Are you a freshman or sophomore interested in investment banking? Breaks are the perfect time to start the investment banking recruitment process. The investment banking recruitment process is a lengthy one that generally culminates around your sophomore and junior year. I will explain how to approach the Summer Analyst recruitment process.

As a first-year student, breaks are a great time to get acquainted with investment banking by looking at websites such as Mergers & Inquisitions and Wall Street Oasis. Please take everything you read here with a grain of salt! While Hamilton is not considered a “target school”—somewhere multiple investment banks formally recruit on campus—there is a wealth of information that you can find online and plenty of Hamilton alums who can serve as great resources and connections down the road.

• First-years: Start by looking for summer internships at local wealth management.
• Sophomores: This fall break is a great time to start sending emails to Hamilton alumni (and even other NESCAC, and/or non-NESCAC, alumni). While this may seem daunting, the more emails and conversations you have, the more natural this process becomes. Additionally, using the previously mentioned resources to understand what you can say about yourself and what questions you can ask people in investment banking is very helpful.

If you are nervous about interviewing, starting to look at the behavioral and technical interview questions (via PDFs found on the websites I mentioned) can help you prepare for interviews and see if you have an interest in the work of an investment banker. In next month’s newsletter, I will cover how to approach the interview process, so look forward to that!