If you’re still in university, your best bet by far is on-campus recruiting for investment banking internships or full-time positions. Apply to every single position for any type of banking job available and make sure your resume is good enough to get selected.

If you have friends in IB? Try to contact all of them and forward your resume. But at this point you’re more likely to get in via recruiting since most of your friends are still in school.

If you’re out of university and willing to transition over from another job, you’ll have to depend on recruiters and networking to break in. You should use your university’s alumni network, contact anyone and everyone you know in the finance industry and also talk to headhunters at finance-focused recruiting firms. When talking to all these people, it’s especially important to get your story straight because their #1 question will be why you want to switch in now. Your story is a 3-5 minute pitch on your background from uni to now and why you’ve realized your calling in life is investment banking, despite not doing it initially.