Unsure on what to do next or where to go as UK undergraduate
Hi monkeys,
I am currently in an uncommon situation, and although I welcome everyone's opinions on this, but especially applies to London bankers or interns as I am a UK undergrad student. This will be a fairly long post, apologies in advance, but might as well be detailed to get across my situation truthfully and get the most accurate advice possible:
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I am 24, in 3rd year (retaking 2nd year in parallel, will go into more detail on this later) and I am studying an undergraduate in banking and finance at a semi-target uni (top 10, not Oxbridge or LSE but a good uni with some decent representation in FO positions in the city)
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I come from a working class background, extreme debt and instances of poverty in my childhood, first generation of my family to go university, rough school where people were stabbed and the prospect of even going to university was a non-factor for most students in sixth form.
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Sports background, Olympic trials in 2018 for team GB squad before having career ending injury, a blessing in disguise allowing me to focus on studies more
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Hard working academic kid my whole life but never quite "got it" and gained AAC at A-level (FO positions). Unfortunately this broke me slightly and had to go on anti-suicide watch at a hospital due to a failed attempt, and was on anti-depressants for 8 months.
-I don't have any corporate or IB experience, done the standard networking, applying to spring weeks, brushing up on technical skill, interview technique but can never even attain a single first round interview for years in a row, ranging from boutiques to BB's. Contacts in the city say I have a "unique" and "interesting" CV but my lack of corporate exposure is my biggest flaw, and since I am not the plug and play target uni type, I won't get a look in.
-In general I am much more the sports/creative type, but there is no money in those careers so I don't see the purpose of pursuing them to a high level, and coming from my background, money appears to be the key to happiness or at least freedom, as all I have seen my whole life is constant money troubles and obviously the pay in IB is good, and since doing my start-up, the ins and outs of company operations have become very interesting to me. Everyone, from family and old friends, tell me to pursue my creative talents but I have seen enough starving artists to be deathly afraid of that. I am an obsessively hard worker but I am struggling so hard to break into IB and the gaps in my CV and the fact I am very old now (relative to other analysts/interns) makes me fear I am a bit doomed here.
Sorry for the life story, my question is this:
- What should I do now? I have one more year left at uni, I was thinking of an elite masters to help with re-branding (Oxford, LSE, UCL etc)
-I was in the finance club at uni, gained a leadership position in it and traded using a uni grant and created a semi-successful startup so my interest in finance/business is clear to interviewers, but my interest in IB (M&A) is less demonstrable
-Should I target regional boutiques for this summer, leverage that experience if I am lucky enough to get it, and get a BB/EB internship for the summer between my undergrad and my masters (and get return offer hopefully)
-What is the most optimum thing to do here? I should I really pursue my natural gifts into the incredibly risky, mad world of acting/modelling?
-I have made solid contacts in the city, BB/EB recruiters, internal heads of FO hiring, BB interns and analysts and a VP alumni, but still never seems to be enough, I get on so well with all of them but everything seems to be slipping away from me.
I can always get up and get back in the ring no matter what, I always have done, but now I want to know what the best/smartest option for me to do is. Thanks for your time guys.
Just my two cents: based on your post it seems that the last few years have been quite tough and that you clearly want to change this, aiming for good money down the line
The issue is that IBD is a very very draining job; I would have not made it through my analyst years mentally without some moral support on the side (friends, girlfriend, family, etc). If you have a history of mental illness I would HIGHLY recommend really thinking twice before going to such a mentally tough environment
If you are determined to do so maybe aim for a group with lighter working hours (I.e. capital markets)
Anyways, if you are set on IBD I think the way to do it is as follows: - Clearly get a 2:1 in your BSc, otherwise it will be near impossible to get into banking in London (I think it is an auto-ding) - Try to get into a good master; the issue there is that if you don’t have great grades in undergrad then it might be very tough to get into a top Uk master... (and also these usually cost £40k+ but i guess you know that already) - From a good school it should be straightforward, especially as you have quite good extracurricular with the startup idea etc, people will like that
PM me if any specific questions
Thanks for the response, appreciated, I will also PM you with some specific questions. Yeah mentally it was very hard, originally meant to go to 2020 tokyo olympics before it all came crashing down (sever injury, lucky I didn't suffer brain damage) and I always took pride in being able to take what life threw at me, but I did break eventually and at the time was very ashamed of how I had mentally declined, although now I am all good and look back at it as a learning experience. -Yes I am now averaging a 2:1, and if I ace my summer exams which I have already started work on, it's not impossible I could finish this penultimate year with a 1st, and then ultimately graduate with a 1st. I will then do an elite masters which I have nearly fully saved up for using my start-up profits and a side gig I did last year helping a mezzanine provider in the city source real estate deals and doing due diligence for him, he was a generous guy. -Alot of my city contacts, both buy side and sell side, who are in IB and S&T have told me to go into sales side of S&T due to the whole sports and acting background, but I am concerned on the future of institutional sales, I will gather more opinions and research it deeper. - A big concern of mine is how there are guys younger than me who have amazing academics, have been groomed since a young age at top private schools for IB and already have a sequence of internships, so differentiating myself from them is my key I suppose? My background might help with, I just have to make sure my academics keep up and gain some internships somewhere,
First, people don't usually use their real names on here.
I think you are aiming too high with boutiques and BBs. People you have talked to mentioned your lack of corporate experience -> This means you have to get a brand name on your CV, any name. Try Bloomberg (I know they are recruiting late for summer internships), big4 firms, any kind of finance related position at financial services firms and, in the last stage, any finance related position at large companies. Don't be picky here. You have to have at least one internship to show to recruiters and adcoms that you can pass the assessment process of a well respected company. This will greatly elevate the quality of your CV.
It might be a good idea to post your anonymised CV on here for people to give you advice on layout and wording.
I am a year older than you and started going the finance route late. I still got interviews with most major firms. As most other users can tell you, technical skills and likeability (cultural fit) are more important in succeeding during interviews than pedigree. From reading your post I think you can assume that your CV is already sufficiently differentiated from most other candidates'. You should focus on polishing your CV and cover letters, prepare hard for technicals and practice interviewing with classmates or alumni.
Thanks, understood, noted. Will widen search for initial internships, I have a close relative in a large accounting firm (top 6) and a good friend in big4, will definitely look into bloomberg. Alot of guys on here I have looked at make it seem BB or bust, and maybe in the long term I should adopt that, but in the short term, especially for a first internship, it is unwise of me to have that mentality. Will take your advice on the CV thing also.
When I started to be interested in finance I had only worked as an assistant at uni one day a week, the same at a small consulting firm and one unpaid internship at a small investment advisory during a stay abroad. Then I applied for internships at a range of companies and failed an interview at a BB but got offers from two big4. During the big4 internship I applied again and landed offers from three other firms, including a BB. I think this could be a blueprint for you.
Edit: I am not saying that a big4 internship will necessarily give people entrance to a BB. But with leadership experience in the finance club and successful start-up experience on top of the sports career the OP should be more competitive.
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