What do Investment Banks want?

I got told today by my tutor that there is no chance for working at a highly classified investment bank like Goldman Sachs if you havn't been to a quality University , such as Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard. Is it true that a place like Goldman or JPMorgan will always employ an Oxford graduate over any other?

What your tutor most likely meant is that for certain positions within those companies, an MBA is required. Goldman Sachs is famous for hiring Harvard grads but that particular school is not completely necessary. The education level, however, is.

Don't let your tutor discourage you. Keep studying hard, go to college, and if investment banking is what you REALLY want to do, go for it.

Definitely work on your writing skills. You will need good writing skills to put together the presentations for executive level individuals.

Ron

Not entirely true. They reject plenty of Ox-bridge, Harvard, and Princeton grads. There is simply too little jobs for too many applicants.

At the end of the day, they get to pick and choose who they want to hire. When you have a bunch of 4.0 gpa, solid extracurricular activity, plenty of leadership skills students wanting to work for your firm, you go with the best school.

Oxbridge is not a pre-requisite but does improve your chances. It really does depend on the hiring manager and his or her personal expectations.

Other bluechip universities such as UCL, Imperial, Kings etc are also high the list.

Your tutor saying there is no chance is very very poor judgement. The tutor displays a lack of understanding of the field and has probably not worked in the City (despite possibly wanting to!)