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So we all know by now this is the most competitive area of the London financial landscape.

Institutions can be Buy side or Sell side. You need to have a  very strong CV from a top 10 UK university or similar overseas institution. You need to have secured some sort of Internship in your 2nd summer of university but not necessarily a major financial institution Internship.

You need to apply for your Graduate Scheme late September, October or early November of your final year of university. A number of Graduate Programmes close their appplications before Xmas. You need to be ready for online tests, telephone interviews, Assessment Centres the lot.

A further consideration is that Investment Bank Sales & Trading is not quite what it was. The number of people employed is less than it used to be due to the electronification of markets, shrinking IB balance sheets and onerous financial market regulation post the 2008 Lehman inspired crisis. So the graduate intake size has decreased in this area. The parts of Investment Banking that is in high current demand is Risk Management, Compliance and Regulation. Just food for thought.

A second consideration is whereas if you wanted to be a trader 10 years ago you applied to Deutsche Bank, JPM etc..a lot of traders for the above reasons have moved to the Buy Side of the market either Hedge Funds or large Asset Managers. So taking all this into account it is perhaps worth considering the Buy Side  if you have market trading ambitions.

Furthermore, as I have said elsewhere on OCD, at any bank the job role possibilities include all of…and more

Trading/ sales/ research/ analyst/ human resources/ IT developer/ IT support/ project management/ business management/ finance/ marketing/ risk management

And strangely enough the list of roles at a Fund Management company include all of…and more

Trading/ sales/ research/ analyst/ human resources/ IT developer/ IT support/ project management/ business management/ finance/ marketing/ risk management so there are lots of stream options to consider when applying.

Having said all this how can I help you with your Investment Banking application?

Well I certainly recommend you read Careers in Financial Markets 

but you’re going to need deeper knowledge than this.

You need to stay abreast of global financial markets so know all of the Market Knowledge section of OCD as a minimum as well as following OCD fortnightly Market Updates.

Specific Investment Banking Interview Questions are covered on OCD in a Part 1 and Part 2 format.

Finally I recommend some Tier 2 financial job campaign focus even if your heart is set on working for Morgan Stanley.

Good luck

Paul McCormick

Founder of Opening City Doors