
check out the IB Recruiting section of the site and review everything in
the Networking category.
And if youre looking for even more comprehensive tutorials, plus scripts,
templates, sample informational interviews and cold calls, and the
names of 10,000+ banks, PE firms, and hedge funds, check out the IB
Networking Toolkit:
Do You Shudder When You Hear

The Word 'Networking'?
Discover how to request, conduct, and follow-up on informational
interviews, how to convert relationships into offers, how to coldcall your way into Wall Street, how to rock your information
sessions and how to plan weekend trips that get you offers.
Complete with templates, audio lessons and online quizzes.
And if you need something even more comprehensive than the IB

Networking Toolkit, we also offer coaching services (along with resume
and cover letter editing), where we help you refine your pitch, answer
41 / 57
your networking and career questions, and even revise your emails.
changers.
experience, please do not sign up. Make sure you read the descriptions
of both services carefully before you sign up:
Fast-Track Your Way Into

Investment Banking and
Finance Jobs
possible, and convert your networking efforts into
interviews and offers more effectively.
42 / 57
Action Plan,
Step 4: Write a Resume / CV That
Wins You Interviews and Offers
Once you begin contacting bankers, youll get
asked for your resume or CV so you need to
be prepared with a document that wins you
interviews and offers.
But if youre reading this guide, you dont need
to write a resume at all. You can just use templates Ive already
written for you and modify them as necessary:
Investment Banking Resume Template University Student
Investment Banking Resume with No Real Work Experience
Template
Private Equity and Buy-Side Resume Template
MBA-Level / Experienced Investment Banker Resume Template
Pick the category that best matches your own background, download the
template, and tailor it to your own experience. Here are the most
important rules:
One Page Only
Unless youre more senior and you have extensive transaction
experience (see the MBA-Level / Experienced Resume Template), your
resume should be 1 page. The only exception is in Australia, where 2-4
page resumes are more common (sorry, no template for that yet).
The Rule of 3
No matter how much experience you have, you cant list everything.
43 / 57
Focus on the 2-4 key full-time jobs, internships, or activities where

you held a leadership role.
Bankers work 70-80+ hours per week and review hundreds of resumes,
so they will not remember or care about all 27 different student groups
you were in.
Project-Centric vs. Task-Centric
For each entry, use either a projectcentric or task-centric structure. Start
with a summary sentence giving your
overall results, and then go into specific
projects, clients, deals, or tasks you
completed.
Project-centric structures are the best for
consulting, investment banking, private
equity, hedge funds, law, accounting,
finance, and other professional fields, while task-centric structures are
better for everything else.
Specifics & Results
Within each bullet, give the specifics of what you did followed by the
results, including numbers:
Developed new social media marketing campaign for TV network client;
led to 20% ratings growth in new series lineup
Valued client using DCF and public company comparables; resulted in
valuation 10% higher than managements expectations
Shouldnt This Be Harder?
Ive purposely kept the resume section brief, because its mostly about
using the right template and picking the right experience.
44 / 57
You should not overthink your resume if youre a university student

applying for internships, because your networking efforts and
interview skills matter far more.
Once youve had substantial work experience, it gets trickier to craft a
great resume because you have to be more selective with the
experience and language you use.
Please see the end of this section if youre looking for comprehensive
resume/CV editing solutions.
Cover Letters
Cover letters matter in some situations (spring week programs in the UK,
firms outside the US, and sometimes at smaller firms), but are less
relevant than resumes at large banks.
We do, of course, have a template for you to follow:
Investment Banking Cover Letter Template and Tutorial
Your Resume: Action Steps
Select one of the templates linked to above and download it to
your computer.
Now, decide on the 2-4 key work experiences or activities (for
undergrads) you want to write about. Pick the ones that you spent
the most time on or the ones that will impress the most and if you
have banking experience you MUST include it.
For each entry, pick either a project-centric or task-centric
format and include 1 summary sentence, followed by the 2-3 most
relevant tasks or projects you completed.
For each bullet, follow the specifics; results format and use a
semicolon to separate the two parts.
Even More?
45 / 57
And if you need something even more comprehensive than the

templates and tutorials above, we also offer resume and cover letter
editing (along with coaching services), where we completely revamp
your resume and cover letter, answer all your questions, help refine your
pitch and networking strategy, and more.
changers.
experience, please do not sign up. Make sure you read the
descriptions of both services carefully before you sign up:
How to Make Your Resume

Shine & Spin Your Experience
Into Sounding Relevant...
Youll get a completely revamped, bankified resume that
spins your experience in the best light possible, and makes
investment bankers and recruiters eager to interview you as
soon as they see it.
46 / 57
Action Plan,
Step 5: Ace Your Interviews
and Win Investment Banking Offers
Investment banking interviews are a huge topic, and we already have a
comprehensive interview guide that goes into extreme detail.
Rather than repeating all of that here, Im going to give you a quickstart guide instead: the 80/20 of how to prepare for interviews with
limited time.
Step 1: Lock Down Your Story
See the earlier section of this guide on
crafting your story. Even though it only
takes a few minutes in an interview, your
story is the most important part.
Everything you need to know about telling
your story is in the second section of
this guide, so go back and re-read that if youre confused.
You will need to modify your story slightly for the group and bank youre
interviewing with so get used to bending the truth. To one group, you
want to advise on cross-border European M&A deals; to another group,
maybe youre interested in becoming an adviser to tech companies.
Step 2: Gather Your 2-3 Key Mini-Stories
Once youve figured out your story, you
need to collect a few mini-stories that
you can use for your answers to fit
questions like Tell me your strengths
and weaknesses and Tell me about
your biggest failure.
47 / 57
You could get dozens of fit questions, but most of them fall into a few
categories so you can easily recycle the same mini-stories and put a
different spin on them.
Here are the question categories you need to watch out for:
Tell me about your quantitative skills / attention to detail

Tell me about your leadership skills
Tell me your strengths and weaknesses
Tell me about a failure / your biggest weakness
Why are you changing careers?
Why investment banking?
You should go over your resume and pick out 2-3 mini-stories that you
can use for these questions.
Lets say youve been worked as a healthcare policy analyst for a few
years, and now you want to move into investment banking here are 3
mini-stories you could use to address these types of questions:
Talk about your exposure to financial modeling when you analyzed
healthcare companies financial statements as part of your job.
This addresses the quantitative skills, changing careers, and
why investment banking categories.
Talk about how you led your team to discover financial distress
with one healthcare company because of accounting decisions
they made, and then how you effectively conveyed this to a
Senator you worked with. This addresses the quantitative skills,
leadership skills, and the strengths / weaknesses categories.
Talk about how one team member was not satisfied with his
contribution to your group, and how you tried to convince him to
stay but failed to do so even though you failed, you used the
experience to make your group even better. This addresses the
leadership skills, strengths/weaknesses, and failure question
categories.
Taking 15 minutes to pick 2-3 key anecdotes like this will save you hours
48 / 57
of grief and prepare you for 90% of possible fit questions.

Step 3: Prepare to Discuss Your Work Experience
You also need to prepare for discussions of your
previous job/internship experience, because this will be
a huge part of any interview.
Heres what we recommend:
Come up with a 2-3 sentence summary for each work/leadership
experience entry on your resume. This will flow directly from the
summary sentence on your resume.
Within each work experience entry, pick 2 projects/tasks/clients
to focus on and discuss in interviews. These will flow directly from
the projects or tasks youve listed. Describe the problem, what you
did, and what the results were. Numbers are always good.
Make sure you can talk about 1-2 activities or interests outside
work. This one is more relevant for undergraduates than it is for
MBAs or more experienced candidates.
Heres how you might structure your 2-3 sentence summary and your 2
projects/tasks/clients for an investment banking internship:
Summary: I worked in the Energy M&A group and helped out
with several sell-side and buy-side M&A transactions for clients
and prospective clients there. I often worked directly with the
Associate and VP, rather than other full-time Analysts, and spent
most of my time on valuation, industry research, and contributing
to some of the merger and LBO models our team completed.
Project 1: You talk about a sell-side M&A deal where the seller
wanted to divest separate oil field assets and also sell the main
subsidiary. The key challenge was to minimize the number of
buyers and find someone that would buy the entire entity; you also
49 / 57
had to value everything with a Sum-of-Parts valuation. You

contributed by researching the public company comparables and
precedent transactions. The project was ongoing when you left,
but you had an IOI (Indication of Intent) from 1 buyer.
Project 2: You talk about a buy-side M&A deal where you were
helping a large oil conglomerate find potential acquisitions in
Canada. The key challenge was making sure that the new
acquisition was not competitive with your clients business, and
that it would clear regulatory hurdles. You contributed by
performing industry research and valuing the potential acquisitions.
The project did not progress very far, but you can say it was
ongoing when you left.
Go through your resume and make sure you can talk about each entry
with a summary sentence and your 2 key tasks / projects / clients.
Step 4: Technical Preparation
Focus on the following topics:
Accounting How the 3 statements link together, what each line
item means, and how changes to line items (e.g., Depreciation)
affect everything else.
Valuation The 3 main methodologies (public company
comparables, precedent transactions, and the DCF) and when to
use which one, which ones will produce higher/lower implied
valuations, and the advantages/disadvantages of each one.
50 / 57
Enterprise Value / Equity Value You need to know what these

mean, how to calculate each one, and why you add or subtract
items like Cash, Debt, Preferred Stock, and Noncontrolling
Interests.
Discounted Cash Flow You need
to be able to walk through a DCF,
explain how to move from Revenue
to Cash Flow, explain how to
calculate Terminal Value, Cost of
Equity, and WACC, and what items
and assumptions like Beta mean.
Merger Model You need to be able to walk through this model,
explain the basic assumptions (Cash/Stock/Debt, Synergies,
Purchase Price), and explain how different assumptions affect
EPS accretion / dilution.
LBO Model Walk through the model, explain assumptions like
Purchase Price, Debt/Equity, Revenue Growth/EBITDA Margins,
and how those assumptions affect the output. Also know the basic
types of debt and the characteristics that PE firms look for when
buying companies.
Brain Teasers Know the common probability and math
questions, and stay cool under pressure. These are not very
common in investment banking interviews (theyre much more
common in interviews for trading / more quantitative roles).
Going into detail on all the topics above would turn this into a 1,539page guide, so Ill recommend a few additional resources instead:
Quick Videos and Review M&I / BIWS YouTube Channel
We frequently update that channel with new videos on all topics, from
Excel to accounting, valuation, and financial modeling, to more
advanced and industry-specific topics.
51 / 57
Next, you can also sign up for our free financial modeling tutorial series
on topics such as merger models, the DCF, linking the 3 financial
statements, and more:
Claim Your Free, 3-Part Video

Tutorial on How to Build Your
First Merger Model...
Learn how to create your own merger model based on the
$16 billion United / Goodrich M&A deal both introductory and
more advanced lessons are included. Plus, tutorials on the
DCF analysis, linking the 3 financial statements, and more.
If you want industry-specific modeling tutorials, you can check them out
and sign up on the right-hand side of the page at the link below:
BIWS Industry-Specific Modeling Tutorials
For comprehensive training, the Excel & Fundamentals course is best:
Master Excel and Financial

Modeling and You'll Leap
Ahead of Everyone Else...
Discover Excel shortcuts, formulas, formatting, graphs/charts,
and more, and get a crash course on accounting, 3-statement
modeling, valuation, merger models, and LBO models plus
bonus case studies based on real deals.
52 / 57
Step 5: (Some) Practice

Prepare by using the points and resources above,
and then go through 1-2 practice interviews with
friends, anyone in the industry, or an interview prep
service if you want to go that route (we dont officially
offer mock interviews, but we make exceptions on a
case-by-case basis).
Another tactic: interview with banks you dont care as much about first,
and use those interviews as practice.
Acing Your Interviews: Action Steps
Heres a summary:
Lock down your story using everything in the 2nd section of this guide,
and run through it a few times with friends.
Gather your 2-3 key mini-stories from your work experience and
activities, and make sure you can use each one to address fit
questions on leadership, strengths and weaknesses, and so on.
For each work experience entry on your resume, create a 2-3
sentence summary and a description of the 2 key tasks or projects
you completed.
Review the technical topics above; to learn everything from scratch
and prepare more comprehensively, check out the interview guide or
modeling courses.
Go through 1-2 practice interviews with friends in the industry, and
schedule your first real interviews with places you dont care about as
much.
53 / 57
World Conquest & Domination

By now, you should be ahead of 90% of prospective investment
bankers.
You know what really matters networking, getting your story right,
and making sure your resume and interview skills are strong without
going overboard.
And you now have a 5-step action plan to get into
investment banking, no matter what your
background is or how last-minute it is.
Youve locked down your story, and youve made
sure that youre networking the right way and not
wasting time on irrelevant crap.
So what now?
Get out there and apply everything youve learned.
Figure out whether you need to focus on cold-calling / cold-emailing or
relationship development (or whether you should go to business school
or a Masters program), and make your initial list of 20-30 bankers to
contact.
Talk to your friends in the industry and run your story and networking
outreach efforts by them, get feedback, and iterate until you succeed.
Use one of the resume templates included here to craft your own, get a
friend to look at it, and do 1-2 revisions. Then go through a few practice
interviews with friends, make sure you have a solid story, and practice
the fundamental fit and technical questions.
And then go forth and dominate.
- Brian
54 / 57
Brian DeChesare
Mergers & Inquisitions
Breaking Into Wall Street
P.S. Since you signed up for this newsletter, youll soon be receiving
updates each week with more tips on breaking into investment banking
(and other industries), exclusive discounts and bonus material, and
new stories and case studies as we release them.
If you got this guide from a friend, sign up to receive free updates,
weekly tips, interviews, case studies, and tutorials right here:
Sign up for the Mergers & Inquisitions Newsletter
55 / 57
For Further Learning

We mentioned A LOT of additional resources throughout this guide
heres a quick recap and summary:
Free Tutorials and Videos
First, check out the M&I / BIWS YouTube channel for quick videos on
key topics:
Quick Videos and Review M&I / BIWS YouTube Channel
You can sign up for our free financial modeling tutorials to learn more:
Free Tutorials: Learn Financial

Modeling Secrets and Land
Investment Banking Offers...
Learn how to create your own merger model based on the
$16 billion United / Goodrich M&A deal both introductory and
more advanced lessons are included. Plus, tutorials on the
DCF analysis, linking the 3 financial statements, and more.
If you want the industry-specific modeling tutorials, you can check them
out and sign up on the right-hand side of the page at the link below:
BIWS Industry-Specific Modeling Tutorials
Guides and Courses
To practice the technical questions, your story, and all the fit questions,
we recommend the Investment Banking Interview Guide:
56 / 57
Most Interview Guides Suck... This

Guide Will Get You Better Results
Than Anything Else Out There
The BIWS Investment Banking Interview Guide gives you a detailed
breakdown of the 15 categories of "fit" questions... preparation
guidelines... and response structures. There are 127+ questions with
model answers. You also get 15 templates for walking through
your resume, covering most common backgrounds.
And if you want to learn the concepts behind the technical questions indepth and get up to speed on what youll do on the job, check out the
Excel & Fundamentals course:
How to Learn Valuation and

Financial Modeling and Dominate
Investment Banking Interviews
Master Excel shortcuts, formulas, formatting, graphs/charts,
and more, and get a crash course on accounting, 3-statement
modeling, valuation, merger models, and LBO models plus
bonus case studies based on real deals.
The bonus case studies included in that course also serve as excellent
practice for private equity interviews and case studies, assessment
centers, and more.
57 / 57
Resume/CV Editing and Coaching

And finally, if youre looking for an even more comprehensive
networking, interview prep, and personalized assistance solution, check
out resume/CV editing and coaching packages:
Land All the Finance Interviews

and Job Offers You Desire and
Deserve...
possible, and convert your networking efforts into interviews
and offers more effectively.

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Why I Wrote This Guide and

Does This Guide Apply to You?

Each section has a checklist of specific action steps and links to

Does This Guide Apply to You?

How to Become a Drug Dealer

The entire series, he maintained that he started selling crystal meth to

You Want to Make a Lot of Money Very Quickly Its a long

Why Would a Bank, or Any Company,

But demonstrating all those qualities is more difficult than it sounds.

To give you a few examples, Im going to suggest specific strategies for

From Non-Target School and Unpaid Wealth Management

Leap (Networking / Lateral Hire Case Study)

there also want to break into finance so networking is critical.

So now you probably have 2 questions:

explanations (There was no upward mobility, so I left).

Sure. I grew up in China, attended high

Im a Math and Philosophy major at The University of Chicago, and Ive

I started out doing an electrical engineering degree at UT Austin, and

Non-Financier / Career Changer Story Analysis

Gain an 'Unfair Advantage' Over

The IB Interview Guide is the best and most comprehensive resource we

So if youre a 1st or 2nd year university student with no internship

Win the Finance Interviews and Job

Return to Table of Contents.

Here are the steps:

Make Your List

Now lets look at each of these in more detail:

Email each contact to set up a 10-15 minute informational interview. Put

Once youve set up your call or meeting, spend 20-30

6) Make Your Mini-Ask

8) Make Your Real Ask

4 Months Spent Networking; 60 Informational Interviews; 14 First

Afterward, quick follow-up is essential contact everyone who showed

The entire networking process is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration

Get Your Foot In The Door For

Networking Strategy #2: Cold-Calling (and Cold-Emailing)

Perfect Your Pitch

Lets look at each of these in more detail:

1) Perfect Your Pitch

Its better to get bankers contact information, but if

Follow-up every 3-5 business days with each firm

You completed a private wealth management internship, and now

searches, LinkedIn, or The IB Networking Toolkit, which has

Do You Shudder When You Hear

And if you need something even more comprehensive than the IB

Fast-Track Your Way Into

Return to Table of Contents.

Focus on the 2-4 key full-time jobs, internships, or activities where

You should not overthink your resume if youre a university student

And if you need something even more comprehensive than the

How to Make Your Resume

Return to Table of Contents.

Tell me about your quantitative skills / attention to detail

of grief and prepare you for 90% of possible fit questions.

had to value everything with a Sum-of-Parts valuation. You

Enterprise Value / Equity Value You need to know what these

Claim Your Free, 3-Part Video

Master Excel and Financial