Investment banking spring weeks are a unique opportunity to take your first step towards your financial career. The experience gives you a comprehensive introduction to the investment banking industry through case studies, presentations, networking, technical training, and work shadowing. They generally take place during the Easter break in your first spring term. They, therefore, require applications in September and October in your first year at university! Note: Only first-year students can apply unless you are on a four-year course, where second-year students can also apply. Lancaster University holds spring week application webinars for incoming students a month before they arrive at the university to enable such spring week applications.

Spring weeks are crucially important because, if you perform well, you may be fast-tracked to a summer analyst position (summer internship) the following year, i.e., at the end of your university second year. There is broadly a 50% chance of getting fast-tracked like this, but this varies from bank to bank. This means that a successful student can secure an investment banking second-year summer internship two weeks after Easter in their first year at university; what a great position to be in!

Let’s make no mistake: getting into investment banking is extremely competitive, but positions are open to all determined and motivated students from any gender or ethnic background. Indeed, there is a drive particularly to get more women into this world! If you’re interested in a financial career of any type, not just investment banking, applications to spring weeks should be part of your career journey. Spring weeks are not as well-known as penultimate-year internships amongst students and, therefore, don’t attract quite the waves of applications that internships and graduate programmes do, but it is still competitive, of course.

If you don’t secure a spring week place and don’t get fast-tracked, the experience will assist you further down the line when applying to whatever company you choose in your second and third years. Securing a place on a spring week not only requires the highest quality application but often requires at least a small element of fortune e.g.; you end up getting interviewed by someone you really ‘connect with’; perhaps the interviewer and you enjoy the same sport or have other common interests. For this reason, it is important to submit multiple (15-25) applications without forfeiting the quality of any single application. In short, spread your applications as wide as possible. Apply as early as you can to get an idea of the process and tests and ensure you have the majority of your applications completed by the end of October, with September applications, before university starts, preferred. Some schemes will open in July and August! Watch out for application deadlines; some are significantly earlier than others, and it is generally best to ignore stated December or January deadlines on the company’s website. If the firm has 100 spring week places and they are all allocated by the middle of November, it does not matter what the website’s deadline states.

How to apply

As stated, you should apply to as many as possible, but not at the expense of the quality of your applications. Some will require substantially more effort than others. Copying and pasting is a recipe for rejection. Do not rush your application. The average application, including tests, can vary from just a couple of hours up to four or five, although you will get more efficient as you proceed. Clearly, multiple applications require quite a commitment, and good time management is required. You’ll have more time before you actually arrive at the university, so attending one of our pre-arrival spring week webinars for incoming Lancaster students is a smart idea.

On your application, you will be required to cover.

• Your basic contact details
• Educational information
• Work experience (this can be both related and unrelated to finance)
• Voluntary work
• Application questions. Be prepared for
• “What is your primary motivation for pursuing a career in Investment Banking?”
• “Why have you applied to Bank XYZ in particular?”
• “What skills do you believe are required to be successful in your chosen career?”
• “Give examples of when you have demonstrated such skills”
• Competency Based Interview questions such as
• “Describe a time when you have demonstrated great leadership skills”
• “Describe a time when you have demonstrated your ability to be a great team player”. (Such questions are also very common when it comes to face-to-face interviews).

There are several variations to these questions, and other Financial Career Insight Series blogs address such topics.

Some banks will not use these questions. However, expect to average anything from one to five of these types of questions per application. The average length of an answer should be 150 to 300 words but normally the maximum word length is stated.

CV and cover letter

The cover letter should take the following paragraph format:

• Short Introduction
• Why you? – covering achievements etc…
• Why them? – your motivation for applying to the firm
• Why that programme? – what will you gain from the programme and how might that benefit the bank in the future e.g. “I hope it will be a stepping-stone to starting a career at the firm”

See Opening City Doors Financial Market covering letters for further guidance.

Psychometric tests

If you are invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, you will be invited to take psychometric tests. These tests are a crucial part of the application process.

There are three main test providers: SHL, Kenexa and TalentQ with SHL being the most common and therefore the best ones to practise.

SHL: SHL tests are timed overall and have four or five options. You cannot go back and change your answer. Banks such as UBS, JPM, RBC, and HSBC have been known to use such tests.

Kenexa: Kenexa tests are also timed overall, with four or five options to choose from. In these tests, you can go back at any time and change your answer. Banks such as BAML, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley have been known to have used such tests.

TalentQ: TalentQ tests are timed per question with a large list of options and progressively get harder/easier depending on your performance to benchmark you. You can’t go back and change your answer. These tests are substantially more stressful than SHL or Kenexa, but they are less common. Banks such as RBS and Citi have been known to have used such tests.

What type of questions should you expect?

Investment Banks always include numerical and logical reasoning:

You will be given data in various formats and expected to draw logical conclusions, make basic calculations, manipulate the data, and make inferences. You may be given questions whereby there is not enough information to arrive at an answer, but there will be an option for this in those cases.

Some form of reasoning test is also likely, but others, such as verbal and situational judgment, are less common in Investment Banking screening of applications.

It is highly recommended that you practise psychometric tests ahead of the real thing. There is no possibility of progression if the tests don’t go well. Practice is possible via:

• JobTestPrep
• Graduate Monkey
• Assessment Day (I’d probably go for this one!)

Your university career’s service will also provide a psychometric practice test facility

The tests are circa £50, at the time of writing, for a 3-month license, but it is time to start thinking about the return on your investment should a successful spring week application lead to an investment banking career. Also note:

• Penultimate-year internship applications also involve the above tests.
• Tier 1 investment management firms also use such tests; again, SHL is the most common.
• Some free, if limited, practice tests are available on the SHL, Kenexa and TalentQ websites.

Video Interviews

The next step is likely to be a video interview—HireVue is an increasingly common video interview platform. You will be invited to do these online and complete them within a time period, perhaps seven days. A common format is that you will be faced with three to seven questions, which appear one at a time. The question will appear on your screen, and you will have 30 seconds to think about your answer and 90 /120 seconds to then give your answer.

• Tip 1: Say what you feel about the topic and then back up what you say with a detailed example of how you have demonstrated this skill in the past. Always give examples with energy and detail in every interview answer – the example does not have to be finance or work-related, and often it is more interesting if it isn’t!
• Tip 2: There is a real knack for video interviews – try and secure practice through the university’s careers services. The more you do…the better you will get!

Telephone Interviews

Upon successful completion of the psychometric tests and video interview, you may be invited to a first interview. In today's world, this is likely to be a telephone interview rather than face-to-face, as this is the most efficient way for investment banks to handle this process.

This interview is likely to be with a human resources person rather than someone from the business side of the bank, so questions will be more about you and your motivations than getting asked about financial markets. However, you may also come across junior business professionals on such calls who will want to find out additionally what you have learnt so far about the financial markets without expecting you to be an expert yet!

For information on what to expect and how to perform well in telephone interviews, refer to the relevant blog on Opening City Doors.

Should you pass the telephone/video interview stage, you will likely be invited to a second and final face-to-face or virtual (via Teams or Zoom) interview at the investment bank or investment management firm.

This is where the format is going to differ somewhat from bank to bank. It is likely that you will have a couple of interviews, or indeed, a full Assessment Centre morning. Some banks might use principally human resource personnel, and some might use individuals from the business side of the bank itself, such as junior bankers with a few years’ experience. A combination of an HR interview followed by a ‘business interview’ is also quite common. The different types of questions you may be asked are all described above or on the Opening City Doors website and require significant preparation. However, once you have prepared for one or two interviews, this starts to give you an ‘application and interview core’, which you can then use to help you prepare for future interviews, noting that your preparation must be tailored for each bank.

Applying for first-year investment banking spring weeks or second-year Internships requires robustness. It is a highly competitive business, and you will inevitably receive a good number of rejections as part of your application campaign. No matter how many rejections you receive, it only takes one offer for you to start fulfilling your dreams. This is the mindset that you need to adopt.

Furthermore, all your applications (and potential interviews) in your first year will help you in your crucial second-year internship applications the year after.

Quick Tips:

• Spring Weeks require multiple applications by the end of October (September ideal!) during your 1st year of university if on a 3-year course. 2nd year students can apply if on a 4-year course.
• Tier 1 financial institutions offer spring weeks. Applications to Tier 2 and Tier 3 firms can be made later in university.
• Get your CV in good shape – one page is required! See Financial Market CVs document.
• Students who learn how to make strong applications at this stage have a real chance to differentiate themselves and the work supports any future applications they make in the following year.
• Be familiar with all Financial Career Insight Series blogs

List of Spring Weeks by Sector

Applications may be made via the firm’s website

INVESTMENT BANKS

Bank of America

Bank of England (Central Bank)

Barclays

Berenberg

Bloomberg (Vendor)

BNP Paribas

Citi

Credit Suisse

Deutsche Bank

Evercore

Goldman Sachs

HSBC

Jefferies

JP Morgan

Lazard

Morgan Stanley

Nomura

Panmure Gordon

Perella Weinberg Partners

PJT

RBC Capital Markets

Rothchilds & Co

Santander

Saxo Bank

Societe General

UBS

ASSET MANAGEMENT

Aviva Investors

Blackrock

BNY Mellon

BP Trading (Commodities)

Citadel

Fidelity

Jane Street Capital

Man Group

Point72

Savills Investment Management

Schroders

St James Place Wealth Management

Note 1: Many Investment Banks have Asset Management arms, but such Asset Management Spring Week opportunities may be scarce

Note 2: Financial employers do not allow first-year students to apply for summer internships as students need to be in their pen-ultimate year to do so. Exceptions may include HSBC & Bloomberg

Related Blogs

• 

  The financial career landscape

• 

  Investment banking overview

• 

  Financial company target list

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.