Off the record: the insider take on getting into banking

Forget the official line - here's what it really takes to land that job in the City.

Names of contributors, who all have first-hand experience of applying to and/or working for the banks, have been removed, for obvious reasons!

Be bullish about your abilities

Most banks ask for candidates with a 2.1 and, to be honest, most of us know whether or not we're on our way to achieving that by the time graduate recruiting season comes round. One graduate knew she was going to get a 2.2 and she knew the bank would pick someone with a first or 2.1 ahead of her. But she put '2.1' onto the application form anyway, without lying. How? Well, the forms ask for your expected grade, so always be bullish and predict a top grade for yourself. The graduate managed to scrape a 2.1 in the end, but she knew of others in her intake who got in with 2.2s who did the same thing. Its all about getting in front of someone - but make sure you blaze the interview and assessment centre.

Emulate winning applications

A strategy that helped one applicant was getting friends who already had offers or had been on internships to let her look at their application forms. If your grades are good but you're not the best at writing - because, for example, you did a degree with a high mathematical content - you may have difficulty producing a polished application form. So, our applicant copied things from her friends' forms but changed the examples to fit her own experiences. She got quite a few interviews - and her current job

Name friends and influence people

Name-drop people at the bank on your application form and in interviews. Not only does this show you have been researching the bank, it shows you have gone to a greater effort than many candidates, who will just have read the website like so many others.

Perhaps Google the bank and the relevant department to find appropriate names - and then call them. Even if you don't speak to the person for very long, you can say you have spoken to them about the bank and the role, and that can impress recruiters and interviewers, especially as they are likely to know the people in the team.

Go straight to the powers that be

Many graduates are lumbered with poor A-level grades, but they may subsequently step up to get a 2.1 degree or masters. However, to make your life easier and to increase your chances of the bank taking a second look, it is always useful before applying to get the name of a decision-maker or another person with clout working in the department you want to work in.

One graduate, on completion of his masters, realised that he may not be accepted onto the graduate programme of his target bank because of his disappointing A-level results. He found out from a current graduate the names of several people supervising the programme and was able to arrange a meeting over the phone to plead his case.

After convincing them that, despite a few bad years, his academic performance had improved and that he only wanted a chance, he was allowed to progress to the interviews and assessments centre and was eventually offered a job.

Find whatever means possible to explain or plead your case to the appropriate people. After all, it's just like buying a lottery ticket - the odds may be against you, but if you never buy a ticket, you will have no chance at all.

Blitz the tests and you're hired

Unfortunately most graduates only start practising for aptitude tests weeks before their assessments - mistake! What many people do not know is that, in most cases, even if you have a bad first interview, you will be asked back for the second round if your initial test scores were well above average. Investment banks want the smartest people and aptitude tests are one of the best ways for them to assess this. So start practising the aptitude tests at least five or six months before - maybe once a week to begin with, but as you approach crunch time crank it up to three or four times a week.

Learn from the horse's mouth

One resourceful graduate's wheeze to help him get through the assessment centre was to make sure he got there early so he could get the gist of what to expect. Although the group he was assigned to was being assessed in the afternoon session, he got to the building a few hours early while other groups were having theirs.

All the candidates being assessed were sat in the same common room, which our graduate infiltrated - everyone just assumed all were in the same morning session. After completing their tasks, candidates would come back and talk about what had happened and, by joining in, our graduate was able to find out what the presentation was about, the nature of the group exercise and the tough questions the interviewers were asking. The result? He got the job.