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Sandhurst's picture

An off-cycle at a top

IB
(King Kong, 1,248
 
Points)
 on 8/21/12 at 4:49am

An off-cycle at a top independent definitely exists. I know a couple of kids who did it at Evercore. If I were you, I wouldn't rely on listings. Make phone calls. Create your opportunities.

"There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat."

chicandtoughness's picture

I did two off-cycles, one at

CS
 
Points)
 on 8/21/12 at 5:16am

I did two off-cycles, one at a no-name boutique and another at a lower-tier mid-market. Both were extremely easy, both from cold-calling/emailing. Not even an interview involved. Also got offers for equity research at no-name and mid-market but turned them down. Really, you just need to be brave enough to pick up the phone and call.

My primary response is to shake my head at the level of "tiers" present in classifying banks. Necessary evil, I suppose.

"Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself."
Currently: PR/MarComm/IMC, semipro dancer, academiphile, Crafter of Stars

In reply to chicandtoughness
Dreamgazing's picture

chicandtoughness: I did two

 
Points)
 on 8/21/12 at 5:52am
chicandtoughness:

I did two off-cycles, one at a no-name boutique and another at a lower-tier mid-market. Both were extremely easy, both from cold-calling/emailing. Not even an interview involved. Also got offers for equity research at no-name and mid-market but turned them down. Really, you just need to be brave enough to pick up the phone and call.

My primary response is to shake my head at the level of "tiers" present in classifying banks. Necessary evil, I suppose.

Thanks chic! Would emailing do just fine? Sent out a couple emails with no responses, but will pick up the phone soon.

In reply to Dreamgazing
chicandtoughness's picture

Dreamgazing: Thanks chic!

CS
 
Points)
 on 8/21/12 at 6:07am
Dreamgazing:

Thanks chic! Would emailing do just fine? Sent out a couple emails with no responses, but will pick up the phone soon.

You're going to have to do a lot better than "a couple"...
Read the responses on this thread: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/the-art-of-c...

"Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself."
Currently: PR/MarComm/IMC, semipro dancer, academiphile, Crafter of Stars

LBT's picture

The amount of time you are

IB
 
Points)
 on 8/21/12 at 10:10am

The amount of time you are wasting thinking about the dichotomy of your perceived status of investment banks could be better spent emailing and calling bankers at those banks. Depending on your background and connections, you already know if you have a shot a places like goldman, but if you really care about the boutique or lower/upper MM (whatever that means) status of a particular firm, you are at least wasting time or worst, letting it show the person interviewing you is at a "lower MM bank". The reality is to get business you will see all sorts of industry groups from banks you've never heard of pitch against some of those you listed above. The industry has become very competitive and plenty of banks will "reach down" market for business and even lose. Its always nice to have a great name on a business card, but you want an internship above all else. You need to start calling and emailing a lot more than a couple. It is extremely difficult to find internships and FT positions now, and you need to broaden your search and the number of contacts you are making if you want to give yourself the best shot.

In reply to LBT
Dreamgazing's picture

LBT: The amount of time you

 
Points)
 on 8/21/12 at 12:07pm
LBT:

The amount of time you are wasting thinking about the dichotomy of your perceived status of investment banks could be better spent emailing and calling bankers at those banks. Depending on your background and connections, you already know if you have a shot a places like goldman, but if you really care about the boutique or lower/upper MM (whatever that means) status of a particular firm, you are at least wasting time or worst, letting it show the person interviewing you is at a "lower MM bank". The reality is to get business you will see all sorts of industry groups from banks you've never heard of pitch against some of those you listed above. The industry has become very competitive and plenty of banks will "reach down" market for business and even lose. Its always nice to have a great name on a business card, but you want an internship above all else. You need to start calling and emailing a lot more than a couple. It is extremely difficult to find internships and FT positions now, and you need to broaden your search and the number of contacts you are making if you want to give yourself the best shot.

Thank you for this post. I appreciate your input.

I initially started this topic just to find out if i should focus my energy on boutiques more than MM banks since I have a limited amount of time during the school year to continue networking. Thus, i wanted to maximize my chances of getting an off-cycle internship.

I listed the other "tiers" of banks just because I thought it would be informative to other monkeys to confirm this information. Since off-cycle internships are usually not as common as summer internship programs. It would be really enlightening if some monkeys on WSO could share their process in getting an off-cycle at a generally agreed difficult (crapshoot) place to get even a summer internship at such as the regular BBs and elite boutiques.

I just happened to have a couple of MMs and Boutiques in mind and just wanted to know if it was even possible and how rigorous the process is. Again, I appreciated the feedback.

Any other opinions / stories / suggestions?

couchy's picture

It comes down to three things

(King Kong, 1,386
 
Points)
 on 8/21/12 at 4:34pm

It comes down to three things - do they need help, can you add value, and are they feeling nice today.

In reply to couchy
Sandhurst's picture

couchy: It comes down to

IB
(King Kong, 1,248
 
Points)
 on 8/21/12 at 7:16pm
couchy:

It comes down to three things - do they need help, can you add value, and are they feeling nice today.

Well put.

"There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat."

CHItizen's picture

Top firms do offer off cycle

(Gorilla, 557
 
Points)
 on 8/22/12 at 12:22am

Top firms do offer off cycle internships, as many have said in this thread. Some will offer night shift internships, where you come in and help crank out whatever is needed by tomorrow. I have no idea when you'd sleep during these kinds of internships, especially if you're still taking classes, but I knew a few kids in college who did it.

Also, don't discount non-IB firms, for example, PE/AM or ER shops, especially smaller ones. They operate a lot like boutique banks, hiring on a needs basis.

duffmt6's picture

My firm (no name boutique, if

IB
(Neanderthal, 2,472
 
Points)
 on 8/23/12 at 8:42am

My firm (no name boutique, if I had to place it in a category) hires PT, unpaid interns that go to local universities. Most kids do it for course credits. If you want to shoot me a PM with your city we can see if it's a match.

"Social cohesion and puritanical morality place roughly on my list of concerns between whether I'll pick up jock itch at the gym this week (not likely, since I don't go the gym) and whether it'll rain in Christchurch, New Zealand next Tuesday."
-Eddie

In reply to couchy
eleutheros's picture

couchy: It comes down to

IB
 
Points)
 on 8/23/12 at 10:25am
couchy:

It comes down to three things - do they need help, can you add value, and are they feeling nice today.

+1

In reply to eleutheros
droking7's picture

Just landed an off-cycle

ST
 
Points)
 on 8/23/12 at 6:23pm

Just landed an off-cycle myself. Set up an interview right before my "exit interview" from my summer internship, so I'm stoked. Boutiques are your best bet, and finding one really comes down to having some cajones, being likable, and having good prio experience certainly helps. Good luck! And don't be a shy pussy, that's my best advice.

Suck my black ****.

See_ya's picture

My advice is to just just

O
 
Points)
 on 8/29/12 at 3:52am

My advice is to just just cold calling/e-mail all the places you can. That's what I did and I have two upcoming interviews. Check out this link: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/searching-fo...

1009's picture

so I have been cold calling

(Chimp, 15
 
Points)
 on 11/27/12 at 4:42pm

so I have been cold calling banks but all of them transferred me to their HR's voicemail. Was this what you guys encountered as well?

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