Hey guys, remember when you first graduated college and was looking for that first real job?
How many different jobs did you apply to before you got the job? 100? 500?
Real answers please.
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Four.
I only applied to jobs where I had strong connections through networking or previous relationships. I believed (possibly foolishly) that random online applications were black holes and never yielded results. The jobs were in IB, Risk, and Consulting. In the end I obviously chose Risk after receiving three offers. I am likely an anomaly on this forum.
This being said - the answer to your question is not something I believe brings you any value. Everyone will have a different story, resume, and ability to relate to interviewers. No one path is the right one. There have been stories on this forum telling of hundreds of applications and finally obtaining that one sacred offer. I'm sure there have also been experiences that only took one half-assed application to secure a dream job.
In the end it all comes down to the simple equation: prepare, network, close. If you are polished (sure of yourself and your knowledge), know the right people, and are able to sell yourself and your value to the company - then a few interviews is all that it will take.
How many jobs did you apply? (Originally Posted: 07/31/2016)
I'm currently a big 4 associate with bachelor's and master's in accounting from decent nationwide top 40 school (non-target though). My GPA was okay (graduate one being 3.8) and i had some internships here and there.
I'm now looking to move to IB and have been applying to 100+ jobs without substantive responses for a few months now.. is this normal? How many did you apply to get the job? I just feel pretty stupid at this point.
Also, what can i do to improve my chances besides applying over and over? i plan to get CFA but that's gonna take 2+ yrs with infrequent testing offered
Similar situation (though worse graduate school), and I applied to ~100 out of graduate school and ~25 for the second job, though neither of those were IB.
How many applications? (Originally Posted: 08/21/2006)
Okay, so the decision to apply is made. I have reduced a long list to a short list.
The next question is, how many b-schools to apply to? Initially my plan was to just apply to two (INSEAD and Said), but now I am strongly considering adding LBS to that list.
The main downside for me is the extra amount of time required (mostly on essays), but I can cope with that. Cost of application fees doesn't matter since LBS will waive them. But my biggest concern is the extra work load on recommenders. I haven't yet approached them, but I think asking them to fill in two sets of recommendations is reasonable, but three might be a bit over the top.
How many schools have others applied to?
Cheers, Rody
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