J.P. Morgan - Investment Banking

Investment Banking

We believe that joining J.P. Morgan is the most challenging and rewarding career choice a talented graduate can make.

In 2007, J.P. Morgan was named in BusinessWeek’s top 20 “Best Places To Launch A Career.” As an Analyst in Investment Banking, you will spend two years working with top-tier professionals at the heart of a leading global investment bank. With the support of a world-class training program, hands-on learning opportunities, mentoring and feedback, and numerous development opportunities, you will gain a strong career foundation in financial services. Our Analysts are the anchors of each team and are expected to make a personal impact right from the start. You will work on some of the biggest deals in investment banking, interact with clients almost immediately, travel for the firm and handle increasingly important responsibilities.

The magnitude of an Analyst's job

Get an inside look at the experience of an Investment Banking Analyst during global training on our Media Zone.

As a member of a team, you will have day-to-day contact with senior professionals, clients and the firm's Capital Markets teams. You will gain exposure to other groups through networking and group learning activities.

You will join us in one of these three areas: industry groups, capital markets or advisory products. Read more about them in our Investment Banking business area description. Whichever team you join us in you can expect exposure to senior clients and major deals from very early in your career. No job is more important that that of an Analyst. Our client solutions and advice are drawn from the data you analyze, and their success relies entirely on the integrity of the underlying analysis. That's why we ask much more of you than simply running numbers; we expect you to read the numbers, to understand the story they tell, to identify trends and patterns - and to speak up if you see a better way. You need to be able to deconstruct and reconstruct the numbers and understand how they all fit together. You are the team's lynchpin.

Responsibility from the start

As an Investment Banking Analyst, your responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:

Performing financial valuation, discounted cash flow and multiples-based analyses
Building and using financial models
Preparing presentation materials and participating in deal pitches
Conducting industry and product research
Executing client transactions from start to closing

Help is here

If that sounds a little overwhelming, remember that we will give you all the tools and training you need to succeed. One of the things that differentiates us from our competitors is our commitment to your success. We start by assigning you a mentor to help guide you through the decision-making process once you receive an offer. And once you join the firm, you're also provided with peer and senior mentors. They will take an interest in you, your career and your progress, and respond candidly to any of your questions or concerns.

Training & development

Our training program is uniquely global and widely accepted as the best in the business, and it is one of the reasons so many top undergraduates choose to join our firm. Learning side by side with participants from J.P. Morgan’s international offices, you will meet peers from around the world and build your global network right from day one.

Vault voted J.P. Morgan best training program out of all Investment and Commercial Banks for 2008.

As a full-time Investment Banking Analyst, you will participate in an intensive seven-week training program that introduces you to J.P. Morgan’s clients, products, services and business practices. J.P. Morgan professionals, world-class professors and consultants use a variety of interactive learning formats including case studies, product and industry group presentations and hands-on modeling sessions.

Training is interdisciplinary, and you will learn about the firm’s strategy and culture, as well as about the broader Investment Bank. Specific segments of the program focus on core skills such as financial modeling, valuation analytics, equity capital markets, debt capital markets, accounting, and risk analysis. For Analysts who want more practice, there are even optional Saturday review sessions. You will also develop an appreciation for the firm’s culture and its strategy as a result of numerous interactions with senior executives during training.

Read more on our global training program for Analysts.

Your education will continue long past the Investment Banking training program in a continuum of relevant and continual development courses.

After the program

The Analyst program lasts two years, with continuous training and networking opportunities throughout. If you perform well, you may assume increasing responsibilities and may be asked to stay for a third year. During your third year, you may remain with your current business group or pursue another placement inside or outside Investment Banking. Eligible third-year Analysts promoted to Associates are given a month-long sabbatical before they start their new positions.

What we look for

The work is fast-paced, demanding and intellectually stimulating. We look for candidates with excellent quantitative, analytical and communication skills. You must have the ability to work well under pressure and tight deadlines, and have the aptitude to synthesize large amounts of information and to develop innovative solutions. You should also be adaptable, able to manage projects independently and be ready to assume a high level of responsibility as a member of a team. A well-rounded academic background with coursework in finance or economics is recommended, but we are open to all majors and have training to make sure you succeed. Candidates must demonstrate academic strength, a minimum GPA of 3.2, strong teamwork, communication skills and a high energy level.

An aptitude for numbers is a must, even if you're a liberal arts major. If you don't have a strong financial or business background, be sure you can tell your story; be able to demonstrate your quantitative aptitude both scholastically and practically (former jobs, for example) and be ready to articulate how your background will enhance your career at J.P. Morgan. (You'll find out more tips in our Advice Center under not a business major).

How to apply

For more information, read before you apply. It will give you detailed information and direct you to useful links related to your application. You may also want to visit our interview process and check with your campus careers office or our campus schedule to see when we'll be visiting.

The most successful route to a career with J.P. Morgan's Investment Banking group is through our summer internship program, for two reasons. First, it will give you the opportunity to see what it's really like to work on a trading floor; and second, we hire as many of our full-time Analysts as possible from the summer program.

About our culture: Slam Dunk for Kids

During a flight delay on a client visit, Chris Harvey, a managing director in Capital Structure Advisory Solutions, was challenged to a bet as to whether he could to make a two-handed basketball dunk, after improbably making a one-handed dunk on his not-so-recent 40th birthday. If Chris was successful, the proceeds of the bet would go to the Children's Defense Fund - a non-profit advocacy group for underprivileged and disabled children. At 40-to-1 odds, Chris accepted, and since the initial challenge, the list of people agreeing to donate grew and included both our Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon and the Investment Bank’s co-CEO Steve Black. Last November, in front of a crowd of 100 colleagues, Chris’s successful shot raised over $40,000 for the Children's Defense Fund which will be matched by the J.P. Morgan Foundation, totaling over $80,000.