For most finance roles, the biggest success factors are:

• A strong GPA (3.5 or above, with a minimum of 3.0)

• A strong resume → Get your resume reviewed early and often by Purposeful Work!
• A strong network of alumni, friends, and connections within financial organizations to advise and advocate for you before, during, and after the application process
• A clear understanding of application timelines and deadlines (for first-year and sophomore exploration, junior internships, and senior opportunities), particularly the critical internship application period taking place the spring/summer of your sophomore year (for investment banking, sales & trading, and other revenue-generating divisions) or the fall of your junior year (for other finance areas)
• A clear understanding of the finance landscape, your areas of interest, and how your values, strengths, skills, and even personality lend themselves to your success in those areas of interest
• A fundamental understanding of finance terminology and skills, and an ability and willingness to learn quickly so that you can transition easily into professional workspaces — Coursera, EdX, Udemy, and Wall Street Prep are great platforms to access free and/or low-cost learning and professional development opportunities

Careers in finance require you to demonstrate interest in the industry as early as your first and sophomore years through personal research and professional exploration.

• Vault Guides are available in the Career Center: Resources section of Handshake to provide you with a basic and broad understanding of the finance landscape. Set up a new account with your Bates email, dive into the industry guides, and explore the breadth of opportunities across financial services, the top firms, and typical interview questions. Additional research online and with individuals in the industry will provide a deeper and more dynamic understanding of what the work looks like in different areas within finance.
• Purposeful Work offers job shadows, roadshows, spotlights, employer information sessions, practitioner-taught courses, and other activities that can help you figure out your interests and potential pathways that might align with those interests, while connecting you with alumni and recruiters who can offer unique insider perspectives on organizations. While we often rotate through alumni, organizations, and industries represented in our programs, anyone who has connected with us in the past is generally more than willing to connect with students going forward.
• Take the time to do the necessary research on organizations of interest. Explore organizational websites, particularly the careers sections on undergraduate recruitment and hiring, as well as social media platforms like LinkedIn, X, and YouTube. Check out Handshake Events for recruitment and educational events put on my organizations throughout the academic year as well as the summer. Express interest, participate in virtual activities (with your Bates email), and think critically about why you’re drawn to specific organizations and their opportunities. You need to be able to thoughtfully and articulately answer the WHY (this industry, this organization, this role) question in order to be competitive against other high-performing candidates. Here’s where the Bates Purposeful Work mindset can work to your advantage: Be prepared to talk compellingly about how your strengths, interests, values, and experiences align with the position/organization/industry you’re applying for.
• Equity and inclusion considerations: More and more organizations within the industry are focused on improving diversity and representation, particularly by recruiting more women, historically excluded minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, veterans, and individuals with disabilities — and now also individuals coming from first-generation and low-income backgrounds. If these identities apply to you, watch for and connect with these efforts, initiatives, and programs, many of which focus on first-year and sophomore students. Additionally, it’d benefit you to explore programs that often serve as partners to organizations that care about representation, such as: Enrich Scholars, GenHERation, MLT, and SEO.

While large financial organizations recruit predominantly from Ivy League institutions, business schools, and large research universities, they often leverage alumni from small liberal arts colleges to make connections with their alma mater. Additionally, more organizations are moving towards being institution-agnostic. Bates has a broad network of alumni at many of the world’s largest financial organizations, including financial organizations that vary in size and focus with regards to their work.

• At present, we have alumni at financial organizations domestically and globally, including: Bank of America, Barclays, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wellington Management. Some alumni joined their organizations immediately upon graduation, while other alumni joined following other roles and/or advanced business degrees. Alumni at Barclays come up to campus every fall to present on the organization, particularly to first-years and sophomores given the early recruitment timeline for the revenue-generating divisions.
• Utilizing the alumni section of the Bates College LinkedIn page, identify alumni at organizations and in roles of interest and reach out to learn more. Whether alumni are currently at organizations of interest or have been at those organizations previously, they can provide unique perspectives on their experiences and pathways. And while alumni may not be actively engaged in recruitment, they may still have useful connections, strategies, and wisdom to share. Consider them as potential advocates, mentors, and even mock interviewers as you navigate the industry. If you’re new to networking, check out our how-to guides on making professional connections.
• IMPORTANT NOTE: Avoid using alumni simply for referral purposes. If they don’t know you, they’ll be highly unlikely to support you as a candidate for consideration. Make sure to leverage alumni for what they can share about their experiences within their organizations and industries. The best way to make a good impression is to be prepared and thoughtful. Do your research. Don’t ask questions you can find the answers to on the internet. Tailor questions based on whom you’re talking to. Don’t end the conversation before asking whether they have other connections you could speak to. Always follow up with a note of gratitude and appreciation. Make sure alumni remember you positively. If you’re nervous, book an appointment with Purposeful Work so we can walk you through the basics and offer guidance.
• In collaboration with colleagues in Alumni Engagement, we’ve established the Bates College Alumni & Students in Financial Services LinkedIn group. This space was created in response to alumni and student interests in connecting around finance support, specifically guidance, mentoring, networking, opportunities, and resources. Student requests to join the group will be reviewed and approved by Purposeful Work. This is a great place to source alumni who are particularly interested in supporting students. If you’re brave, it’s also a fantastic space to put yourself out there and pose questions to the group.

Many financial organizations tend to hire full-time analysts primarily from their pool of summer interns. To ensure that you’re well-positioned for full-time offers after graduation, you must be ready to apply for intern positions for your junior year by the spring/summer of your sophomore year. And yes, we know that’s quite early, which is why we try to share this information as early as possible so you don’t miss out. Check out this general breakdown of application deadlines by industry.

If you’re interested in corporate finance and/or other financial roles within non-financial organizations, such opportunities tend to show up through fall recruitment activities with seniors. Financial organizations of all sizes may open up application windows with seniors if there are spots to be filled based on capacity and hiring needs.

Before you submit them, be sure to have your materials reviewed by the Bates Center for Purposeful Work team to ensure that they’re the strongest they can be.

In case they might be helpful, check out a few additional resources shared by colleagues and students in years past:

• CFA Institute
• Investopedia
• Mergers & Inquisitions
• Wall Street Oasis

Like many employers, financial organizations are seeking well-rounded students who are highly motivated, with superior communication skills and attention to detail. Because analyst positions are so competitive, financial organizations often screen candidates for high GPAs, high test scores (if applicable), and demonstrated leadership through academics, athletics, clubs/organizations, on-campus employment, and other relevant experiences.

Students with English majors can succeed as well as Economics majors, though exposure to and experience with quantitative courses and courses on financial markets can be particularly helpful, even if they don’t contribute to majors or minors. Depending on your areas of interest, consider how your majors, minors, GECs, and electives — from course elements to research activities to thesis responsibilities — provide you with opportunities to develop relevant technical and essential skills.

Outside of academics, you should be on top of industry knowledge for sectors you’re interested in. For example, if you’re interested in energy, you should know who the key players are, what issues are having the biggest impact on the industry, where the industry is headed in the next few years, what have been the biggest deals in recent months, etc. Consider where you can acquire this knowledge — the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, podcasts, documentaries, journals, books, etc. Be active, be creative, be intentional.

Relevant summer experience is critical to showing an interest in and commitment to a career in finance. However, internships can often be hard for sophomores to obtain, especially when they’re competing against juniors with more knowledge and skills. Any opportunities that provide you with the chance to cultivate relevant knowledge and skills can be valuable. For example, exposure to financial statements, models, and spreadsheets — through Wall Street Prep or a basic Accounting101 class — can be helpful if you’re interested in investment banking. A fast-paced environment with client-facing responsibilities can be useful if you’re interested in sales and trading. The emphasis should be on the nature of the work rather than the environment or industry in which it’s being done.

Studying abroad is a great way to gain global perspectives on financial markets, so doing so shouldn’t limit you from applying for internships or getting selected for interviews. Since the pandemic, financial organizations have (had to) become more agile in terms of interviewing candidates on virtual platforms. As a result, many organizations are more willing and able to engage with students studying at institutions across the country and around the world. Depending on the organization and the constantly changing landscape of recruitment and hiring, however, students may be expected to interview in person, especially for final interviews (often referred to as superdays).

If you’re just starting to explore finance as a senior, it’s unlikely that you’ll be competitive for roles at larger financial organizations immediately after graduation, unless you’ve had significant exposure to quantitative courses and financial markets. You’ll most likely need to consider starting at smaller financial organizations, exploring other organizations with financial roles, taking additional coursework, or pursuing a master’s degree in finance. That said, financial organizations of all sizes will do in-time hiring to fill full-time analyst classes not completely filled by summer interns. Because these opportunities typically have short turnaround times, pay attention to Purposeful Work communications, Handshake, LinkedIn, social media, and other relevant platforms to make sure you don’t miss out on these time-sensitive opportunities.