Sophomore really in need of advice
Hello,
I am a sophomore at a top 10 school, however my school does not have a pipeline to MBB the way most top 10 school do. I am really struggling with networking, my school does not have that many alumni to network with and most of the seniors/ analyst do not respond to any messages. Career services is not helpful at all with them not answering my basic questions and trying to shift you to a different types of consulting or careers altogether, which is just not my goal and not the reason I came here and purse what I do. I did manage to land first rounds for the MBB sophomore programs this year, but I did not ultimately land the internships. I have secured an internship with a very well known company in finance but it is not Fortune 500 right now (it is a 600 though).
With networking, I am still not sure how it all works. I message people on LinkedIn and call and ask question and they say I am asking the right questions, but I am not sure how that turns into helping me ultimately land the job. I have read books and read threads but it still doesn't seem to materials quite yet. My school also does not seem to place many people in MBB, we do have a very very very strong focus on STEM, but still not many people considering how many people are interested. I did see career interest statistics and only a fraction of people chose strategy/management, so maybe that is why. But, I am just so uninformed about how it exactly works here.
Right now, I am working on maintaining a high GPA, establishing my leadership and getting experiences that I can pull on for interviews. I also am going to start drilling cases over break until next falls recruiting season so I can have strong casing skills. I think networking is the thing I am really missing but I don't know what I can do to get into contact with people who could help.
Getting into MBB is honestly my biggest goal for my career right now, I just want to make sure I am doing everything I can to have the best possible chances during undergrad.
I hope this doesn't come off in a rude or bad way, I just really need advice.
If you got the first rounds, then it seems like your issue isn't networking, but it is interview prep. Networking and resume are what gets you the first round, but once you get the first round all of that Is wiped away and your interview is all that matters.
With that, I would focus on interview prep. Talk to your former interviewers and get feedback on your performance. Rework your behavioral answers and grind on the case portion, then you will be good to go.
A lot of times, the sophomore programs are geared towards getting to know talented minorities when they are young. It is so hard to get a sophomore internship because... you are a sophomore and firms would rather put more into hiring a junior or senior. But when they interview you in that round, they are still getting to know you and you will likely get invited to interview next year. My friend applied to the freshman and sophomore diversity internship and got rejected form both, but he still got invited to interview junior year.
DM me if you want to chat.
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