How to Get a Job or Internship on Wall Street

If I time-traveled back to my freshman year of college and I wanted a high-paying internship on Wall Street, here’s what I would do:  

For some background, being a markets analyst is a lucrative career where fresh graduates start cracking six figures in their first year. Wall Street sell-side banks will hire less than 5% of people from their applicant pool, and getting an offer is difficult. 

Despite the difficulty, the hardest part is finding direction. This article will condense 4 years of education from a Top 10 Business School into 15 minutes. If you can’t finish this article… then maybe choose a different career path. 

Below, we’ll focus on 3 major buckets to land a job on Wall Street: 

1. Technical Skills
2. Professional Network
3. Interviews

By understanding the principles and insights behind these three aspects of landing a finance job, you'll be well on your way to securing your next offer.

Where to start?

It can be very intimidating to start when finance professionals seem to speak a whole different language with dozens of unspoken rules.

From my experience, majoring in finance, accounting, or economics can be a wonderful stepping stone, but they come with a lot of gaps you need to fill in. This is because: 

• Some university programs won’t teach you the material needed for interviews
• Many upper-level finance courses are taught past the sophomore and junior year recruiting timeline

So outside of the classroom, how can we learn about this industry? 

1. Mentorship: Find a mentor or upperclassman to teach you. Many organizations and clubs offer educational and networking opportunities.
2. Industry Overview: Learn the most common stock market jobs: Sales & Trading, Equity Research, and Private Wealth Management.
3. General Knowledge: Start with the three accounting statements to understand business operations. Follow the news to learn how businesses perform historically, relative to Wall Street estimates, and compared to the stock market (e.g., S&P500).

Starting with these three steps will help you to build foundational knowledge. Once you've got the basics down, you can start the nitty gritty steps to prep for this role 👇.

Step 1: Technical Prep

Prepping begins with following the news. Personally, I get the majority of my information from 3 sources: articles, podcasts, and economic reports. The goal is to build a sense of fluency as you follow the markets over time. 

Here are some of my favorite places to keep up-to-date on news: 

• Articles: Wall Street Journal or Financial Times daily
• Podcasts: Wall Street Breakfast by Seeking Alpha, Exchanges from Goldman Sachs, Barron’s Streetwise, and MacroVoices (more advanced) 
• Economic Reports: Monthly CPI (inflation), FOMC meetings, and other indicators on Investing.com (check out the calendar tab) 

Pro Tip: Make education a part of your lifestyle – I make it a habit to listen to a podcast every day on my way to school.

On top of this, every time you see a new finance-related word write it down in a notes document. Whenever you have an opinion on how a stock will react to quarterly earnings or news, check the outcome.

Then, use sites like Investopedia for definitions and Bloomberg’s Market Concepts for other concepts (free depending on your school’s subscription) to build knowledge. 

Now that you’ve started consuming knowledge, it’s important to realize that you can’t just regurgitate the news you read about. You must have a view of what you believe will happen, so start to form opinions on what you believe is right. (P.S. No one cares if your opinion is right, they just want you to be able to defend it). 

If you are more comfortable with your finance knowledge, you can begin to look into advanced topics such as: 

• Valuation metrics like trading multiples or DCFs (discounted cash flows). 
• Derivatives
• Different asset classes
• International news

These topics can get very nuanced and I will not explain them in depth, but you should explore them on your own.

Resumes and Cover Letters

Another aspect of having the right technical skills needed to land an interview is the right resume and cover letter.

Here are some standard points to follow for a resume:

• Make your resume easy to read/ATS (applicant tracking system) friendly
• Emphasize quantitative metrics as much as possible
• Pick a simple format, my favorite one is here
• Ask mentors, close connections, and your university career center to look over your resume

And some key points for a strong cover letter:

• Tailor it to the specific role you are applying for
• Talk about your relevant experiences, skills, interest in the role, and personal values
• Clearly discuss why your background aligns with the company culture and job position

Step 2: Professionalism & Networking

While learning about finance is a big part, being personable is just as important to landing the role. Your coworkers want to know that they won’t hate you after sitting next to you for 12 hours a day (and yes, there are days when you will spend more time with your coworkers than with your own family.)

To start framing your mind in the right way, consider The Airport Test. Here's how it goes:

If your flight is delayed 4 hours and you’re stuck in a soul-sucking environment, AKA the airport, would your presence be enjoyable? How would you react in upsetting situations? How do you spend your time and engage with others? 

While it can be subjective, it can also be very useful for determining culture fit.

Another aspect of finance is professionalism. Finance firms will put you in front of a wide range of clients you will need a high level of emotional intelligence to read the room, communicate, and make decisions. 

How do I get better at networking?

Networking is a wonderful and necessary skill. The easiest way to learn these skills is by reaching out and practicing with those already in the industry. 

Here are 3 unique pieces of advice to get better at networking:

1) Bring a notebook/writing utensil to coffee chats:

This is a good way to display interest in the conversation, log important details, and create a social buffer if you feel awkward.

If your networking is taking place over the phone or on Zoom, make sure you mention you are taking notes so that the empty silences are not misinterpreted.

2) Keep the conversation balanced:

The conversation is only as valuable as the effort you put forward. However, the conversation should also flow naturally. Ask questions based on the conversation before you ask your pre-written ones to show your intellectual curiosity.

Some good topics to discuss include their “market outlook” based on their role, where they think the company is headed, and about anything you may have in common.

Keep in mind, these people talk about finance for 12 hours a day so asking a fun or interesting question may be a great distraction. However, you should never get too comfortable, swear, or lose your filter.

3) Understand social cues and use your discretion:

Here are some basic rules of thumb for communicating in the finance industry.

• Send your emails during working hours (7am EST to 6 pm EST) on weekdays, and try to limit Friday emails
• Avoid sending any communication or meeting times during market open, market close, and during important economic releases
• If your goal is to work in Equity Research, don’t bother anyone during earnings season
• End with an action item whenever possible — connections don't mean much if nothing comes out of them
• Always say "thank you" to anyone who agrees to meet with you

How can I expand my network?

Start with family friends, friends of friends, school organizations, or school alumni. These are called warm connections and they have a higher chance of success because you already have some sort of connection with them.

Then, reach out. To get the greatest benefit from this, “namedrop” the person who referred you.

Pro Tip: Mention your connection in the subject line and/or the first sentence of the email to increase the % of people who open your emails or DM’s.

If you don’t know anyone who works on Wall Street within your immediate circle, attend networking events. Follow the bulge bracket and middle market banks on LinkedIn and register for their events, scroll their websites, and sign up for their talent newsletters.

During the events, come prepared with questions, keep your camera on, and follow up after the event.

Cold outreach is another option, but it is harder to pull off. Ask for 15-30 minutes of a recruiter’s time, express your admiration for the company, and your desire to learn more.

Lastly, you may consider contacting people higher up on the corporate ladder. Please note, this is not direct advice and it can be perceived as rude to try to network with someone more important/busy. However, it can be a unique way to find connections.

Email Etiquette

The last note on professionalism is email etiquette – Wall Street expects your emails to be concise and professional.

Here are some pro tips for effective emails:

• Attach your availability, meeting format, and resume in the first email
• Once scheduled, send a confirmation email through Google Calendar to minimize misunderstandings, specifying the time zone and exact date
• Use an automatic email signature with your contact information.
• Adjust the notification settings of the invite so your connection is reminded 15 minutes before AND 2 hours before the meeting — helps to prevent last-minute cancellations and no-shows

Step 3: Interviews

All the work we have completed so far is what you do to GET the opportunity.

The next step is to secure the internship, which comes down to interviews.

Below, we're going to cover these typical interview formats:

1. The HireVue Interview
2. Behavioral Interview
3. Technical Interview
4. Experience Interview

All of these can be friendly, but they will usually push you to a breaking point. The interviewer wants to see how you handle stress and will ask more and more detailed questions.

Let's go into how to pass each one and how they work:

The HireVue

Something you might come across is HireVue interviews. These are automatically assigned and don't include an interviewer, and they contain a list of pre-determined interview questions you answer by videotaping yourself. Despite a lack of an interviewer, they can still feel really high pressure.

Here's how to crush them:

• Be more expressive because it can be difficult without a real-life interviewer
• Dress professionally, have good lighting, and clean up your surroundings
• Hold eye contact with the camera
• If you are easily distracted, some platforms allow you to minimize your screen so you don’t have to stare at yourself – take advantage of that
• Each company reviews these interviews differently so record yourself beforehand and prepare accordingly

Pro tip: The Google Interview Warmup tool gives you access to industry questions and provides live feedback on your answers.

Behavioral Interview

Behavioral interviews assess your past experiences to predict future performance. This is your chance to showcase how you align with the company culture and job requirements.

Common questions and how to ace them:

• Tell me about yourself: This is often the opening question for an interview. Craft a concise narrative that highlights your skills and experiences relevant to the role. People love stories – a story about your love for baseball statistics leading you to find a passion for the stock market is better than a story of wanting to make money and picking finance.
• Walk me through your resume: Sometimes interviewers will choose a random experience or accomplishment on your resume, so know your resume well. It helps to have your resume pulled up on the side so you can reference it.
• Tell me about a time when…: This question can literally be about anything. Leadership, collaboration, conflict mediation, and stress management are all on the table. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your responses.

Preparation:

• STAR Stories: Develop 10-15 STAR stories covering themes like leadership, teamwork, conflict resolution, and integrity.
• Connect to Company: Relate your experiences to the company's values and the finance industry. That means you need to research the company through its websites, social media, and news.
• Personal Touch: Include personal details or hobbies to create a relatable and memorable narrative – if you can connect to something the interviewer is interested in, it can change the whole interview for the better.

Pro Tip: If you're ever asked about integrity (most likely will), always say you would report the coworker, classmate, or teammate. On Wall Street, these conflicts involve large amounts of client money, so recruiters want to know that the individual they are hiring is honest and will follow industry regulations.

Technical Interview

The technical interviews evaluate your knowledge of financial concepts, market trends, and analytical skills.

Typical questions to expect:

• General Markets: Be prepared to discuss macroeconomic trends and recent FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) news.
• Stock Pitch: Present a stock recommendation, include a brief description of the industry/competitors, 2 or 3 catalysts that the market has yet to price in, and end with risks to the company.
• Brain Teasers: Expect challenging puzzles to test your logical thinking and problem-solving abilities.

Preparation:

• Macro Thesis: Develop a well-rounded view on market direction using economic indicators and trends.
• Stock Pitch: Prepare a 2-minute pitch supported by valuation metrics (e.g., EV/EBITDA) and institutional ownership data. Have multiple pitches ready for different industries and asset classes.
• Practice Scenarios: Think through possible questions and rehearse your responses.

“Experience” Interview

I’m going to be honest, this could be anything. Typically, this interview type assesses your genuine interest in the company and cultural fit. It's often conducted by a more experienced employee.

The interviewer will want to gauge how much interest you have in the company and how well you fit into the culture – so here are some things to focus on.

Focus Areas:

• Company Knowledge: Research the company's history, values, and current projects. Reference these in your answers.
• Personal Experience: Highlight any first-hand experiences or interactions with the company, such as previous networking chats or events.
• Commitment: Show your dedication and long-term interest in the company. People don’t expect you to remain in one place your entire career, but they do expect you to have some level of commitment. 

Other Interview Aspects

Your Turn to Ask Questions

You start the interview on a critical note and end on one too. While you can ask questions mid-interview, there is often a buffer at the end of the interview. Here are some quick tips:

• Ask about the company, role, and interviewer's advice
• Never end the interview early
• Ask for their email address so you can send a thank you note

The Follow-up Email

Just like your networking conversations, you will send a thank you email after your interview. These emails should be sent ASAP to each interviewer because recruiting decisions are often made the day of. Pro tips:

• Personalize each message and include something relevant about your conversation
• Pre-write it with a template before the interview so you can send it out as quick as possible

A Note on Reneging

If you receive an offer, congrats! You will have a specified time period to accept this offer and sign the contract.

It is common to leverage an existing offer to speed up your interview process at another firm, but never accept an offer with the intention of continuing recruitment. Other industries may be okay with it, but Wall Street is different. It is a basic sign of respect and the consequences of going back on your word can lead to you (or the organization you associate with) being blacklisted.

Be honest and approach these scenarios with caution.

Key Takeaways

Congrats on making it to the end of the article!

Hopefully, I can save you the headache of figuring out what to do and introduce you to the pain of the actual recruiting process. I wish I'd read this as a freshman because I didn’t even know what “Goldman Sachs” was.

With that said, here's a recap of the most important points we covered in this guide:

• Find mentors and follow stock market news, economic reports, and an industry of your choosing
• Build fluency and have an opinion about the markets with a 12-month time horizon
• Learn to be professional by practicing email etiquette, emotional intelligence, and other soft skills
• Familiarize yourself with finance terms through sites like Investopedia
• Take every opportunity to connect with others through networking events, university alumni, LinkedIn, company events, and talent newsletters
• Never burn bridges – follow up with every meeting you have and always say thank you
• Think about your personal brand when you network: It’s easier to remember you as the "rock-climbing guy" who asked great questions vs. being one of the 30 people who are just good at finance
• Interviews require a lot of prep and research, but treat them as professional conversations where both parties get to know each other

While there's a lot that goes into landing a finance role, this guide will set you up for success in the industry. As a thank you for reaching the end, I've also listed my favorite resources to help you land a finance job below.

Good luck with your job search and always feel free to reference this article as you go on your journey to Wall Street!

Other Resources

• Investopedia for definitions and basic concepts
• Investing.com Calendar
• Simplify Resume Template
• WSO Resume Template
• Networking Email Template
• Thank You Email Template
• Google Interview Warmup

The Only Recruiting Tool You Need

If you want a great job board to find new finance jobs, Simplify has a full list of the latest finance internships and new-grad roles here. Applying to jobs here lets you focus on what’s actually important – learning industry knowledge and expanding your network. Check it out to level up your job search game!