Sophomore Summer Programs
Hey Everyone - I recently started prepping for sophomore summer diversity programs and was hoping I could get some advice on how to prep best for them.
Currently, I am a rising sophomore at UMich studying Business and Math. A lot of people are telling me that getting a sophomore summer diversity offer is a good means of working in IB. My questions are as follows.
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What are top-tier BB banks (JPM/MS/GS) looking for? Do they want kids that have good technicals or what exactly?
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I know that MS and GS have really established sophomore summer program; what about JPM and BAML? I have not heard of a lot of people interning there sophomore summer so I was not really sure.
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If anyone has gone through these processes, what types of questions do they ask?
I'd like to prepare as best as I can; any information is greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Easy. They want anyone that is not white or is not a male. Enjoy your easier interviews
Its p much all behavioral. Only programs I know of are at UBS/BAML/MS/GS
No point being picky, b/c these class sizes are all tiny af
They're at every BB except Barclays. Citi is also unique because they just do a rotational sophomore program instead of specifically IB. RBC has a program too.
Do you need to network to get these positions?
bump
Don't need to network, but if you mention a name in the why this bank it can definitely help. My interviewer for this program, for example, was my alumni's boss so it was smooth sailing after I dropped his name.
How much to they care about your recent experiences and internship work? Also grades? I currently have a 3.74 and I am not sure if that's enough.
GPA is fine for BBs. Only care about recent experience if you bring it up. You should try to answer the questions through relevant stories tho
I believe UBS has the biggest sophomore program for non-diversity hires. Interviews aren't too technical but you should definetely know your stuff given how competitive they are.
BAML has a program as well
Hey, I'm a rising junior and go to Michigan too! I can try to answer your questions.
I would say most banks aren't asking super tough technicals, and most interviews are behavioral focused. It helps if you're involved in clubs freshman year and can speak to why you're interested in finance/IB specifically. Networking doesn't hurt, but it's not as important as for junior year. For behaviorals, know how to walk someone through your resume, have a "Why X Bank" for each place, and know strengths/weaknesses/time you led/time you struggled/time you worked together etc. Keep up with the news and be able to talk about deals that have happened, or other financial activity, and know where things like the interest rate are at as well as what they mean.
A lot of these programs interview very early (before sophomore year/at the beginning of the school year) so honestly the most important thing is just to be aware that they exist, which you are. Some of the sophomore IB programs can lead to a junior year offer, which is pretty helpful.
Thanks so much, this is actually so helpful
Thanks so much for this response. What other interview behavioral are important?
No problem. I listed the main behaviorals that are most likely to be asked, and to be honest I don't know what else is out there. Those are all the behaviorals I prepared for both sophomore and junior year recruiting. The most important thing is having a story for each question and being able to show a) how you grew b) what you learned c) how this will help in IB/finance.
I found it helpful to think of a couple major experiences and really work on wording/storytelling for them. I used the same answer for "time you struggled, time you faced a challenge, time you failed" and the same answer for "time you worked in a team, time you were a leader". If you have like 3-4 stories that you can speak clearly and professionally about, that goes miles in a behavioral interview.
Outside of straight up questions, behavioral interviews are focused on how well you can connect with your interviewer, so prepare good questions to ask them ahead of time and be able to make chit chat at the beginning of the interview
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