Key Career Info: Finance
About the Industry Area
- Unique Pathways for Investment Banking
- 20+ Popular Careers in Finance (Forage.com)
- Pro Forma Futures – resource with helpful information, templates, and resources
- Financial Career Options for Professionals (Investopedia)
- Finance Career Cluster (O*NET)
- Breaking Down “Corporate Finance”
See Also: Investments & Capital Markets
- Asset Management
- Commercial Banking
- Investment Banking
Finance Fast Track: The suggested four year curricular and co-curricular sequence for students interested in finance and banking careers.
Student Involvement Opportunities
- Women in Business
- Investment Club
- Student employment: Business Office
- Student employment: Teaching Assistant for economics or management studies courses
- Treasurer of student clubs/organizations
- Financial Officer for the Student Government Association, Student Organizations Committee, Volunteer Network, or the Pause Pizza Kitchen
- Pillars of Wall Street
- Lynda.com / LinkedIn Learning’s Excel Tutorials
Recruiting Context
- General finance recruiting is heavy on fall semester side (both internship and full-time interviews are predominantly done in late September/early October). Some firms and companies wait until spring. Investment banking recruiting is primarily conducted through summer internship conversion. While it varies by firm, investment banking internship applications will typically begin in the spring of the sophomore year to secure summer internships after the junior year. Interviews typically take place in the spring and summer– up to a full year before the internships begin.
Job Postings
- St. Olaf’s Handshake database
- Check company websites directly!
- Indeed.com
- Glassdoor.com
Professional Groups
Additional Resources
Asset/Wealth Management
- What Is Asset Management? (Wall Street Oasis)
- What is Wealth Management? (Forbes)
- Asset Management vs. Wealth Management (Smart Asset)
Commercial Banking
- What Is Commercial Banking? (Investopedia)
- Commercial Banking vs. Investment Banking (Wall Street Mojo)
Corporate Development
- What Is Corporate Development? (Investopedia)
Investment Banking
- What Is Investment Banking? (Corporate Finance Institute)
- What do Investment Bankers Do? (Corporate Finance Institute)
- Buy Side vs. Sell Side (Wall Street Mojo)
- Wall Street Wannabe (Industry guide created by Carlson Alum Dino Bilankov)
- 2018 Investment Banking Industry Report (Wall Street Oasis)
See Also: Key Career Info for Finance
Finance Fast Track: The suggested four year curricular and co-curricular sequence for students interested in finance and banking careers.
Student Involvement Opportunities
- Finance Club
- Investment Club
- Women in Business
- Girls Who Invest
- Pillars of Wall Street
- Lynda.com / LinkedIn Learning’s Excel Tutorials
Recruiting Context
- Recruiting change in Spring 2018: Bulge Brackets moved recruiting to April for the following year and many others followed suit
- October 2018 Update: Goldman and JPMorgan announce they will revert back to fall of junior year for internship recruitment
- Sophomore leadership and diversity programs are an important recruiting mechanism in this industry. They often “fast track” candidates for interviews or summer internship experiences. Be active in the spring semester of sophomore year on company websites for applications.
- Investment Banking resumes tend to follow a highly-specified format. Review the following resources for information and samples:
- Investment banking resume template for university students (Mergers & Inquisitions)
- Investment banking resume guide (Wall Street Oasis)
Job Postings
- St. Olaf College’s Handshake database
- Finance Diversity Recruitment Programs
- Check company websites directly! Many postings require you to act right away.
- Suited
Technical Interview Prep Resources
- Key topics: What’s investment banking (capital raising, advising); valuation approaches (DCF, trading comps, precedent transactions, LBO); accounting/financial statements and how they are related (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement); current market knowledge
- Bryan: Let’s develop a website to put all of our finance prep materials behind a firewall just like we do for consulting.
- Common Finance Technical Interview Questions
- Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions
- Banker Blueprint