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Feel free to copy this report and send it to all your friends.
Print it out, pass it around, and hand out copies to everyone you know.
Just make sure you keep the names and logos on each page intact.
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Table of Contents
Why I Wrote This Guide and What Youre Going to Learn ......................................... 3
Action Plan, Step 4: Write a Resume / CV That Wins You Interviews and Offers ... 42
Action Plan, Step 5: Ace Your Interviews and Win Investment Banking Offers ....... 46
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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.
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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.
Here are a few good examples of what you can find there:
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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 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 Long-
Term 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
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.
The detailed explanation is too long to get into here, but check out this
excellent book for more on the topic.
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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Good.
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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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.
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.
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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?
Strategy #2 works well, but its a time-consuming process and you need
a lot of persistence to make it work.
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Cold-calling / emailing can work, but you should only use it if its the last-
minute and you only have 1-2 months to find an internship; it is also
appropriate if you just graduated without a full-time job.
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At this stage, cold-calling is less effective, and you can no longer use on-
campus recruiting.
You have 3 options if youve graduated and youve been working full-
time for a few years:
The longer youve been out of school, the tougher it is to break in at the
entry-level even with extensive networking.
From the Back Office to Front Office Private Equity: How to Make
the Leap (Masters Program Case Study)
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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)
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
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.
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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:
You get off easy in this section. You just need to answer 2 questions:
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, cold-
calling, on-campus recruiting, or
Masters / MBA programs, you need to
craft your story.
A 1-2 minute version of your story is fine for interviews, but for
networking purposes youll also need a 2-3 sentence version.
1. The Beginning
2. Your Finance Spark
3. Your Growing Interest
4. Why Youre Here Today and Your Future
The Beginning
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).
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?
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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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].
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.
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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%).
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This story might be a bit too long for real interviews, so parts such as the
first wealth management internship could be cut.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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Finally, there are also a few relevant articles and videos on M&I:
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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.
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:
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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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.
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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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.
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Why should you ask for favors in your first call or meeting?
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
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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.
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Information Sessions
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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How to Break Out of Harold & Kumar Mode and Use Investment
Banking Information Sessions to Break Into the Industry
Weekend Trips
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.
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Spring Weeks
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:
Heres a sample timeline you might follow if youre in school right now
and youre looking for a summer internship next year:
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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.
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.
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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?
5) Follow-Up
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If theyve said no to you consistently over several months, then its time
to move on and stop bothering with them.
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?
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A sample cold email might look something like this (taken from a reader
who used cold-emailing successfully in the UK):
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:
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School
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
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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:
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your networking and career questions, and even revise your emails.
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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.
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:
The Rule of 3
No matter how much experience you have, you cant list everything.
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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.
Within each bullet, give the specifics of what you did followed by the
results, including numbers:
Ive purposely kept the resume section brief, because its mostly about
using the right template and picking the right experience.
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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.
Even More?
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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 quick-
start guide instead: the 80/20 of how to prepare for interviews with
limited time.
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.
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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:
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:
Taking 15 minutes to pick 2-3 key anecdotes like this will save you hours
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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:
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
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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.
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Going into detail on all the topics above would turn this into a 1,539-
page guide, so Ill recommend a few additional resources instead:
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.
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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:
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:
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Another tactic: interview with banks you dont care as much about first,
and use those interviews as practice.
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.
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You know what really matters networking, getting your story right,
and making sure your resume and interview skills are strong without
going overboard.
So what now?
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.
- Brian
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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:
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First, check out the M&I / BIWS YouTube channel for quick videos on
key topics:
You can sign up for our free financial modeling tutorials to learn 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:
To practice the technical questions, your story, and all the fit questions,
we recommend the Investment Banking Interview Guide:
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And if you want to learn the concepts behind the technical questions in-
depth and get up to speed on what youll do on the job, check out the
Excel & Fundamentals course:
The bonus case studies included in that course also serve as excellent
practice for private equity interviews and case studies, assessment
centers, and more.
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