The EXACT Elevator Pitch I Used to Break Into Banking

June 08, 2025

I didn’t know my “Tell Me About Yourself” was TERRIBLE until my first mock interview sophomore year.

The senior interviewing me was an absolute stud (signed full-time at NYC bulge bracket) -

And spent the ENTIRE TWO & A HALF HOURS re-working my answer to that ONE SINGLE question.

If he didn’t expose how BLAND my first iteration was, I never could’ve placed at my NYC elite boutique.

He taught me there’s four parts of a MEMORABLE answer to TMAY -

  • PART 1 - THE BEGINNING

  • PART 2 - THE SPARK

  • PART 3 - GROWING INTEREST

  • PART 4 - “I’M HERE TODAY BECAUSE”

Here’s how he restructured mine using that exact framework.

Telling a cohesive, compelling story EASILY separated me from the rest of the pack -

Because most kids are never humbled like that and fail to hook the banker in those first few min.

PART 1 - THE BEGINNING

You might feel like a bit of a fake, drama queen - but you do what you have to do to get that offer.

The key is STEALING their attention in those first 15sec.

First - think of something from your life that no other kid interviewing that day has in common.

Then - after you hit the basics (Hometown, University, Major) -

Plant the seed by WAY OVER-EMPHASIZING that DIFFERENTIATOR right off the bat.

You’ll build your entire three min answer around that one, specific piece of your background -

Which distinguishes you from the rest and will make the banker remember who you are.

Bankers always remembered / labeled me as “The Hockey Kid”.

Here’s how I setup my “Beginning” to set the stage for a response revolving around hockey.

  • Started chronologically first saying how grew up in small farm town and mom put me in learn to skate class at four years old

  • Ended up falling in love with fast pace of the game and quickly became passion

  • Was biggest piece of my life outside of school - commuted over two hours each direction during high school to play on top-tier travel team to get seen by college scouts

  • Ended up being primary reason chose the college I ended up at

PART 2 - THE SPARK

Do NOT make the mistake of saying you “gradually became interested in finance over time”.

Every good movie has an EXPLOSION.

Something that puts you on the edge of your seat and makes you start paying attention.

Even if you have to tweak your real story a bit -

Describe “how you got interested in business / finance” as a SINGLE MOMENT / EXPERIENCE.

Then develop it a bit and add juicy details to paint a vivid picture in their mind.

For example - don’t be bland and just say you “won a stock pitch”.

Instead - tell the tale of how "...your stock pick spiked a whopping 53% just two days after your pitch..."

Here’s a list of single moments / experiences I’ve seen work well for other kids.

  • Specific conversation with someone met through class / family connections / clubs

  • Case competitions, information sessions, company presentations

  • Family business experiences

I took the “family business experience” approach.

Here’s a rough outline of how it sounded.

  • Described how both parents were in medicine & everyone thought I’d follow in their footsteps to become doctor someday

  • Explained that dad had private practice & I was more intrigued by behind-the-scenes business functions than “actually taking care of patients”

  • Painted vivid picture with detailed description of how I did project for dad to analyze profitability of various business segments (MRI, physical therapy, medical device, etc) which re-assured I was way more interested in business than medicine

  • Caused me to narrow college search to schools with strong business programs

  • That - along with hockey is how ended up at this college

PART 3 - GROWING INTEREST

This is the meat & potatoes of your answer – but most kids screw it up big time.

You’ll feel the urge to mention every activity you’ve ever done in your life -

But you should only mention three - anything more is overwhelming.

The simplified sequence of experiences you choose should explain how you pursued activities to deepen your interest in business / finance / banking over time.

Each experience should also have a natural transition into the next.

For each experience, mention

  • FIRST - Skills you developed as part of that experience that’d make you an all-star analyst

  • THEN - Something you liked about the experience, but made you pursue something slightly different but related (as natural progression to next experience)

Here’s how I structured my three experiences.

  • (1) Joined business fraternity freshman year & was fundraising chair second semester. Worked with VP Finance to develop budget (Implies I Have Forecasting & Communication Skills). Liked finance exposure with budgeting. Wanted to apply that it in real-world setting…

  • (2)…So joined consulting organization where led team of five. Project was to build cash flow projection model for local business to determine intrinsic value. That small business was receiving offers to be bought by larger conglomerates so needed to know what a fair asking price would be (Implies I Built Valuation & Leadership Skills). Thought valuation part was so interesting so looked into what types of careers I could do more of that in…

  • (3)…Made me apply for investment banking academy. During recruitment process for that, got to hear from tons of industry professionals, learn the technicals & participate in case competitions (Implies I Built Presentation Skills, Banking-Specific Technical Skills & Relationship-Building Skills). Re-Emphasized “Hockey Kid” label saying how I saw so many parallels between sport I loved & banking. Learned that banking had the same fast-pace, competitive environment as hockey - so figured this career would be a perfect fit for me.

PART 4 - “I’M HERE TODAY BECAUSE”

You won’t get an offer if those exact four words don’t come out of your mouth.

You need a formal conclusion.

Even if it’s implied - shove it down their throat and describe how

The whole series of events in your life has brought you to that one very moment sitting in that room.

How THAT OPPORTUNITY at THAT BANK was literally made for you.

The way you do that is by tying the bow of how all the experiences from your growing interest and background sections made you discover EXACTLY what you want to do for the rest of your life.

Most kids I’ve mock interviewed make two mistakes with this.

  • (1) Being Vague. Nobody’s sure of what they want to do in ten years. Pretend you are & explain how this role is the clear next step in your long-term plans.

  • (2) Saying They’re Using Banking as a “Stepping Stone” to Private Equity.

I had absolutely no clue what I wanted to do long-term - but man did I fake it.

Because if you pretend you have some sort of vision for what you’ll be doing down the road -

And can articulate how this role & experience fit into that said vision -

The banker will have more confidence giving you an offer -

Since kids who are 100% sure of what they want are much more likely accept.

Cheers 🥂

- Jack