How to Prepare for a Career in Investment Banking: Tips for Students
Investment banking is one of the most sought-after careers among students because it offers generous compensation as well as great exit opportunities. An investment banking career generally starts as an analyst for a securities firm, commercial bank, or investment bank. Analysts work on teams to provide financial advice and also assist in raising capital. Once these professionals gain substantial experience they can progress in their career journey to become Associates, and then later even Vice Presidents of their company.
If investment banking professionals keep on performing well in the job they can even rise to the position of Managing Partner. This position requires overseeing the firm’s most important clients and transactions and leading teams.
However, making a career in investment banking is difficult, and landing a job in this field requires specific skills and knowledge. Enrolling and completing investment banking courses can maximise your chances of getting hired and ensure that you achieve success in your role. However, certain tips can help make your dream of building an investment banking career a reality. Keep on reading!
What is Investment Banking?
Before you start with the tips on how to build an investment banking career, understand what is investment banking.
Investment banking is a distinct sub-section of banking operations and it involves raising capital and providing financial consultancy services to companies, organisations as well as individuals. As an investment banker, an individual works as a financial intermediary who assists clients with large and complex financial transactions.
Apart from this, some other crucial services that investment banks provide include:
- Proprietary trading
- Equity and debt capital raising
- Restructuring aid
- Mergers and acquisitions
- IPO issuance
- Bond insuring
- Leveraged financing
Investment Banking Career Hierarchy
When you enter the professional arena after completing investment banking courses, the career path and corporate hierarchy in this field are well-defined.
- Intern or summer intern
- Analyst
- Associate
- Vice President
- Director of Senior VP (SVP)
- Managing Director (MD)
Different companies can have variations and slightly different titles, but this is what the basic investment banking career path looks like.
How to Prepare For a Career in Investment Banking?
Below given tips can help you prepare better for a career in investment banking.
- Research thoroughly: Remember, that like any other industry, not every investment bank works in the same manner. This is why you need to have a clear vision of what you are looking for based on your career goals. Once you are clear about your goals, research on different banks and their specialisation and what you will bring to the table. Research will help you in your interviews and you prove your eligibility to the panel.
- Network, network, network: The corporate world is all about building relationships and investment banking is the same. To succeed you need to network and you need to do it well. Networking done poorly is cold and transactional and it will get you nowhere. On the other hand, networking done well can help you build real relationships with industry professionals. You can attend networking events, find people through your connections, and cold email potential contacts.
- Gain experience: Investment banking is one field where the caliber of internships as well as your work experience in the sector is extremely crucial. If you want to build a career in this field, try to land a summer internship in a top firm, and in case you are unable to do that, find other opportunities that require financial skills like startups or fintech companies.
Build technical skills with relevant investment banking courses & prepare for interviews: Investment banking courses can help you build your skills and prepare for quantitative interviews. Taking up a structured course through a reputed platform like Imarticus Learning will help you gain in-depth knowledge of global investment banking and capital markets.
Conclusion
The hiring process for investment banking is extremely formulaic and to successfully get through this process you need to have the right knowledge and tick all the boxes without making any mistakes. This includes building a great resume, doing well academically, gaining the right knowledge through investment banking courses, and demonstrating that you are capable of facing and answering both technical and behavioural questions well.
Imarticus Learning can help you build a career in investment banking successfully. The Certified Investment Banking Operations Professional (CIBOP) course has been guiding finance professionals for over a decade, shaping careers and turning dreams into reality.
Disclaimer: This article is part of sponsored content programme. The Tribune is not responsible for the content including the data in the text and has no role in its selection.
