At a high level, the recruiting process for entry-level S&T candidates is similar to investment banking. The steps typically include:
- Networking via alumni or LinkedIn/email to win interviews.
- Complete an online application including screening questions.
- Then, complete a phone-based or in-person interview.
- Finally, attend a Superday if you’re in the U.S. or an assessment center if you’re in the EMEA region.
That said, some aspects of the recruitment process are specific to S&T roles.
Sales & Trading Resumes
To have a realistic shot at landing a job in Sales & Trading, you’ll need to be able to point to a sequence of previous internships.
Then, you need to present that experience effectively on your resume. Our sales and trading resume template will help.
In S&T, employers want to see strong evidence for a passion for the financial markets. Your resume should reflect this.
Networking For Sales & Trading Jobs
Most of the advice in our investment banking networking article will apply, albeit with these caveats:
- Don’t disturb traders or salespeople during market hours (especially no around market open or close).
- Cold calls and emails tend to be less effective because the large banks dominate sales & trading and it’s harder to reach decision makers directly.
Sales & Trading Interviews
Most interviews for sales and trading will start with a variation of the “walk me through your resume” question.
From there, questions about the markets and investment/trade ideas will feature prominently.
You don’t want to walk into an interview and say that you “like to trade stocks” – you want to cite specific products that interest you, such as equity derivatives, or specific trading strategies that aren’t just buying and selling Microsoft or Apple shares.
Questions about math and programming could come up since they’re more important in S&T, but more so if you interview for trading roles instead of sales roles. You should also expect more brainteasers and “mental math” questions than in corporate finance and IB interviews.
For more information, please see our full coverage of sales & trading interview questions.
