Getting a first job in an investment bank: a step by step guide

Getting a job in an investment bank isn't easy. On average, banks are thought to receive 60 applications per place. At some firms the proportion is far higher. In the boom times UBS, for example, estimated that it got 95 applications for every offer made, and Société Générale reckoned it received some 350,000 applications from which it ended up taking about 2,400 graduates.

Hurdle 1: The application form and the CV

Around half of candidates will fall at this first screening stage, says Sarah Crawford, head of graduate recruitment, EMEA, at Goldman Sachs.

Where do people go wrong? Poor English is one failing. Bad spelling, grammar and punctuation can be a real stumbling block, warns the head of graduate recruitment for another major US investment bank.

Filling in multiple application forms and cutting and pasting your responses from one to another is also perilous. Applicants have been known to get banks' names wrong as they skip between one application form and another.

Every form you fill out will require effort and attention - banks want to know why you're applying to them in particular, not why you want to apply to a competitor! For this reason, you are better off focusing your application on a relatively small number of organisations instead of firing it off everywhere. Trendence, a research firm, says that some of the most successful students only apply to three or four places.

Don't expect every bank's application process to be the same. Some, such as Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital, usually use a basic application form on which you list your

details and then attach a CV and covering letter. Others rely on a single, more in-depth online application form.

If the focus is on your CV, make sure that it's simple, easy to read and explains precisely how you can add value to an organisation. Use bullet point points and don't simply list your work experience - say what you did and what you managed to achieve.

"Think about the specific project you were tasked to undertake or play a key role in - what was your input, how successful was the overall project? Consider the deadlines, volumes and targets - did you consistently meet these? Did you exceed targets or expectations?" advises Paula Hewitt, a senior financial services specialist at CV company Fuller CV.

Hurdle 2: The numeracy test

Banks increasingly use tests, which will normally be in English, to check whether candidates are numerate. Some also use language tests to establish candidates' ability to think logically in English.

People applying to Barclays Capital, for example, are usually required to complete a timed numeracy and verbal reasoning test at an early stage in the application process.

"Sometimes students call us up and say their girlfriend rang in the middle of the test. But why was their phone on and why did they answer it? They do not realise how serious and time pressurised it is until they are 12 or 13 minutes in, and by then it is too late," says one head of graduate recruitment.

Although you can't revise for psychometric tests, it will help if you're familiar with the format. Your university careers' office may be able to help with advance preparation. eFinancialCareers.com offers sample question numeracy tests on the Student Centre.

You'll need to do fairly well in psychometric tests to go on to the next stage. Candidates who fail won't be put forward. These tests typically eliminate 50-60% of applicants.

Hurdle 3: The interview

To describe this section as "the interview" is probably wrong: most banks interview students more than once.

The majority will conduct at least two rounds of interviews - a preliminary screening with Human Resources, followed by a further more testing one with line managers.

Some banks, such as SocGen and Barclays Capital, use telephone interviews to screen candidates before meeting them face to face.

What can you expect from a telephone interview? "The questions will normally be about the role and the industry, but will not be too technical. So, for instance, you might be asked to discuss a particular aspect of investment banking," says the head of graduate recruitment at one bank.

At a first interview, banks will want to ensure you're really committed to a career in banking and are a good 'cultural fit'. "You are guaranteed to be asked some questions

about your drive and motivation. We don't want people who give textbook answers about being a team player. We're looking for natural dialogue with real life examples," says another graduate recruitment head.

In subsequent rounds, banks will drill down on your technical aptitude. For example, applicants for fixed-income sales roles might be asked how bond prices respond to interest rate adjustments and why.

If you make it to the second round of interviews at Goldman Sachs, you could be subjected to as many as six interviews of between half an hour and an hour. Your interviewers will probably be 'associates' (relatively junior bankers with a few years' experience), who are likely to ask questions testing your numerical, commercial and technical awareness (eg, where do you think oil prices will go next?).

If you want to be successful at interview, you'll need to make sure you can answer questions about why you want that particular job in that particular institution. Make sure you know exactly what the job entails (eg, by asking alumni, questioning the banks' representatives at milk round events, or by looking at some of the profiles in our 'sector profiles' section). And make sure you're up to date with events surrounding the bank you're applying to. Read the financial press and check the bank's quarterly reports, which will be on its website.

For more information on what to expect in interviews, read our selection of real-life interview questions and answers sent in by readers.

Hurdle 4: The assessment centre

If you make it through the application form/CV, the psychometric tests and the interviews, you may find yourself in an assessment centre.

The idea here is to scrutinise candidates under conditions which approximate the job they'll be doing. Not all banks use them - Goldman Sachs, for example, doesn't - but plenty do.

Assessment centres usually take place over a single day and include a further interview, a numeracy test, plus other forms of psychometric test, a group discussion and a presentation.

On average, 12 candidates participate, but sometimes as many as 30 will be present. Typically, 25-50% of attendees get a job offer. Some banks will ask underperforming candidates to leave halfway through the day.

The psychometric tests at the assessment centre are likely to be a lot more testing than those at the application form stage. As well as a second round of numeracy tests, be prepared to complete logical reasoning and verbal reasoning tests. In logical reasoning tests you're likely to be given a sentence and a set of statements and asked whether the statements can be logically derived from the initial sentence. In verbal reasoning tests you'll be expected to look at a complicated piece of written material - a company report or policy document, for example - and will be tested on the extent to which you understand the key points. If you're applying to a US bank these tests will be in English, so you'll need to be fairly fluent.

Once you've made it through the psychometric tests and interviews, the most challenging part of the assessment centre is probably the group discussion. Around six candidates are given a set amount of time to solve a problem together. The group exercise is partly about observing how you interact in a team environment.

If you're quiet and shy, therefore, make sure you say something! And if you're loud and overbearing, make sure you don't talk over people or put others down.

In the presentation, candidates are normally asked to analyse some data and use it to present a convincing argument on a particular point. Failings include not identifying the salient points, presenting a weak argument and changing your views when challenged.

The content of assessment centres and presentations will vary from bank to bank. At RBS, for example, one operations candidate was asked to give a presentation on how the financial crisis has hit Asia, and faced a group exercise based around a fictitious company looking at which sporting events to sponsor.

At J.P. Morgan, a finance candidate was asked to imagine he was an employee at a new bank which was having teething problems following a merger, and to make a presentation about how he would solve them. For the group exercise, he was asked to look at where to locate an IT support team - Mumbai, Bournemouth or London - and how to fund certain projects.