How to Land a Full-Time Investment Banking Role ?

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As we’ll discuss shortly, pay is very high (i.e. six-figures or more right out of school) relative to most other jobs.

And seven-figures to eight-figures for Senior Investment Bankers (with 10-15 years of experience).

Working in IB early in your career also opens doors to a wide variety of hard-to-get (and even higher-paying) job options down the road.




As a result, competition for Investment Banking job roles is incredibly high across the board.

Whether pre-MBA or post-MBA, incoming Investment Bankers are typically high achievers with high GPAs, high test scores, and a track record of repeated success (in and out of school).


The Pre-MBA Recruiting Cycle

Investment Banks fill most of their Analyst classes with former Summer Interns.

While it is possible to land a full-time job at an Investment Bank without a Summer Internship at that Bank, there are far fewer spots.

So, the best bet for most candidates is to land an internship.

The ‘big’ internship to get in IB is the Junior Summer Internship.  

The Pre-MBA Junior Internship Recruiting Cycle


While it might sound a bit crazy, the recruiting for Junior Summer internships occurs 12-18 months before the internship begins.

As a result, aspiring Analysts should begin preparing to recruit in their sophomore (and sometimes Freshman) year of College.

‘Target’ vs ‘Non-Target’ Schools

Investment Banks recruit on-campus for a select group of schools (or ‘Target Schools‘).

Target schools are composed of top private and public Universities
Schools outside of this group are referred to as ‘Non-Target‘ schools.

Historically, a typical Analyst class would only have a few ‘Non-Target’ Analysts.

In recent years, however, Banks have realized they are missing out on a LARGE pool of highly talented students and are much more open to ‘Non-Target’ Students.

There are also organizations dedicated to helping ‘Non-Target’ students land roles in IB like Access Distributed.

So, the good news is that you can get in if you are at a ‘Non-Target’ School, but it just requires a bit more legwork, largely in the form of extensive networking.

Post-MBA Recruiting Paths

Stick figures showing the three ways to enter Investment Banking after an MBA
There are three ways to get into the upper ranks of the business:

  • Direct Promote – top-performing Analysts promoted to Associate.
  • Top-Tier MBA Graduate – students at high-caliber MBA programs.
  • Lateral Hire – individuals who work at other Investment Banks or sometimes Corporate Finance or Corporate Development roles.
While people get into IB through all three of the routes discussed above, MBA graduates make up the lion’s share of post-MBA Investment Bankers.

MBA Recruiting for Investment Banking is a Bit More Structured

Similar to Pre-MBA recruiting, Post-MBA recruiting is very competitive. But, recruiting at the MBA level is a little more straightforward.

Investment Banks come to the campuses of top-tier MBA programs to recruit. This typically occurs 3-5 months before their Summer Associate internship (between the first and second year) begins.

Do Read : 

What Do Investment Banks Do?

What does an Investment Banker Do?


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