Any Further Advice? Feeling Screwed Over
Got to university (UK) set on investment banking (and still am).
Was advised to get some finance experience in general. Did that and realised that I would enjoy IBD over a more 'markets based' role.
Was advised to get relevant IBD experience - I set up internships at no-name firms twice and got some quality IBD experience (and to check if this is what I want to do).
Was advised to get some leadership etc roles - I did and I did what interested me personally too (sports team and so on).
Was advised to work abroad one summer to show I'm all-rounded and 'international' (as everything I have done is UK based). Did that.
Was advised to do something different/entrepreneurial to stand out from the crowd. I did that too and actually made a decent profit!
Was advised to network my a$$ off and ask bankers for specific feedback. No one says anything more then 'you will be fine just hang in there' or 'you have a strong background'. Most of the people I connect with to a more personal level either want to leave or are leaving soon... lol
Was advised to get a brand name on my CV (only my uni is a 'brand name' so far) and will be interning at a brand name place this summer (not IB/MBB). However it's not the role I expected it to be - was a bit misled really - but its the only interview/offer I got and I will still give 200%. It's not 'as good' as my banking experience but its a brand name on my CV finally.
Does anyone have any further advice for me please? I'm honestly willing to try anything now.
I still have next summer to try to land an internship/FT role but if I don't do something different this time I fear I'm not going to get anywhere....
Thanks for reading this.
Welcome to life....sometimes you do EVERYTHING right and still get passed over. Nature of the beast. However, although you don't realize it, you've been building up quite a nice resume and skillset- good enough that you got yourself a brand name internship. Those brands will continue to add up irrespective of your own personal timetable, which really means nothing in the grand scheme. You're up against significant elements out of your control (shrinking industry, blind luck, etc). The good news is you're still young, so this is hardly a life or death situation.
At this point, I'd a)continue to look for other opportunities while quietly putting together a BEAST resume (as you already have been), and b) continue to network everywhere-internationally, locally, whatever, and see if there are peripheral sectors you could enter more easily that will give you a similar level of compensation and enjoyment. Ever thought about corporate development/strategy? One of my former co-workers couldn't break into IB while in B-school, but got himself into a rotational leadership development program, and crushed it. When it was time to slot him in a permanent role, he chose corpdev and has handled a couple of well known acquisitions since then. It's far from a BB but his quality of life and paycheck are very nice consolation prizes...
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