How To Get Hired on Wall Street

So you're looking to get hired on Wall Street? Landing an initial investment bank job after graduation can be certainly a challenge, but it's not impossible. We have come with ten tips to follow that will better your chances of a dream job.

With all of these tips incorporated into your job search, you are sure to get a much bigger response, do better in interviews, and ultimately land a job. But it takes persistence, confidence, and experience to do so. Don't give up.

Pick the right major.

To guarantee you are on the right path toward Wall Street, picking the right major is the first step. As one of the best ways to get hired on Wall Street, starting your path early is important. Though many people change their major often, having a specific career in mind is a great way to go to college, and to keep your eye on the prize.

Your best bets for working on Wall Street are graduating with a degree in either finance, accounting, or economics. However, there are other fields which Wall Street hires for, such as mathematics, engineering, and computer science. But these are primary basics for the job.

Don't just rely on your grades.

Even if you have a 4.0 from an Ivy League college, this won't guarantee you a job on Wall Street. As one of the best ways to get hired on Wall Street, you should never solely rely on your grades, because frankly, the furthest your future employees will look into your grades is to make sure you are above a 3.5.

Though having a high GPA is desired, your future employers will look much deeper into your resume than this. This goes for your SAT scores, your major, activities, clubs, previous employment, and internships. So don't be too confident going into the job search solely based on your GPA. Your personality might not be a fit for your dream job, you never know.

Start early.

Come your junior year of college, you should be starting your journey to a career. Though this might seem all too soon, it's never too early to start searching. This doesn't mean to send a very sparse resume out to your dream jobs, but it means to start preparing yourself for the job force. Prepare yourself by earning an internship, and begin your networking process.

The summer of your junior year is the perfect time to intern and start gaining some experience in your field. Plus, you might even be able to secure an internship that will offer credits with your university. And of course, you should always be reaching out to those in a power above you. Ask questions, get their information, ask them if they can mention your name, anything helps.

Make a target list based on both your skills and personality.

Starting early, you should also come up with a list of your desired places of work. But don't just put the biggest names you can think of. Instead, consider the reality of your skillset and your personality type.

As a great way to get hired on Wall Street right out of college, finding the correct job type for your is a great way to narrow down your search, and increase your chances. You don't want to begin applying for the wrong position, only to discover this in the interview. Instead, take your time, and research the best fit for you.

This way you don't waste anyone's time, especially your own. Be confident in the path you have chosen.

Take advantage of the career services office.

While you're still in college, you should always take advantage of the resources available to you, especially the career services office. These offices provide resume checks, mock interviews, coaching, and assistance and tips on nearly anything career-wise. They even have access to listings of employment that isn't shared with the public.

Plus, most colleges allow you to use your career services office even after you graduate, so post-grads can look into this as well.

Reach out to your alumni network and other connections.

Alumni networking is a great way to get hired on Wall Street. Networking, in general, is key in virtually any career hunt. So reaching out to the alumni that work in the company that you are looking to work is might be your foot in the door that you're looking for. Plus, it can never hurt to ask.

And besides reaching out to alumni, reach out to anyone in your life. Say you bump into someone at the grocery store, ask them if they know anyone in the industry. You never know who knows who, and who could be handing your resume to just the right person. It's all about who you know, especially in such a competitive world as Wall Street.

Perfect your cover letter.

Your cover letter speaks for you for the first time. Imagine you just happened to run into the CEO of your dream job at a party, what would you say? Your cover letter is your chance to do so, without the added nerves.

If your cover letter has typos in it, it's going to be thrown in the trash. A bad cover letter will have more of an effect on your chances than a great one, but providing a great one each time will allow you to be more confident in your chances. Take your time, perfect it, and then send it out. Never rush through an application.

Be selective with your resume.

Be selective with your resume, but not with who you send it to, with what you choose to write in it. When you're creating your resume, that four months you spent scooping ice cream does not have an effect on your chances to get hired on Wall Street.

So when you're listing your experience, be sure to include the jobs that boost you up. A one-page resume is always preferred, especially from those just out of college, and it's very possible to narrow down your page.

Go to as many interviews as possible.

Landing an interview is an amazing milestone, and going to interviews with jobs that will not ultimately hire you is still a great tool for your process. Even if you are going on 10 interviews a month, it is experience, and it is bumping up your chances.

Never say no to an interview, even if it is just to learn a bit more about the culture of the business, and to practice your interview questions. It will pay off in the long run, and ultimately, the job that you find will just be any other interview, until it's not. And who doesn't like options? Having the problem of choosing between job offers is not really a problem at all, isn't it?

Research, research, research.

You should understand Wall Street like the back of your hand. And not only that; you should know about the jobs that you are applying to like the back of your hand as well. As our final way to get hired on Wall Street, doing your research is crucial. Familiarizing yourself will not only allow you to impress your interviewers but it will allow you to feel confident and more relaxed.

Much like going into a test knowing all of the information, being aware of the companies will make the interview easier, and go much smoother. A company wants to know what you are going to bring to them, so how would you answer this without knowing the ins and outs of the job?