What the path to investment banking actually involves
Investment banking is not a single job title — it is a set of roles across deal teams that help companies raise money, buy other companies, or restructure their finances. The entry point is almost always an analyst position at a bank, which means you work in a specific division (mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, corporate finance) and spend your first two years building financial models, writing pitch books, and sitting in on client calls. From there you move to associate, then vice president, then managing director — but the first step is getting hired as an analyst, and that step has a specific shape.
The timeline from college to analyst job is typically four years of undergraduate study plus a summer internship between junior and senior year. Some people take a year or two off after college to work elsewhere first, but most banks hire their full-time analysts from the pool of people who interned there the summer before. If you did not intern at a bank, you can still get hired, but you are competing against people who already know the work and the people in the office.
Key Takeaways
- Investment banking analyst roles require a bachelor's degree and usually a summer internship at a bank before your senior year of college.
- The three main divisions are mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and corporate finance, and each has slightly different day-to-day work.
- You need to pass the Series 7 and Series 63 exams after you are hired, which your employer will pay for and give you study time to prepare.
- Networking with bankers at recruiting events and through alumni connections matters more than your major — banks hire from engineering, history, and economics equally.
- The job involves long hours (60 to 80 per week as an analyst) and is designed to be a two-to-three-year stepping stone, not a career endpoint for most people.
The three main divisions and what each one does
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is the largest division at most banks. You work on deals where one company buys another, or where a company is broken up and sold in pieces. Your job is to build financial models that show what the deal is worth, write documents that explain why the buyer should pay a certain price, and help the client think through the structure of the transaction. A typical deal takes three to six months from first conversation to closing, and you might work on three or four deals at once.
Capital markets is where you help companies raise money by selling stock or bonds to investors. You write the pitch materials, coordinate with the legal team, and help price the offering. This division tends to have more client-facing work and less modeling than M&A, and the hours are somewhat more predictable because offerings have hard important date set by the company and the market.
Corporate finance is smaller and more specialized. You advise companies on large financial decisions — whether to take on debt, how to structure a dividend, whether to spin off a division. The work is similar to M&A in that you build models, but the deals are less transactional and more advisory.
Education and credentials you need before you are hired
You need a bachelor's degree from any school. Banks do not require a specific major — they hire from engineering, English, economics, and business equally. What matters is that you can do math, write clearly, and think logically about financial problems. Some schools have stronger recruiting relationships with banks (Princeton, Penn, Michigan, Cornell, and the Ivies generally), which means banks send recruiters there and hire more people. But you can get hired from any school if you network and interview well.
You do not need an MBA to become an analyst. You get hired straight out of college. Some people get an MBA later, after they have worked as an analyst and associate, but that is a separate step that happens after you are already in the industry.
You do not need to pass any securities exams before you are hired. Your employer will pay for you to study for and take the Series 7 (General Securities Representative Exam) and Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent State Law Exam) after you start. Most banks give you two to three months to pass both. These exams test your knowledge of securities law and financial products, and they are required because you will be advising clients on investments and deals.
How to get a summer internship, which is the main hiring pipeline
Banks recruit for summer internships starting in the fall of your junior year. They come to campus, hold information sessions, and accept applications through their websites. The process is: submit a resume and cover letter, do a phone or video interview, then come in for a final round of interviews (usually two to three back-to-back conversations with bankers). The whole process takes four to eight weeks.
Your resume should show that you can do math and handle responsibility. Work experience matters more than your major — if you have done an internship in finance, accounting, or even operations, that is stronger than no internship. Leadership roles in clubs or sports also count. Banks are looking for people who can manage multiple tasks and communicate clearly, not people with a specific set of skills.
Networking speeds up the process significantly. If you know someone who works at the bank — through family, alumni connections, or a professor — ask them to introduce you to the recruiting team. A referral does not may provide an interview, but it gets your resume in front of the right person and often moves you to the front of the queue.
What happens after you are hired as an analyst
You start with a training program that lasts two to four weeks. The bank teaches you how to use Excel, how to build financial models, how to read financial statements, and what the different types of deals look like. Then you are assigned to a division and a team, and you start working on real deals.
As an analyst, you are the person who builds the models, writes the first drafts of pitch materials, and coordinates logistics. You are not the person who talks to clients or makes decisions — that is the associate and vice president. But you are the person who does the work that those decisions are based on, so the quality of your work matters directly to the deal.
The job is demanding. Analyst hours are typically 60 to 80 hours per week, with occasional weeks that go much longer when you are closing a deal. You work nights and weekends. This is not a secret — banks are explicit about it in recruiting. The expectation is that you do this for two to three years, then move on to business school, a private equity firm, a hedge fund, or a corporate finance role at a company.
The recruiting timeline and what to expect at each stage
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Fall of junior year | Banks hold recruiting events on campus and accept applications for summer internships |
| October to November | Phone and video interviews; final round interviews at the bank's office |
| November to December | Offers extended; you accept and commit to the internship |
| June to August (summer after junior year) | You intern; most interns who perform well receive full-time offers for after graduation |
| Senior year | You finish college; you may interview for other banks if you did not get a return offer |
| June after graduation | You start as an analyst; you study for Series 7 and 63 exams |
Alternative paths if you did not intern at a bank
If you graduate without a banking internship, you can still get hired as an analyst, but you will be competing against people who already know the work. The strongest alternative is to work in accounting, corporate finance, or operations for one to two years, then explore to banks. This gives you financial knowledge and shows that you can handle the work. Banks will hire you as an analyst even if you are a few years out of college.
Another path is to start at a smaller bank or a regional office of a large bank, where the competition is less intense. You build experience there, then move to a larger bank or a major office. This takes longer, but it is a real path.
Some people go to business school first, then recruit for analyst roles from their MBA program. This is less common because you are older and more expensive to hire, but it works if you have strong work experience and a top-tier MBA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be good at math to become an investment banker?
You need to be comfortable with math and able to build financial models, but you do not need to be a mathematician. Most of the math is arithmetic and basic algebra — adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers in a spreadsheet. If you passed calculus in college, you have more than enough math ability. The harder part is thinking logically about financial problems and communicating your analysis clearly.
What is the difference between investment banking and commercial banking?
Investment banking helps companies raise money and do deals. Commercial banking lends money to companies and individuals. The work is completely different, the hours are different, and the pay is different. If you want to become an investment banker, you need to explore to investment banking divisions, not commercial banking divisions.
How much do investment banking analysts make?
Analyst salaries vary by bank and by year, but most large banks pay between $80,000 and $120,000 base salary, plus a bonus that can be equal to or larger than the base. Smaller banks and regional offices pay less. The bonus depends on how well the bank did that year and how well your team did.
Can I become an investment banker if I did not go to an Ivy League school?
Yes. Banks hire from all schools, though they recruit more heavily at schools with strong alumni networks in finance. If you go to a non-target school, you need to network harder and interview better, but it is absolutely possible. Many successful bankers came from state schools and regional colleges.
What do people do after they leave investment banking?
Most analysts leave after two to three years. Common next steps are business school, private equity, hedge funds, corporate finance roles at large companies, and startups. Some people stay in banking and move up to associate and vice president, but that is less common. The analyst role is designed as a stepping stone, and banks expect most people to leave.