If you're reading this, you're going into your 2nd year (of a 3 year degree) or 3rd year (of a 4 year degree) or you're a first year (of a 3/4 year BSc in Keenness). The following is by no means exhaustive but it's a few key things that I have used in the past.My background - I went to target and was involved in the general EC circles - finance stuff, entrepreneurship. I took part in four spring weeks but this was at a time when you could easily do four/five during Easter. I converted two of my spring weeks into summers and went with a BB where I liked the culture, the teams and the exit opps if I decide to leave in the future.The summer before your penultimate yearHave fun. Seriously. Work experience is great and would be better if it wasn't for the fact that work experience mostly adds zero value to you or the employer. I'm fan of travelling, charity work or doing a job abroad. Makes you a much stronger candidate in the long run.Of course if you happen to get a proper first year gig in which you are exposed to things such as modelling, that's a big advantage, but you're still on a level playing field vs. 'fun summer' applicant.Stop worrying about your first year result. I got a 2.2 and no one gave a shit. Your first year is as much about self discovery as it is about course discovery. Most universities don't have first year options for a lot of courses so you'll be stuck doing that stats class which you hate or that accounting module which bores you to death because double entry isn't your thing. That's okay.Make sure your 2nd and 3rd (or 4th) year don't follow a similar downward trajectory.If you get dinged because you got a 57% as opposed to a 60%, the person viewing your app/interviewing you is in most cases an asshole and you don't want to work there anyway (my logic is infallible).Start early but don't start in June or July.Refer to the first part. Have fun ffs. Makes your summer application process more palatable. Always have a list of things you do throughout the year at university. Your involvement in societies and so on. For example, if you are tasked with arranging a talk for society members, make a note of the number of people that turned up so you can quantify statements on your CV.Your CV isn't a narrative document.I don't want to know that you went to band camp. I want to know what you did i.e. slept with 3 violinists and threw up on a pianist after a night out. I'm joking. On a serious note, quantify what you've done and how that helped the organisation/society you worked for. If your position of marketing executive was largely useless, get creative with phrases like "Expanded society's presence on campus, increasing membership by 10%".Get your CV right before you start applying (CV Shredder). Look at the various banking templates online. List your (weird) interests. I can see football only so many times in the sports section. Yes, you played sunday league but you're no Van Persie. If you like bird watching, list it. Diversity is as much about gender and ethnicity as it is about people with a range of interests.Start applications in order of least preferred bank and ending with the where you want to work.Whether this is GS or RBS, it's your choice. Also take note of rolling applications vs. non-rolling. If a bank only looks at applications after the closing date, don't think you'll be the first applicant in the history of their recruitment process who might give themselves and edge by applying 4 months early.

Find out when banks tend to start their assessment centres.For example, I know BarCap have their first AC in September, another in October, another in November and sometimes one more in January. Go figure, the number of places available falls so try to get on the first two if possible.For banks like this, an early application helps but those who get invites to the first AC tend to be former spring interns, or those who attend one of those summer insight days and make a decent impression. Don't panic if you haven't heard back even if Jeff in your maths for stats class has an AC next week. Just take that as a potential signal, that if your application was half decent, you might also get an invite later so start preparing.Part II