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Investment Banking Career Pathway

Can anyone offer any help/advice regarding the route to becoming an investment banker. I've recently finished my A levels in Maths, Business, and Sociology and I'm now going to study Accounting and Finance at uni starting in September.
However, I'm still uncertain as to whether going to university would be beneficial because many investments/hedge fund firms usually have their own training scheme set aside that is compulsory to take. So my concern is that should I start some sort of apprenticeship in investment banking as that will save me some time or should I pursue a degree in accounting and finance and then start my investment banking career?
Can anyone offer any help? I have done a lot of research on finance yet when it comes to investment banking there's not much resources/advice given so I'd appreciate any feedback from anyone that can relate 😊
Thanks for reading 🤗

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Moved to the IB careers forum
Don't bother because most of the advisors are a bunch of pretentious pri*cks who had to repeat their qualifications to give advise thinking they are experts .
a univerisity degree is a requirement for a role in investment banking

first year of uni: apply for spring weeks
2nd year: apply for summer internships

usually most of an investment banks graduate intake come from those with summer internships

there are infinite sources online:
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking/

details you the tools needed to get a career in banking
Original post by fantastic fan
don't bother because most of the advisors are a bunch of pretentious pri*cks who had to repeat their qualifications to give advise thinking they are experts .


:colonhash: omfg...

THAT SHADE
I agree with you. Degrees suck, but they tick the requirement. Without the degree you can not get the required training from IB's from spring weeks and summer internships.

Be glad you study accounting, because you may utilise that knowledge in some shape or form in constrast to a degree like economics
Reply 6
A degree is a requirement for the majority, I agree. However, it is the same firms, especially major banking firms, that offer a 'school leavers programme' that may guarantee a permanent job with them after. Hence, I'm just sceptical about whether such programmes are as important to such firms as a degree would be.
I've only applied for a 3 year course at either Durham or Loughborough, so getting some sort of internship/work placement would prove challenging. The summer internships snap up quite quickly!
I'm not completely sure which route to go down, inevitably the degree is the most advantageous, but I'm just curious to know what it would be like otherwise. I have the whole summer to decide haha
Thank you for the link! I will browse through it.
Thank you once again for replying 😊

Original post by gr8wizard10
a univerisity degree is a requirement for a role in investment banking

first year of uni: apply for spring weeks
2nd year: apply for summer internships

usually most of an investment banks graduate intake come from those with summer internships

there are infinite sources online:
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking/

details you the tools needed to get a career in banking
Reply 7
They sure do, but what about their school leaver programmes? Do you think they're as promising as a degree would be?
Exactly, the course does cover a lot of content, which is why I'm contemplating about it.
Thanks for replying 😊

Original post by glebp
I agree with you. Degrees suck, but they tick the requirement. Without the degree you can not get the required training from IB's from spring weeks and summer internships.

Be glad you study accounting, because you may utilise that knowledge in some shape or form in constrast to a degree like economics
Original post by Namra04
A degree is a requirement for the majority, I agree. However, it is the same firms, especially major banking firms, that offer a 'school leavers programme' that may guarantee a permanent job with them after. Hence, I'm just sceptical about whether such programmes are as important to such firms as a degree would be.
I've only applied for a 3 year course at either Durham or Loughborough, so getting some sort of internship/work placement would prove challenging. The summer internships snap up quite quickly!
I'm not completely sure which route to go down, inevitably the degree is the most advantageous, but I'm just curious to know what it would be like otherwise. I have the whole summer to decide haha
Thank you for the link! I will browse through it.
Thank you once again for replying 😊


there are no investment banks unfortunately that offer school leaver programmes for investment banking

the challenge is getting an internship, but you can beef up your cv by partaking in extra-curriculars/work experience/insight days to prove your interest/voluntary activities to put yourself in the best poisition to applying to the schemes offered by banks

all the best!
Reply 9
There are some that are partaking in this 'investment2020' scheme, which is a way for school leavers to get into IB. But I don't really understand how it would work. Perhaps getting a degree is the best way, but I'm worried I won't get any experience that would give me an advantage over others. Spring internships is perhaps the next best time where I could try getting some experience.
Thank you for all the advice you have given, you have been very useful 🤗
All the best to you too! Are you wanting to do something similar?


Original post by gr8wizard10
there are no investment banks unfortunately that offer school leaver programmes for investment banking

the challenge is getting an internship, but you can beef up your cv by partaking in extra-curriculars/work experience/insight days to prove your interest/voluntary activities to put yourself in the best poisition to applying to the schemes offered by banks

all the best!
Original post by Namra04
Can anyone offer any help/advice regarding the route to becoming an investment banker. I've recently finished my A levels in Maths, Business, and Sociology and I'm now going to study Accounting and Finance at uni starting in September.
However, I'm still uncertain as to whether going to university would be beneficial because many investments/hedge fund firms usually have their own training scheme set aside that is compulsory to take. So my concern is that should I start some sort of apprenticeship in investment banking as that will save me some time or should I pursue a degree in accounting and finance and then start my investment banking career?
Can anyone offer any help? I have done a lot of research on finance yet when it comes to investment banking there's not much resources/advice given so I'd appreciate any feedback from anyone that can relate 😊
Thanks for reading 🤗


Investment banks don't do any apprenticeships for their front office roles, you'll mostly find only some accounting firms that do that sort of thing.

Generally, the path to an IB is quite simple:

Get good grades ---> get into a good uni ---> amass a breadth of work experience/leadership experience along the way --> get on the 'path' by getting through the assessment stages (tests, assessment centres, interviews etc)

The path referring to spring week in your first year, summer in penultimate year and convert the summer to a grad job offer. If you want to do work at a fundamental hedge fund then you'd have to go through a further 2-4 years within the investment banking division or research division before reaching out to recruiters/your network of friends for roles at hedge funds.

Alternatively, some asset management firms recruit out of undergrad for investment analyst roles - namely the likes of: Schroders, M&G, Fidelity, Aberdeen, BlackRock etc..

Some i-banks have asset management divisions that will follow the same 'path' noted above.

For now I think you need to research which roles you'd rather do: be that research, IBD or investment analysis within asset management.


Peruse these links:
Mergers and Inquisitions, the Unofficial Guide to Banking, TargetCareers - Banking, AllAboutFinanceCareers and the Investment Banking Guide by Vault, Wall Street Oasis - FAQ, How to get a spring week


There's also a how to get a job in finance post stickied in this forum which I posted.




Posted from TSR Mobile
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Namra04
There are some that are partaking in this 'investment2020' scheme, which is a way for school leavers to get into IB. But I don't really understand how it would work. Perhaps getting a degree is the best way, but I'm worried I won't get any experience that would give me an advantage over others. Spring internships is perhaps the next best time where I could try getting some experience.
Thank you for all the advice you have given, you have been very useful 🤗
All the best to you too! Are you wanting to do something similar?


I've seen this, it's not a tested route yet so if you were to be applying to this just know you would be taking a high level of career risk.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Fantastic Fan
At-least I'm glad you knew this was addressed to you.

And let me ask you, you said I should've done some research about banking before I asked the question. What do you think is the point of asking the question?


What you did is the equivalent of making fun of a fat person for going to the gym.


The point is: there's a sticky in this forum which quite literally says 'how to get a job in high finance' and a quick google of 'investment banking' would yield quite a lot of info (especially the front office v back office distinction).

As an analyst, a lot of the crap you'll do is looking stuff up without asking first.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 13
This is super helpful!! I think you've answered all my questions. Thank you very much! I'm most definitely going down the investment analysis route but I'll do some research into the others with the links you've provided.
Thank you once again 🤗

Original post by Princepieman
Investment banks don't do any apprenticeships for their front office roles, you'll mostly find only some accounting firms that do that sort of thing.

Generally, the path to an IB is quite simple:

Get good grades ---> get into a good uni ---> amass a breadth of work experience/leadership experience along the way --> get on the 'path' by getting through thw assessment stages (tests, assessment centres, interviews etc)

The path referring to spring week in your first year, summer in penultimate year and convert the summer to a grad job offer. If you want to do work at a fundamental hedge fund then you'd have to go through a further 2-4 years within the investment banking division or research division before reaching out to recruiters/your network of friends for roles at hedge funds.

Alternatively, some asset management firms recruit out of undergrad for investment analyst roles - namely the likes of: Schroders, M&G, Fidelity, Aberdeen, BlackRock etc..

Some i-banks have asset management divisions that will follow the same 'path' noted above.

For now I think you need to research which roles you'd rather do: be that research, IBD or investment analysis within asset management.


Peruse these links:
Mergers and Inquisitions, the Unofficial Guide to Banking, TargetCareers - Banking, AllAboutFinanceCareers and the Investment Banking Guide by Vault, Wall Street Oasis - FAQ, How to get a spring week


There's also a how to get a job in finance post stickied in this forum which I posted.




Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Princepieman
The point is: there's a sticky in this forum which quite literally says 'how to get a job in high finance' and a quick google of 'investment banking' would yield quite a lot of info (especially the front office v back office distinction).

As an analyst, a lot of the crap you'll do is looking stuff up without asking first.

Posted from TSR Mobile


Well excuse me for doing the mistake of asking a question without checking with google first.

I should've known that before you ask a question on TSR you should have at-least written a dissertation on it first.

I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you Pieman.
Original post by Fantastic Fan
Well excuse me for doing the mistake of asking a question without checking with google first.

I should've known that before you ask a question on TSR you should have at-least written a dissertation on it first.

I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you Pieman.


Don't need a dissertation, just need a bit of initiative.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Fantastic Fan
Well excuse me for doing the mistake of asking a question without checking with google first.

I should've known that before you ask a question on TSR you should have at-least written a dissertation on it first.

I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you Pieman.


He may come off as harsh, but bear in mind he essentially answers the same questions every single day for years whereas most of these questions are indeed pretty damn superfluous after a 5m browse on google
Original post by Princepieman
Don't need a dissertation, just need a bit of initiative.

Posted from TSR Mobile


I don't really care what you think.
Original post by Fantastic Fan
I don't really care what you think.


Cool, then don't post questions on this forum

Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 19
I don't understand where this argument has started from but I needed a post on ib separately because I needed some clarity. I apologise if those that have replied have felt that they are constantly repeating themselves.
I have got what I was looking for, you all have been very helpful. Let's end it on a good note guys ✌🏼

Original post by Metrododo
He may come off as harsh, but bear in mind he essentially answers the same questions every single day for years whereas most of these questions are indeed pretty damn superfluous after a 5m browse on google

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