What Am I Missing?

Hey guys, I'm new here and after reading a couple forums, I found it necessary to make my own forum post. I am a sophomore at a target school (think Stern, Cornell, Duke) with a GPA around 3.75. Unfortunately, I have to admit, that is my only strong point on my resume. I've applied to many summer/spring internship opportunities, but have gotten nothing back. On the other hand, I know a lot of people on the lower end of the 3.0 side getting interviews/offers at BBs. Any specific suggestions on what I can do to make myself more attractive??? I am getting very worried I won't be able to crack into banking by the time I graduate...

 

I haven't networked with professionals at all. Do those corporate events really help? Is there a guide on here that would teach me how to approach it? Sorry, having a hard time navigating the site. Networking seems kind of an odd concept to me since it would be my first time. Btw, thanks for reaching out guys, appreciate it.

What made me bring this up is my friend got like 5 interviews and I know he does not going to networking events at all. He also has a way lower GPA than me.

 

Not going to networking events doesn't mean he's not networking on his own - do you know if he is? Perhaps he has much stronger work experience than you do, or stronger extracurricular activities etc.

You won't get an IB job without networking unless you are god's gift to your school and have a resume so strong that banks line up to interview you. A Stern/Cornell/Duke degree with a 3.75 GPA is relatively commonplace/unimpressive among the quality of candidates that are also lining up for banks and networking to break in.

Plenty of tips on this site, M&I etc re: networking - you should start ASAP and do everything you can to get a relevant internship for this summer - if you don't, you're almost certainly not going to get one next year, which means you're almost certainly not going to get a banking job full-time.

 

Start networking, my advice is try targeting middle market and regional boutique firms as they tend to be much more relaxed about taking sophomore interns. Start laying the ground work for your long term goals by forging relationships with people. Go to the alumni directory and start looking for people at banks that you'd like to work at. You should be open to any sort of role as a sophomore including non-banking. F500 roles are oftentimes a great place to do an internship, look for strong finance focuses or programs. The other option is of course PWM.

Also do go to the corporate presentations. I think unless it's small you probably will have a tough time standing out at the actual event, but the reality is you are going to get business cards and to follow up. A few days after the info session just send an email to people you spoke to saying that you wanted to learn more about their career and experiences.

 

While there is some good advice coming in this forum IMO you need to get/find a group of mentors/champions that can give you the constructive criticism that you need. I know that it is frustrating but

BLUF: You are not setting yourself apart.

Get a group of folks that are willing to sit down with you and totally re-work your goals. You are obviously smart but it will take much more then that to secure internships etc.

Good luck.

Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum
 
Best Response

I didn't have a finance related internship my sophomore summer (did Big 4 accounting internship). Looking back on it, I was extremely lucky to be able to find an IB position my junior summer without having some sort of financial internship (banking, PE, HF, etc.). I am now a part of the recruiting team for a target school at our firm (I did not go there) and can honestly tell you that beyond scanning quickly for minimum GPAs (hint: most applicants should have above 3.6, which you have) we look for internship experience. Most of the people that we take on as interns had some sort of financial work experience the summer before their junior year.

My recommendation if you really want investment banking - Absolutely find something finance related your sophomore year and use that to gain an internship at the place that you'd like the summer before your senior year. ALSO, look to strengthen your resume outside of GPA + work experience. Try and be a leader in a club related to finance / try and highlight that you're a normal guy outside of work who they'd want to be around. Bankers don't merely want to work with robots who can crank out a model (although you definitely have to be able to do that). As banking is a client-facing job at the senior level, successful bankers have to possess soft skills as well, which means you should try and have things on your resume that make you seem like a personable person (varsity athlete, band member, club founder, head of volunteering efforts for program, etc.)

FYI. This is just my personal experience. Different banks might have different things they focus on.

 

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