CO and AM: how do you stay on top of the application cycle?

What would you guys say is the most effective way to keep track of openings and stay on the ball, timing-wise?

The London IB cycle has swooshed completely over my head this year because I couldn’t monitor the openings. I know the business school guys have some spreadsheets circling round, but am yet to get my hands on one. At the moment I am scavenging through LinkedIn and Indeed, but it doesn’t feel like I’m doing enough. Am I missing something important in the finance recruitment process or am I just simply not monitoring hard enough? Any advice would be much appreciated. 

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I'm not sure if this is the correct approach by any means, but I find that the industry itself is quite small. Within Canada, there are only really ~10-15 consulting shops that have annual recruitment cycles and the boutique shops hire as client work picks up. 

What I do is first understand the general timing (what months they usually come for what start dates), and add/follow a handful of recruitment reps at those firms on LinkedIn. This makes it so when the HR leads or consulting team are saying "are team is growing...", it pops up on my feed

Once I've essentially crafted my market map of what firms to look out for, I highlight their company websites for direct links to postings and save those links to an Excel. 

The Excel does not need to be complicated. I literally just have five columns: Company Name, Position Name, Deadline to Apply, Link to Posting, Application Status.

It also helps to attend any University information sessions for application timeline dates - back when I was actively recruiting, I'd see every other firm post some event from June->August months. 

On a final note, way in advance of this, you can reach out to alumni at shops that are either directly in charge of the recruiting (they hold technical interviews/help in resume screening) or know the hiring for their office location. 

 

This is definitely more high-octane than what I’m doing — really appreciate the advice. I’m going to apply the same idea to AM as well and see how it goes. Looks pretty watertight though

 

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