Ricardo Santos for BI
- Business Insider selected 25 young, up-and-coming Wall Streeters for its annual rising stars list.We asked them to share their best advice for college students trying to break into the industry.Here's what they said, from networking early to mentorship following your own path.
The path to Wall Street has always been competitive — but these days it can be brutal. Aspiring finance pros are preparing as early as their first year in college to secure the internships that open the right doors.
Business Insider asked its 2025 Rising Stars of Wall Street, all at the top of their game at 35 or younger, what advice they'd give students who want to follow in their footsteps. They told us that for those who dream of M&A or making big investment bets, curiosity, persistence, and mentorship can make all the difference.
We broke their advice into five key themes — plus tips on how to stand out once you land the job.
The power of networking and reach-outs
Networking is important to any career, but in finance, it can pay to begin early. Mohini Chakravorty, a principal at private equity behemoth Blackstone, suggested starting in college, taking advantage of free time and a built-in network of alums, clubs, and career connectors.
Courtesy of Blackstone
It's "the little things you learn from those conversations and research that really do clue you in as to what you like and what you don't like," the infrastructure investor told Business Insider. "To the extent that you can, narrow down the field. It just gets you closer to where you ultimately want to be."
When looking for a connection, JPMorgan's Jack Levendoski said a little creativity and hustle can go a long way. He had a college sophomore send him a handwritten note with a reference to an "overlapping experience" they had in life.
"It's hard sometimes to get the attention of people in my role, given how busy things are day to day," he said.
Don't chase the crowds, titles, or pay
Christian Woo, a managing director at Bank of America, said students should look inward, too.
"Think about what you're genuinely interested in and passionate about," Woo, a quant strategist, said.
Bank of America
Instead of taking the same classes as peers, finance hopefuls should instead pursue the "skills you want to build and what kind of function you want to be performing on a day-to-day basis," he said.
When selecting a place to cut your teeth, Sarah Naylor, who works in investment-grade bond sales at Citadel Securities, suggests progress and growth over prestige.
"Make sure that you are always somewhere where you are being challenged," she said. "Especially early in your career. Things like job title and pay can seem shiny and exciting at the time, but your knowledge is your biggest asset."
Find your people
Finance "is really a team sport," JPMorgan's Florian Plath said, so it's important to be around colleagues you like working with.
"Meet as many people as possible because that's the only way where you can double-click and find that out," the M&A banker told Business Insider. "Everyone needs to find whatever fits best to their unique personality, their interests, and their strengths."
Jake Woodson, Goldman Sachs' US head of distressed trading, agrees.
"To get to the next level and perform at a high level for a decade or decades is hard to fake," the managing director said. "You need to be intellectually curious and passionate about it and the people."
Meet mentors
Finding the right crowd doesn't just help you land the job — it can shape your entire trajectory. An upperclassman on Alex Park's Columbia University squash team — who was heading into investment banking — became a major influence on his career journey.
"He was instrumental in my ending up being able to get a banking job my senior year," said Park, a principal at Miami-based private equity firm Thoma Bravo.
That experience, he added, shaped his belief that the easiest way to grow is to find someone you admire and emulate them.
"When you see somebody who is doing what you want to do, who you really respect and look up to, and you can form a real relationship with them and they're able to pour things into you," he said.
HPS
Persistence & focus
Nikunj Jain believes that his persistence, tenacity, and determination are what have differentiated him on his way to becoming head of Asia research at the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates.
"The biggest thing that's paid off for me personally has been just picking a thing and giving it your all," he said.
"That mindset served me really well," Jain said, even when things don't work out as planned. "It's underrated, the ability to just show up every single day and take another swing in life and do it with consistency."
Visualizing the big picture is also key to finding focus. Blue Owl's Lamar Cardinez suggests imagining the most exciting thing you could do at the peak of your career, and "then work backwards and really ask yourself if you currently have the skillset."
It's that "critical" self-assessment that helped Cardinez — who started his career in business development at the National Football League — realize he wanted to move into sports investing. He's now doing that on Blue Owl's HomeCourt Partners Fund, which invests in National Basketball Association's franchises.
Advice for once you've secured a spot
Once you're in the door is when the real work begins. One of the most repeated pieces of advice given by the rising stars we interviewed was to "be a sponge," as Natalie Lamberton, a director at Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR, said.
For Patrick Kearney, a principal at private equity giant Apollo, said he's big on keeping a "learning mentality, being curious, and, at the right times, being skeptical. That means knowing how to ask the right questions."
Aman Mittal, an investment banker at Moelis & Company, and Catherine Kress, chief of staff to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, suggested getting the basics down.
Know "the actual content of whatever you're doing," Mittal, a managing director, said. "Make sure that you know that very in and out."
"If you do the really, really little things well, people will continue to trust you with the big things," said Kress, who took her new post in September.
Madalaine O'Connell, a managing director at private credit firm HPS, a part of BlackRock, encouraged fresh recruits to focus on the task at hand and try not to "look around too much."
Post-college, many, especially in investment banking, are already looking for the next job. This is especially common for those trying to get into private equity.
"There's a lot within the four walls of investment banking or an asset manager, and a lot of mobility opportunities that if you work hard, you excel, you can do everything."
