How to get a Job as an Investment Banker - Resources Included | "How I Series" Ep1

Business-focused summary (Investment banking job “go-to-market” for candidates)

1) Education/qualifications: what matters by “tier,” and why

• Investment banking firms are loosely split into top-tier / mid-tier / bottom-tier (plus boutique IB firms).
• The speaker emphasizes that education prestige isn’t the only path: entering any IB firm with strong experience can later enable moves to larger firms, because hiring networks often prefer “already an IB’er.”

Typical preferred education for top-tier

• Ivy League / IIT / IIM/IM
  • High bar; also highly competitive.

Speaker’s realized entry path (different from the common credential track)

• He did not follow the usual credential route (CA, CFA, CAT for IIM/IM).
• Undergrad performance gaps:
  • Dropped out for a year
  • BCOM took 4 years (instead of 3)
  • Overall undergrad average around 60%
• He pursued a UK Master’s, financed partly by working:
  • Achieved ~70% distinction
• Core message: degree alone didn’t get him in—a “hack” plus proof of skills did.

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2) Target company + role fit: sell-side corporate advisory structure

• He joined IFL (India Infoline), specifically the corporate advisory team (sell-side).

Two-sided IB model

• Buy-side: firms identify and invest in companies.
• Sell-side: companies seek buyers; IB helps find acquirers and typically earns 2–3% commission on deal value.

Deal-cycle constraint

• Closings can take ~7–8 months per deal, implying long work cycles and pipeline uncertainty.

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3) Compensation as a proxy for tiering (examples + rough ranges)

Examples (from Glassdoor-type references for analyst level):

• Goldman Sachs: around 17 lakhs/year (entry-level analyst)
• Mid-tier examples:
  • Accenture: ~8.88 LPA
  • JP Morgan: ~8.41 LPA
• Lower tier / non-core IB example:
  • TCS investment banking analyst: ~4 LPA

Speaker’s actual starting package:

• CTC: ~6 lakhs/year
• Monthly described as:
  • ~₹50,000 gross
  • ~₹45,648 received after deductions
• He notes he negotiated lower accidentally and regretted it later.

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4) Day-to-day operating model of an IB analyst (skills “playbook”)

Main recurring work artifacts

• Excel-heavy: financial calculations and modeling
• PPT-heavy: storytelling and pitch decks

Core technical model/tooling

Valuation metrics are central. The speaker contrasts approaches used for different company types:

For SaaS companies

• MR / ARR
• Churn
• LTV (lifetime value)
• CAC (customer acquisition cost)
• DCF modeling (discounted cash flow)

For non-SaaS / normal companies

• EV/Sales
• EV/EBIT(E) (described as EV-to-EBIT ratio)
• Multiples benchmarking
  • Compare company valuation multiples vs peers to derive value

Actionable skill sequence (implied operating process)

• Learn Excel formulas + modeling fundamentals
• Build strong presentation structure
• Develop “valuation muscle”:
  • DCF + multiples + relevant KPI frameworks (SaaS vs non-SaaS)
• Build domain focus:
  • Choose one industry and become “damn good at it”
  • Suggested focus areas: SaaS, fintech, banking, healthcare

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5) Resource stack recommended (candidate enablement toolkit)

The speaker lists upskilling resources:

• Guy Kawasaki presentation module #1
• A YouTube video for financial modeling (link referenced, not named)
• MergersAndAcquisitions.com
  • includes case studies and content on PE/private equity deals
  • also a YouTube channel for Excel/financial modeling learning

Strategy recommendation:

• Pick fintech/banking/SaaS because hiring relevance and valuation overlap are higher.

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6) Work reality / organizational tradeoffs (what to expect)

Negative operational reality:

• High intensity workload
  • “No work-life balance”
  • Working 7 days/week (Saturdays/Sundays included)
• Burnout risk
  • Speaker cites examples where people worked 3 years and burned out
• Audience fit test:
  • Only suitable if you genuinely like numbers + how business models work

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7) “Hack” that secured the interview: candidate GTM via differentiation

This is the most business/execution-oriented section: he treats job search like a differentiated acquisition funnel.

Application strategy (2016, Sept onward, Mumbai)

• Applied online (Noery, Monster, AngelList, AMJobs) but only to two categories:
  • Management consulting
  • Investment banking
• Goal: build business modeling + business model understanding with an entrepreneurial angle.

Rejection phase → conversion intervention

After rejections (most IB firms not offering interviews), he changed:

• CV format
• Cover letter
• Interview deliverable strategy (a “show your work” presentation)

Differentiation assets he built

Creative CV

• Orange design created in PowerPoint
• Explicitly aligned to investment-banking-relevant skills (business strategy/valuation)
• Avoided irrelevant fluff
• Included personal interests (e.g., chess, reading, photography) and skills/languages (English, Hindi, Canada, Tamil)

Cover letter

• States specific intent (wants an analyst/business analyst role)
• Includes “5–7 reasons” for being good at analysis/presentations/strategic analysis (role-aligned keywords)

Conversion event (“sales call”)

• A corporate advisory head at IFL called and requested an in-person meeting (he was in BKC).
• The head attributed the meeting largely to the unique CV.

Second-stage proof: “PPT test” + market intelligence + primary-source analysis

• The head required a PPT within 3 days.
• He did not submit a generic deck. Instead, he delivered an “advanced” version:
  • Selected IoT industry
  • Produced sector analysis
  • Identified 5 IoT companies
  • Downloaded real financial statements via MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs):
    • ₹100 per company (total ₹500) to download profit & loss statements
  • Built an Excel-based analysis of those companies
  • Presented results; he didn’t even finish the deck before being hired

Outcome

• “You’re hired—go to HR and negotiate salary.”

Candidate playbook / framework (implicit)

• Differentiation
  • Creative, job-relevant CV + targeted cover letter
• Proof of competence
  • Prepare a deliverable that exceeds baseline expectations
  • Show “real data” sourcing and analytical depth
• Market knowledge as credibility
  • Quizzed on real-time issues (example: Jio vs Airtel telecom war)
  • Tracked news via Mint and used Google to fill gaps
• Mindset
  • “Don’t look desperate”; show confidence and willingness to learn
• Deliverable acceleration
  • Use a tight timeline (3 days) to build something “one step ahead”

No explicit quantitative hiring funnel KPIs were stated, but the conversion result is concrete: offer letter received ~Dec 26, 2016.

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Key KPIs / metrics mentioned (business execution related)

• IB deal economics
  • IB commission: 2–3% of deal value
  • Deal value scale: ~₹100–150 crores
  • Deal timeline: ~7–8 months
• Valuation / operating KPIs
  • SaaS: ARR, churn, LTV, CAC, MR (as described)
  • Non-SaaS: EV/Sales, EV/EBIT, and peer multiples benchmarking
  • DCF modeling
• Candidate-to-offer proof timeline
  • Required PPT turnaround: ~3 days
  • Offer timing: Dec 26, 2016 (after the process began earlier in 2016)

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Concrete examples / case studies

• IoT sector deep-dive PPT
  • Picked the IoT industry → found 5 companies → bought financial statements from MCA → analyzed in Excel → deck led to instant hiring.
• Market intelligence Q&A
  • Asked about Jio vs Airtel; speaker demonstrated up-to-date research via Mint.
• CV + cover letter differentiation
  • CV designed in PowerPoint and described as a major reason for receiving the meeting.

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Presenters / sources

• Presenter: Shashang Gurupa
• Referenced sources/tools:
  • Guy Kawasaki (presentation module)
  • MergersAndAcquisitions.com
  • Glassdoor (salary references)
  • MCA website (financial statements purchased for analysis)
  • Job platforms: Naukri / Monster / AngelList / AMJobs