I’m a Gen Zer who landed a 6-figure job at Morgan Stanley before graduation. Here’s what the process was like — and why you should refresh a surprisingly important part of your résumé.

• Sara Thomas, a College of Chicago scholar, secured a job at Morgan Stanley earlier than commencement.

• She stated networking, campus finance golf equipment, and an typically ignored resumé part helped her land the function.

• Gen Z continues to be interested in Wall Road careers, regardless of the lengthy hours and excessive calls for.

This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Sara Thomas, 22, a 2025 graduate from the College of Chicago and incoming funding banking analyst at Morgan Stanley. Enterprise Insider’s current “Path to Wall Road” sequence highlighted how finance careers proceed to draw younger expertise, regardless of the business’s lengthy hours and demanding entry-level roles. Entry-level bankers usually earn about $110,000 a 12 months, not together with bonuses. This interview has been edited for size and readability.

I had barely selected banking as a profession alternative after I needed to begin making ready for interviews.

My expertise was much like most tales I’ve heard in regards to the banking world: the recruiting course of begins early.

Earlier than submitting my internship functions, I spoke to about 5 individuals at every main financial institution — largely current UChicago grads and folks the college’s profession development program related me with — so they might acknowledge my identify after they noticed my résumé. Chilly LinkedIn messaging did not work very effectively for me. These introductions are sometimes essential to get an interview.

At most banks, I interviewed for a number of rounds, together with calls targeted on my character and technical expertise and a two-hour “tremendous day.” The entire course of lasted about two weeks. Then, by the spring of my sophomore 12 months, I used to be completed. I landed an internship at Morgan Stanley, and I knew my full-time job can be set so long as I acquired a return supply. My prior internships had been at Bain Capital and the Chicago-based agency Ariel Investments.

The one different profession trajectory I thought of in faculty was academia. I studied economics and thought of getting concerned with economics analysis, however I noticed it wasn’t for me. I simply work higher in a faster-paced finance surroundings. In my free time at college, I attempted to deal with golf equipment and internships that might hold me near startups and entrepreneurship, so I joined a enterprise capital fund on campus. I used to be additionally concerned in a campus group for girls and minorities excited by finance and investing. These alternatives actually helped me construct my business chops.

I might inform any faculty scholar hoping to land a Wall Road or Silicon Valley job: be decisive. Even when funding banking or consulting is not your lifelong ardour, plan to decide to a profession path sooner somewhat than later, in an effort to give your self essentially the most period of time to arrange, community, and do very well within the interviews. And, for the appliance course of, college students must be cautious with what they placed on their résumé — recruiters pay a whole lot of consideration to the “expertise and pursuits” part on the backside. Do not say that you are a mountain climber if in case you have by no means climbed a mountain, as a result of individuals will ask you about your hobbies, and also you want to have the ability to genuinely discuss them. In fact, your credentials matter, however I’ve discovered that recruiters are most excited by assembly well-rounded individuals.