5 tips on getting into investment banking

Working in investment banking, you'll get to put your excellent number-crunching ability to good use while earning an impressive salary

What is investment banking?

An investment banker helps raise capital to fund their clients' activities. Your role may involve processing large and complicated transactions for companies, such as mergers, acquisitions, and business structuring. You could also be exploring ways to grow your client's business while acting as a corporate financial adviser.

How to become an investment banker

1. Be sure this is the right job for you

Investment bankers often come from a range of backgrounds and use their transferable skills to join related professions, possibly moving into a research, trading or structuring post. However, they often fit a certain person profile - graduates prepared for a demanding and potentially stressful job. While there are similarities between roles, they require different skill sets and personal attributes.

For instance, if you're working on the operational side, your team will be responsible for processing and settling transactions. You'll need to be hard-working and have excellent numerical and analytical skills.

Corporate investment banking involves providing financial services to other companies and organisations. You could work on mergers and acquisitions, lending or bonds and shares. As you'll be providing strategic advice to your clients and working under extreme pressure, you must be good at negotiation and have strong interpersonal skills.

2. Choose your investment banking career

While some graduates will join finance graduate schemes run by the leading investment banks, competition for places can be fierce.

High Fliers' The Graduate Market in 2024 report shows that 2023 vacancies were down by 12% (285 graduate positions) compared to the previous year. It also revealed that applications were up 13% on the 2022 intake, with greater competition for these limited spots.

Another option for those who haven't attended university is an investment banking degree apprenticeship, where you'll study while working. Read more about the top UK banking apprenticeships.

Although landing a position with one of the top investment banks can be challenging, the financial rewards are worth it.

Indeed, you can earn around £30,000 to £40,000 starting as a corporate investment banker, and £25,000 as an operational investment banker, with rapid salary progression the norm in this industry. After two to three years in these roles, you could be taking home £50,000 to £70,000 or £35,000 to £50,000 respectively.

Entering the profession as an investment analyst is a common graduate role for those who've gone down the standard route of studying at school/college followed by university. Even this entry-level job pays well, especially in London, with graduates typically starting on a salary of £28,000 to £40,000.

Search all investment banking graduate jobs.

3. Study for an investment banking degree

Employers dedicate sizeable resources to training their staff, but a Bachelors degree is expected for most investment banking graduate jobs. This is why it can take four years to become an investment banker - three years at university plus one to two years in an analyst role.

The degree doesn't necessarily have to be in a finance-related subject, but it should have a strong maths focus, such as economics, business or management. A 2:1 or above is typically required by the top investment banks.

Firstly, there's the three-year full-time BSc Finance (Investments) at the University of Reading, an affiliated Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) programme.

The BSc Investment and Financial Risk Management at Bayes Business School is an ACCA-accredited programme, which includes an optional one term/year spent studying abroad.

The CFA Society of the UK (CFA UK) offers the entry-level Certificate in Investment Management (IMC) award, providing knowledge in research analysis, portfolio management and other key investment activities. You can either do this Level 4 qualification through self-study and register for the IMC exam yourself or through a recognised training provider such as BPP or Kaplan.

At Masters level, you can study a two-year, part-time Sustainable and Digital Banking (Retail) MSc through Cranfield University's School of Management, which covers aspects of investment banking.

What's more, this postgraduate investment banking course is accredited by the Chartered Banker Institute (CBI) and provides a pathway to achieving the Chartered Diploma Professional qualification and gaining chartered banker status.

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Bayes Business School and Warwick Business School (WBS) are just a few other institutions offering postgraduate finance courses with units relevant to investment banking.

As you consider studying for further investment banker qualifications, a popular option is to enrol on the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) programme.

To be eligible for this internationally renowned investment management qualification (equivalent to a Masters), you'll need a degree, four years' professional work experience or a combination of work and study totalling four years.

To progress to senior roles, many investment bankers study for an MBA (Master of Business Administration) in finance - see finance qualifications.

Search postgraduate courses in investment banking.

4. Do an investment banking internship

Many of the top banks and financial institutions offer summer finance internships in corporate or investment banking, including:

For instance, J.P. Morgan offers 10 to 12-week investment banking internships for penultimate-year university students. You'll get to learn key technical skills by working on deals and transactions for the company's clients.

The 10-week summer investment banking analyst internship with Citi is for penultimate and final-year students interested in business. To be eligible for this London-based position, you'll need a 2:1 in a quantitative subject such as data science, economics, finance or statistics.

If you have a strong interest in financial markets and technology, a summer internship with Bloomberg will provide you with all the training you need for a role in this area. Typically lasting between six to ten weeks, but potentially up to six months - you can work in one of its main functions such as data, news, or analytics and sales.

Getting on-the-job-experience and practical skills training will give you the perfect grounding in investment banking. The best-performing students may even receive full-time job offers upon completion.

However, it's important to make an informed decision by learning about the different work experience opportunities and choosing one that best suits your interests.

In addition to ensuring your CV truly reflects your skills and abilities (such as collaboration, self-discipline, and perseverance), ensure it's tailored to the job description and specific internship you're applying for.

To secure a place on a graduate scheme, your chances of success will be greater if you've already undertaken an internship or work placement with the employer, as investment banks place such strong importance on work experience.

Search for banking and finance internships.

5. Attend events and network

You can sign up for information sessions through your careers service and you'll find opportunities to speak to employers at recruitment events. Virtual talks can also provide a taster of what your day-to-day work as an investment banker may involve.

Meanwhile, there's no excuse not to be well-connected with employers on networks such as LinkedIn - many people end up finding a job with help from social media.

When you land your first investment banking job, aim to keep in touch with your peers. Not only can these industry professionals provide valuable career guidance, but they also have the potential to aid your career progression further down the line.

In this career, it's important never to stand still so take advantage of any opportunities to engage in continuing professional development (CPD).

Find out more

Get an overview of the UK's financial sector.
Explore other graduate finance jobs.
Consider related careers in business, consulting and management.