I wouldn’t bring it up unless they specifically ask about your GPA and what happened. Otherwise, you are calling attention to something that doesn’t need any attention brought to it, and appearing as though you are making excuses/seeking validity for your sub par performance in the class. Simple put, the hard truth is that is no one forced you to take the class and you weren’t truly wronged; you just got overloaded and messed up – it happens, but you don’t want to call attention to it since, at the end of the day, banking is a job that regularly “overloads” its junior resources.

Help! I attend a semi-target (but my school is only a semi-target in its business school) and want to break into IB, but I don’t really want to major in finance. If I transfer to a target school that does not have a B school, will I still have to major in math or econ?

First, you could always double major in something business and something humanities at your semi-target. That said, since you might not want to or be able to double major while maintaining a high GPA – understandable – I’ll move on to your question. So, given that your school’s b school is the semi-target, you are definitely much better off in the b school – being that it is a strong business school, if you don’t want to take on a business major, it will be tough to compete with the b school students and you probably won’t get nearly as much recognition, if any, with on-campus recruiting and such (just as with students of NYU vs NYU Stern). Furthermore, you’d really have to prove your interest in IB considering you opted to stay away from the B school.

To your last issue, at another school that does not offer a b school, you would NOT need to major in econ or math. Majoring in econ or math helps, but it is not essential if you attend a school like princeton, harvard or yale. You will, however, still need to prove that you are analytically inclined and be able to defend your interest in IB – especially if you are pursuing a major that is not quantitatively and/or analytically demanding.

I am a math major in a strong semi-target school with a 3.9 GPA. I am a rising junior and want to how I can break into IB as a SA next summer.

You’ve definitely got a good GPA, have a quantitatively demanding major and attend a good school. You’re in pretty good shape on the surface, but I would recommend, first and foremost that you start networking ahead of the resume drops for your upcoming junior year. Having some support from alumni at the IBs will definitely help you to get your foot in the door (on that same note, you will also want to make sure that your resume in looking very good and error free).

Moving past networking, you will want to make sure your interview skills are good and that you are ready to tackle the fit questions FOR SURE. You will wan to know why IB, why that bank, why your school, why your major, how your major has prepared you for banking, leadership, strengths, weaknesses and all of the rest (check this out for more interview help). Additionally, as a math major, you will want to be prepared for brain teaser questions testing your reasoning and analytical problem solving skills – such as the how many bowling balls in the Chrysler building question.

Finally, although you are not a finance/accounting major, you should not think you are exempt from finance/accounting questions. No, you probably won’t be grilled on accretion/dilution or weighted average cost of capital, but you should know the basics – the 3 financial statements, what each tells and what each is composed of would definitely help – at the very least.

What is the order of importance: school brand vs. GPA vs. majors (whether single, double, etc)?

School brand is most important, followed by GPA. Last is your major (and your number of majors – see Here for help with majors). If you attend a target school, then school brand and GPA far outweigh chosen major. If you attend a non-target, choosing to double major in finance and accounting, for example, will definitely make your candidacy more appealing to IB than majoring in English. Therefore, if you attend a non-target, your GPA and major(s) become quite important as a means of separating yourself from the other non-target students and showing that you are interested in the field and that you will be capable of hitting the ground running in terms of technical knowledge (which will at the very least make you more appealing to those small boutique shops that don’t have structured training programs).

Would it be weird to contact people on LinkedIn who share group affiliation but are not alumni?

As long as there is some common ground/point to make contact, it is fine to reach out to the person. That said, alumni and friends of friends are your best bets on LinkedIn and reaching out to someone simply because they are a member of a common group (especially if the group has 250, 500+ people) will lead to far more dead ends than the previous 2 avenues.

That said, it is definitely an avenue that you can pursue, and as long as you don’t repeatedly message the person (in other words, messaging and messaging the person when he/she doesn’t respond), you should be fine.

How plausible is it for a History and Government major from a non-HYP ivy to get offers in IB? I just internally transferred from a business-type major at an ivy to a more liberal arts type program within the university and will probably double major in history and gov’t. Also, how much does a minor/relevant coursework matter?

A minor helps a bit and relevant coursework, especially in a non-finance/accounting major helps as well. That said, you are not being completely clear with your school description. I understand the need to keep your school confidential, but if you are talking about Stanford, then your major would be fine. If, however, you are talking about U Penn, or NYU, for example, you really want to be in the business school (assuming you are talking about a business school and not just an Econ major), as the business school is the target for IB.

If you are in the second category, you are definitely better off majoring in business (or doubling) for 2 reasons: 1) your school could very well be a target for the B school and not necessarily a strong target (or target at all) for the univ as a whole, and 2) if you mention that you previously majored in finance/accounting, the question will come up as to why you dropped the major even though you want to break into IB (and even if you don’t mention the dropped major, you will need a very good answer as to why you chose your major(s), yet want to apply them to IB).

Can you include live deals that you were working on in your resume even if they’re not yet closed?

If you are working on a live transaction you really want to tread softly in terms of detail. It is definitely fine to put down deals that are in process, just don’t state that the deal is closed, instead write something like “pending $XXX million transaction…” for example.

In terms of content – I would write what type of transaction, how much $ and industry – in terms of general industry vs. being a bit more specific in terms of type or niche or actual function/product within the industry, you want to use your best judgment. A very public deal in process should demand a bit more ambiguity than a small deal that hasn’t picked up any press/attention.

Do employers care about minors at all? For example, is there a difference between taking lots of finance classes and earning a minor or between being fluent in Spanish and getting a minor in Spanish?

For Spanish, it depends on the firms you are looking at. If you are interested in working with Spanish speaking firms, countries, or those firms that deal with a predominantly Spanish speaking clientele, then the Spanish fluency will definitely help. If not, then it really won’t matter.

Regarding the Finance/Accounting/Business minor, relevant coursework is more useful than stating a minor. While relevant coursework isn’t the most important factor by any means, having a few relevant courses can definitely help, especially with smaller shops. That said, a finance/accounting minor won’t hurt you by any means either, and if you have or are planning to take the coursework necessary anyway, then why not minor.

Between the 2 options, unless the very first scenario I described applies to you, I would go for the Finance minor/coursework over the Spanish (besides, if you are fluent in Spanish already, you can absolutely include it in your resume without a minor).

Let’s be honest with ourselves; there are many reasons why students do not end up going to a top-tier or, for sake of this site, Target school. Many students slacked off in high school only to realize in college that there are more opportunities readily available to students of Target schools. For others, one bad day on the SAT, not enough extra curricular activities, or coming from a key demographic where huge numbers of students apply each year, all could have meant either denial of admission or not enough financial aid to make the option viable. There are other reasons, but let’s not harp on the negative. Here’s the $20,000 question: you’re not in the Target school, so what now – How do I break into Investment Banking?

Unless you have the usual “ins” that make it all possible, i.e. knowing a CEO, CFO, group head, or even several MDs, in a large IB, prestigious boutique, or the like, I can tell you from personal experience that it’s not easy, but absolutely possible. The first step is to do some research, put in the time learning the game as far what you’ll be doing in your immediate position, why you want to do it, and how you know that you can handle it, because coming from a non-Target, you will be grilled on the ins and outs of the business more than others. Start, or continue reading the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and investment banking insider web pages such as This Site, Dealbreaker and Clusterstock (see sidebar on the right for the full list) for current market and deal-related events, and insider perspectives into the business. Additionally, I would recommend familiarizing yourself with some general Excel and PowerPoint tips, tricks and skills – this can only help you both on the job and during the interview as I have been asked on more than one occasion (especially at the boutique shops) where on the scale I would rank my Excel skills.

As part of familiarizing yourself with the profession, lay out a plan of achieving your goals. You will probably not find yourself being offered a bulge bracket, investment banking internship your first summer interviewing, especially in this market, so don’t expect it. By all means apply to them, but at the least it is important to get into a good bank, even if it is not directly related to your field. Working for a summer in a high intensity group on the control, wealth management or trading sides at a top-tier bank will open doors for the next summer, and allow you to transition into that front office investment banking position. It doesn’t matter wheich group you worked in for a summer at Goldman Sachs (yes if it in banking it will obviously help more than the other groups to get you into banking), the employer was Goldman Sachs, so clearly you’ve got something to offer, and your interests may just be in investment banking instead of wealth management; no feelings hurt, no harm done, but a good name on your resume. Along the same lines, if banking is what you want to do, don’t underestimate the power of working for a summer, or a summer plus a winter semester at a small investment banking or M&A (mergers and acquisitions) boutique. There is a strong skill set to be gained through working for a small boutique, and remember, deal exposure is deal exposure and banking experience is banking experience – absolutely take it if you can get it.

Next and I can’t stress this enough (especially in light of current employment conditions and opportunities, or lack there of), network, network, and, of course, network some more. Not just at job fairs, but attend school-run career information sessions hosted by banks (even if they’re not for banking), contact alumni, current students who have already interned, and check the family/friend tree; you never know who will work in, or happen to know someone who works in the field and is eager to pass along your resume or a good word (don’t lead off with that request though, please). And remember, when it comes to networking, it’s an investment into your future, not an opportunity to beg for a job (you get the idea – it’s a marathon not a 100 yard dash). As an aside, I would recommend starting some sort of spreadsheet, which includes the name, phone number, email address, company and position, and other notes such as last date of communication for each new person (read: contact) you meet.

This is a more general point for students still in undergraduate school; if you have a good GPA, and have taken some challenging accounting, finance or math courses, showcase them! Show off that 3.8 or 3.9 GPA; show off your advanced corporate finance, intermediate financial accounting, linear algebra, or ordinary differential equations courses, you never know what will stand out as an impressive mark or credit to your intellect to someone looking at your resume. If you don’t have an outstanding GPA, work on getting your major GPA up so that you can include that in your resume so as to not arouse the red flag associated with a GPA-less resume.

Regarding the resume, the heart of every job application, make sure to use a professional “banker” style format, and I would also recommend using a resume proofing and editing service to ensure that you are properly showcasing your hobbies, work experience and scholastic accolades. Recently, one of my colleagues received a phone call regarding his resume. On this call he was told that his resume would not be forwarded because it didn’t look like the resume of an investment banker. He works in banking, but the format was juvenile, without structure, and lacked the “pop” that a banker’s resume demonstrates. Needless to say, he asked me to revamp his entire resume later that day. As embarrassing as the situation was for my colleague, he was luckier than most people who face the same problem, because these people are rarely, if ever told how their resume stacks up against others and where it needs the most dramatic improvement/alteration. I would recommend the same type of service, or a trusted colleague’s perspective, as it pertains to cover letters, which should always be included with your resume. Remember, in a market like this, everyone, top-tier or not, needs to find any way that he/she can to stand out and above the rest.

To summarize:

1. Make sure banking is right for you, and if it is, make the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and investment banking web sites your close friends – they’re among the best ways to familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of the field.

2. Plot your course and be sensible – remember, a strong brand name goes a long way, but at the same time, don’t doubt the skills you can attain by working at a small investment banking boutique – deal exposure is deal exposure.

3. Network, network, and more networking – enough said.

4. A high GPA and challenging course load goes a long way, so show it off.

5. Have a friend or good service review your resume and at least one cover letter to make sure you are pointed in the right direction and don’t fall into any of the common pitfalls.

Have your own theories, want to share your opinions or concerns, need some help or just want to say hello….leave some comments…most will be posted for all to read…so make them good. Don’t forget to stay in the loop for my upcoming posts including more tips on breaking in from a non-Target school and a Target school, dressing the part, when to stand out as an analyst, and much more – RSS and Email updates…get them now.