Meili Academy is the sister project to Meili Capital — a practical, no-fluff toolkit for students applying to spring weeks in investment banking. Written from the inside, not the outside.
I went to Exeter, a non-target. No insider network, no warm intros, no automatic look from City recruiters. What I had instead was a year of grinding — bank by bank, application by application, HireVue by HireVue — to figure out what actually worked. Five spring week offers and five more final rounds later, I'm sharing the playbook.
If you're at a non-target, this is the resource I wish I'd had. Bank-by-bank specifics, current-cycle questions, and the small details that actually determine who gets through the screen and who doesn't.
Aimed at first-year and penultimate-year students applying to spring weeks at bulge-bracket banks, elite boutiques, and the London-based middle market.
The exact CV that got me through every ATS screening it was put through. Built specifically for investment banking applications — the right structure, the right phrasing, the right level of detail. Editable Word and Google Docs versions, with a short guide on how to fill it in for your own background.
Individual guides per firm — application timeline, online tests, HireVue questions, assessment-centre format, and what each bank actually looks for. One bank per guide, fully detailed.
The cross-cutting essentials — "why this bank" templates, STAR answer frameworks, commercial-awareness briefing, and cover-letter examples that actually worked.
1:1 and small-cohort (3–5 students) mentoring through the full spring week application cycle. Mock HireVues, application reviews, and direct feedback from someone who has just been through it. Limited places.
Thanks — you're on the list. You'll be the first to know when Academy opens.