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If your masters is in Finance that 2.8 will hurt a lot. If your masters is in Management, make sure your finance modules are higher than the average.
Your 1st class undergrad is a good thing that will partly mitigate your Master's meltdown.
GMAT is completely irrelevant, only Business Schools care about it.
You can mantion your sports achievements and club activities on your CV it will look good.
Corporate strategy analyst experience in a TMT company looks quite irrelevant, unless you say that you have special interest in joining their TMT team.
Your experience in MM IB is important, it proves that at least you have some experience in IB, allowing you to apply for FT analyst positions. If you can get recommendations is great. Here you have a good point.
Overall it is not a bad profile, but it is neither outstanding. If you are doing a 2 years masters, I assume you are in a top French school (HEC, ESSEC, ESCP), maybe you should try to join BB team in Paris (it will be far less competitive and your school brand will shine more) and then try to ask for a transfer to London. If you speak other languages you can also apply to other regional offices such as Milano, Frankfurt or Amsterdam.
You have a better profile than some people that I know in BB, so you will need to network a lot, have luck and nail your interviews.
Thanks for your reply,
I am a management student and my course grades from finance courses are better than the whole average, especially from the undergraduate courses I've got most A+s.
Been networking a lot as well, have got some people to push me through the interview.
But I'm very worried that the algorithm might just scrap my cv out cuz of my grades. If I go through networking, would it be possible to get an interview anyhow? or does it have to be at least MD level push to offset this terrible gpa?
Also, you think i can still apply for a FT role directly without doing a summer in London? I was just thinking of doing a summer (even tho for some banks I might not be eligible)
Thanks !
And I honestly don't see myself staying in Paris, even tho I do know that chances are much higher for me to get an offer there.
I didn't think about the algorithm, not sure if you will go through with less than 3.2 GPA. They will ask for your undergraduate grades for sure, maybe you can try to avoid putting your masters grade in the application (not sure about it).
By networking people can push your CV, but if you don't pass the algorithm screening you will be screwed.
Usually is very difficult to get in without doing a SA, but this year might be different as some SA may be cancelled or digital, so I think this year very few spots will be filled with interns.
I think for GS/MS/Citi/CS you are allowed to apply for 2 locations, you can try London and Paris.
And I do have a strong interest joining the tmt team, I've done lots of VC & startup research in my previous internships...but I do agree that it's still irrelevant to a standard ibd experience. I hope I can offset it by my 6 months experience in MM ibd.
How on earth do you have a 2.8 GPA with such an elite GMAT score? Genuinely curious
lol low GPA doesn't mean that I'm dumb, it just means that I was a bad student during my first year of master...my GMAT I've got it only at my second attempt, with just 2-3 weeks of studying (Q51/V41)
And 2.8 in my school it's not 2.8 in other schools (even tho it's still bad) as we take very strict curved grading systems...not proud to say that I was a lazy fuck but yeah I'm not dumb, even got a merit scholarship when getting in lmao Plus GPA is more like working for many hours, doing assignments on time, bla bla more like being diligent, whereas in my opinion GMAT is like other quantitative subjects, you kinda gotta be born to fit into it, you can get a low 600 after 1 year of preparation, or can also get 740+ at your first or second attempt!
Are you going to HEC/ESSEC/ESCP? If so I doubt anyone will care about your grades in France. But seriously, c'mon man, crush your next grades, how do you expect banks to take you seriously if you're not willing to put in the hours in school? It's more than doable to get good grades in French B-school. Other than that, you should definitely go and apply for summer internships. Also, when do you finish school? If it's a program ending in March/April, definitely apply for off-cycle positions at bulge brackets or PE firms (Rothschild, Ardian, Eurazeo in Paris)
Yeah, I didn't really care about grades cuz I was gonna stay in France for my career. But I kinda got disappointed about the French work ethic/values plus I have been endorsed by my MD and director to go to London for the beginning of my career. I can always come back to France if I want to. That's why my grades are shit cuz I wouldn't need it at all if I stay in France. But I do understand that in the UK things are different so I'm gonna really crush my grades like I used to in my bachelor, will ace all the courses and try to get a summer. But I don't think that I'll do another off-cycle in France. At least it's not the very first option as it's easier than in London, at least with my profile.
Sure then try to get a HF/PE/VC off-cycle in London after your studies if feasible, which would complement your SA experience well and offer some dealmaking/investment experience in London.
Also make sure not to have an attitude and to show you're willing to learn. This is key. You got into a Parisienne or such, sure, but plenty of kids from Oxbridge/LSE/UCL/Imperial/LBS are keener on the job. So make sure you prepare for the fit interview properly :)
About Paris, French IB culture can be pretty bad, true, but dut don't expect London IB to be a walk in the park either. You'll still be working 80 hours a week and put in late nights
Btw. do you know if any of these places hire without French language? Or do you know any BB in Paris which hire only with English?
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