Mod Note (Andy): Here's some WSO threads my content intern pulled up for you guys. Hope you find the links helpful!
Need the FT Recruiting Megathread? You can find it here here
Networking
How to Crush Your Informational Interview
Searching for summer internships
Interviews
UG Recruiting Part I: How a Resume Becomes an Interview
Acing the Investment Banking Analyst Interview
Notes for technical interview questions
How to answer technical interview questions fast
Webinar: Mastering the Banking Technical Interview
Webinar: Mastering the Banking Fit Interview
Webinar: Mastering the Sales&Trading Interview
Why We Hired a Non-Target 1st Year IB Analyst
On the Job
The Dos and Donts for Summer Analysts
How Not To Screw Up An Internship
8 Steps to Getting Through 100 Hour Weeks
7 Tips for the Boutique IB Summer Stint
How to Avoid Making Silly Mistakes
General Advice
Lloyd Blankfein's Advice to Summer Interns
Summer Intern Pro Tips and Pratfalls
Beginners Guide to Valuation and Metrics by Sector
Relevant Quotes from Interviews and AMAs
I need someone that makes my life easier. They need to know basic industry terminology and some relevant players. Smart and hardworking are table stakes, we’re all smart and hardworking, I want to hire people with more, prove to me that you’re willing to reprint documents at 2 am because you noticed a mistake in the final version and be able to convert a GJ to boe to mmbtu then mcf and back.
-Interview with a Senior Institutional Research Associate
First and foremost, you don't know anything. There is going to be an astronomical learning curve when you start and you won't even be able to hold an intelligent conversation for a couple of months. The ins and outs of the way the products we use are structured take time to understand and that’s ok. No one expects you to be a world beater on day one but you have to keep learning. Don't ask the same question twice. Try to find places where the answers you already have could apply and use a little trial and error. You're new so nothing you work on is going to be mission critical to the point that fucking it up will hurt our P&L. Relax, and learn.
-Happypantsmcgee the Interview
There's really only three things I'd need to see out of someone to know I can work with them. Even though they're all pretty close in importance, I'll order them this way:1) Autonomy. I could never have an intern who's either following me around "trying to learn" or is sitting at his desk with big squirrel eyes looking up at me waiting for me to tell him what to do every single time he has a project...
-Blackhat Interview
Great stuff! Good luck to all SA candidates this year. Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions.
Been lurking WSO for two years now, can't believe its finally my time for SA recruitment. Here we gooooooo
start your engines!!! also, remember it's not life or death, so don't forget to breathe. This job is a bitch, so if you don't get it, you actually just saved yourself 2 years of legalized torture...
But good luck! Patrick
good luck to everyone! after two years of hard work from a non core school, i have finally seen the fruits of my labor in the form of an offer from a BB. nay non core/ore students have questions on networking/cold emailing etc feel free to reply back or pm ! and remember dont give up, stay positive and you will find your place some where. "the night is darkest before dawn"
any interest in doing a success story / advice post? if so pm me, thanks
Same story here. Small amount of proof that this can and does happen, frequently with help from this site and always as a result of hard work. Good luck to everyone applying.
Is this topic for US SA positions only? I'm asking because as per my experience the London IBD SA programmes are almost full.
Are you sure? I know plenty of firms that are still recruiting in London for IBD SA.
Well I can't get really specific, but I know that for my country chances of getting an IBD SA 2014 position for GS/JP/MS is pretty much zero, unless people drop out.
Been lurking here for 3 years as well, and it's finally time to apply! From a non-target in Canada which will make it almost impossible, but you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Good luck all!
Welcome lurker :-) ...how to we get more of you to join the conversation??
Thanks, this is extremely helpful. SB
Is there a post for 'why you arnt getting the first round interview' that could help me?
At the very least, have your resume reviewed either by the community on WSO or use their premium services. Having a good looking resume is half the battle of getting your foot in the door.
I got this company (http://dreamresume.com/) to professionally edit it - does it count? Happy to upload it on WSO too if it helps? Shall I put it in the 'Job Search Advice' section?
When should we be expecting phone interviews to start happening (assuming we aren't in an accelerated process)?
The formal recruiting process doesn't start until Jan/Feb apparently, but it seems like there are people who are getting SA offers already (various threads on WSO). WTF?? Should I be freaking out already? Does life end if I don't get an IB SA offer? If so, is there a different heaven for those who landed IB SA gigs and those who didn't? Do GS'ers get VIP access/bottle service?
Interested in this as well. Seems to me that these offers must be for accelerated process. Thinking that we should start hearing en masse after the first of the year, no?
I am a non-target for NY banks and have accepted a BB NY SA offer through accelerated interviews. They will go to their core schools in January to finish up the process
Just finished PE analyst recruiting and was disappointed in a lot of international MBA students I met (undergrad in China, top tier MBA candidate). Can't get over how "inside the box" their thinking was, I almost found it entertaining - albeit slightly uncomfortable - to ask simple but open-ended questions they couldn't answer for the life of them. So after that deflating process, will probably continue to recruit more heavily from target undergrads over the next couple of months.
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