Do recruiters look seriously into all your grades, or could they sense a pattern and make a decision on that. I was wondering because first year I didn't do so great, mainly due to being lazy and procrastinating, and resulted in a 3.1 GPA. If subsequent years are a solid 3.7+, with a positive trend, would recruiters still take my first year seriously. I go to a pretty good b-school in Canada, which has almost all IBs do on-campus recruiting. I've also landed a few internships.
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forget trends for now - what is your cumulative? that is what matters if you want to get past the resume screening process and into an interview
You've got to make it to AT LEAST 3.5/3.6 to be taken seriously - GET AS MUCH EXPERIENCE AS POSSIBLE - B/C THAT'S GOING TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.
what kind of experience are you talking about? lets say for example i apply to BB corpfin for junior year internship with a 3.3 cumulative, but excellent leadership experience on campus and freshman internship at an investment research company (Morningstar) and sophomore internship at... i dont know, CBOT, Deloitte, a hedge fund, MM ibd (these are potential internships for my sophomore year) something like that... along with a job shadow at Ernst and Young.
would this kind of experience potentially get me an interview at a BB?
i don't know how many people are going to ask this question...
your competition was partying and having a good time freshman year and still made their 3.9
so you've got catching up to do.
Recruiters screen by GPA. You can't see a trend on a resume. Depends on which banks you apply for and where. Canadian schools don't run on a standardized GPA system like the american ones do. Each canadian school makes up their own system. The Canadian banks have a narrower scope and you'll probably have a better opportunity there.
The american ones, especially if they have US based recruiting will not like the "partied too hard story". First off, Canadian school semesters are typically 2 weeks shorter than an American one. Also, the exam periods are spread out over 3 weeks. You get more than half the year "off", so you really should have time to study and party. Recruiters will assume that you partied REALLY hard your freshman year and cut you because of that.
GPAs also don't covert too well for American banks. Compared to the US system, Canadian schools generally have a lower passing grade and a lower minimum for an A. Some recuiters might calculate your GPA differently if you use a percentage based system. I.e. 80% = B- instead of an A. Just like how investors are taking haircuts off residential mortgages off CDOs, recruiters can take haircuts off different schools based on their GPA calculations.
All these words might sound harsh, but this is my advice to you: don't rely on your resume. Network like crazy and tell your story. Don't say you partied, say you had trouble adjusting or come up with a better excuse.
h4zin: A 3.3 with strong EC with lots of networking might get you an interview. It's still a very long shot. When I went to superday, the other guy frm my school had a 3.3, he didn't make it. He interviewed right after me. He addressed the GPA issue in his interview, but couldn't convince them. His story was all his ECs and one part time job. My story was a higher GPA, similar ECs, and 3 part time jobs. If the interviewer had only one spot to give, all other things equal you can see why I got it.
nobody in the right mind would say they partied too hard. especially since its only one quarter that really screwed my gpa up, i could come up with reasons for the shortcoming. the good news is, i have a year and a half til applications for that junior year internship is due.. thats 4 quarters of classes plus 3 semesters of this online accounting class im taking through berkeley. plenty of time to get it up to 3.5-3.6 range, which isnt stellar but definitely safer territory in conjunction with my resume.
i dont know what u mean by part time jobs... you mean during school? ive had at least 3 full time jobs throughout high school not to mention one right now...
youre right about making contacts. i really need help with this. what can i do to gain contacts in i-banking, i really dont know anyone.
thanks for your informative post
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