Thank You: My Story & Tips

Disclaimer: Not my primary username. Created this one to protect my anonymity.

All,

I wanted to take a brief moment to thank this remarkable community for all the help and insights they have given me throughout the last several years. I definitely owe my success to the dedicated many who have taken time to answer questions on all ranges of topics. I know this post cannot reciprocate your generosity so this is my way of paying it forward.

In mid-August I received a full time offer from a well known bank to join their banking analyst program next summer. I wanted to give a brief overview of my background and then follow up with guidance on helping other fellow monkeys.

Background:

I graduated high school in the top 3% of my class and was prepared to attend a target school when my family faced some financial difficulties. Unfortunately, they were severe enough to prevent me from attending a traditional four year so I was forced to attend community college.

Now, you can imagine my disappointment attending CC. I fell into a period of depression, but ultimately decided to make the best out of my situation. I sought out professors who could assist me and became involved in various extracurricular activities. Around March of my second semester, I started my search for internships.

I knew my options would be limited (coming from a CC our campus recruitment was nonexistent). I compiled about 75 phone numbers and email addresses asking firms if they would be interested in help during the summer. As expected many of the firms did not answer or were not interest. I secured one interview with a small business brokerage firm. The owner of the shop was impressed with my initiative to seek out an unlisted position. He extended me an offer, but made it clear it would be unpaid and I would mainly be dealing in administrative tasks. I took the offer on the spot.

The first few weeks of the internship were mundane. As time went on I was given more responsibility and towards the end, I was tasked with making cold calls to business owners inquiring to see if they would be interested in selling their business. (Our shop acted as RE agents except for RE, we listed, valued, sold business and then took a percentage of the selling price.)

I dreaded going into work having to call ~150 numbers a day. Looking back it was probably the best thing that could have happened. After some time, you build a tolerance to rejection and start looking towards how you can convince the owner to change his/her mind. It gave me some great selling experience which in the end isn't that what everything is? Being able to sell whatever (product, yourself) better than someone else?

Apparently I did a good enough job that I was hired part time. Since the shop was located near my CC, I would come in after class. I began learning valuation, was taken to client meetings, and no longer was I making cold calls. I stayed there again the following summer before I transferred to a semi-target to finish my remaining two years of undergraduate.

Going into junior year recruitment, I knew I had to kill my interviews especially since only a few banks recruited at my new school. Every single day from September to December, I spent hours in the library at night preparing for my interview (technicals and behavioral). I asked friends to run mock interviews and I returned the favor with Keystones. On occasions I would splurge and buy them a bottle of Burnett's.

Anyways, I applied through the school's career center to two banks. I did have a preference, but once again I wanted to be flexible. I knew I could always leverage my experience into senior year recruiting if I did not end up at the place I wanted. Oddly enough, for the bank I preferred I was given first round interviews for S&T and Banking. (If anyone is wondering how the two interviews differ I would not mind elaborating on this.) I advanced to the second round for both, but had to pick one due to company policy. I felt selecting Banking would give me the best opportunity to land a spot.

Needless to say, I went to my second round banking interview and a few hours after it had concluded, I received a call saying the bank wanted to extend me an offer for the summer. I signed two days afterwards.

So that's my story. Now onto some basic suggestions. I know many of these have been posted here, but they are significant even if they sound basic.

Be flexible:

Odds are you will not land your desired position immediately. Set a plan and chip away at slowly.

Do your research:

If you interview with a bank (or anywhere for that matter), be sure to know about the firm's culture, recent deals, or any current issues. Sounds simple enough yet many overlook this.

Craft your story: and SELL it.

This was probably what separated from from other candidates. Through months of preparing I had a concise story and spun it to my advantage.

Be yourself:

During my second round interview, an Associate wanted to know what I did outside of school. He wanted to see if I could pass the airport test. Yes. Keep it formal, but remember the people interviewing you are humans too. No one wants to hire a robot.

Hustle:

Do whatever it takes to get your foot in the door. I cannot recall how many times I was asked, "How did you get that internship (brokerage firm)." Too many people are complacent and expect things to be handed to them.

Network:

This is something I should have done better. I was fortunate enough to talk to a few alumni from my school so when I was interviewing I was able to say, "I spoke with X and they stated...and that demonstrates culture, why I want to work here...etc."

Follow up:

Build those relationships. There have been numerous threads on WSO saying networking is not about quantity rather about quality. It does not help you if you talk to someone one time and then 6 months down the road ask for a job. Doesn't work like that.

Work hard:

Once you land the position make sure to bust your ass. Our firm's culture was laid back compared to other banks, but I was still first in, last one out. It's 10 weeks. You can handle it.

Attitude:

To borrow from another comment, "Eat your shit sandwich with a smile."

Make yourself known:

You don't want to be in a position after 10 weeks where people are ask, "Who was that intern again?"

That's all I can think of currently. If any others come to mind, I'll be sure to add them later. Once again thank you all and if you have any questions please ask.

- L