Banking, Finance & Insurance

Apply for internships during your Bachelor's degree and get an offer of a full time job when you graduate. Apply for internships or graduate jobs during a Masters in Finance in course. Keep on interning even after you've graduated. Apply during a top MBA. Apply after completing an ACA qualification. Apply after a Ph.D.
7. Apply after time in the army
Banks like J. P. Morgan, Barclays and Goldman Sachs run specialist programs for hiring ex-military veterans. Time in the army isn't a sure-fire route into an investment banking job, but it's definitely an established route in.
8. Apply after time in law
Before he became a trader and worked for Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein was a lawyer. On Wall Street, law was traditionally a good route into front office investment banking division (IBD) jobs. Robert Kindler, global head of M&A at Morgan Stanley, spent 20 years at US law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore before moving into M&A in 2000, for example.
9. Apply after some time on consulting
Banks hire in outsiders to help them work on strategy. If you're a strategy consultant who specializes in the financial sector, you may be able to get an internal strategy job in an investment bank. Equally, if you've spent time working on regulatory implementation with a consulting firm, you could get a job implementing regulations internally with banks.
10. Apply through your 'network'
okay, networking and nepotism aren't as big as they used to be in investment banking - particularly since the Chinese 'princelings' scandal. But having family, or friends, or alumni, to vouch for you still helps. One of Goldman Sachs' top M&A bankers in the UK is the son of Martin Sorrell, the advertising mogul. Both of his brothers have worked for the firm too. In most cases, however, networking pure and simple won't get you into a big firm - you'll usually have to start at a smaller name and try working your way up. You can also do CFA.