Advice for London applicants

There used to be a 20 FAQ London edition made by Pan Monkey which had everything you needed to know about London recruiting but it seems to have disappeared. I'm not going to remake that in any way but I thought I'd comment on more niche things/trends that I, and my friends, have noticed about London recruiting. This advice applies to SA and spring week recruiting: I don't know anything about off-cycles, placements or full-time.

FWIW: Just started work at a top US BB in S&T but had some EB IBD SA offers. Did a summer internship but no spring week. Went to "target" to study something irrelevant. Helped a few kids this and last year who ended up getting some good springs and summers so know a fair amount about recruiting. Will be a long post.

N.B. If you disagree with something, instead of blindly dropping MS and leaving, list what you disagree with; its useful for prospects to have multiple perspectives.

1) Do not listen to Americans (re: recruiting)

• Starting off with a simple one. If you're recruiting for London; listen to and use London-centric sources. A lot of the advice out there is US-centric and not relevant to London. Our recruiting culture is very different. The reputation of different banks here is very different. 
• Given the industry, most sources and forums are American centric and a lot of them end up commenting (through no fault of their own) a lot of nonsense on London posts. The decisions you make based on their comments can have immense career ramifications. Please focus on London-focused advice. 
• A few examples of differences: EBs are much stronger in the US than in London; I've seen a few people now take things like PJT over BAML because of what they have seen on WSO relating to exits which has honestly gotten tiresome. Unless you really like the culture/have a passion for Rx, there's no reason to take most EBs over a decent BB in London at all. They don't have the same reputation or dealfow as their NYC counterparts (LAZ and ROTH are notable exceptions). Networking isn't a standard part of recruiting in the UK as it is in the States and technicals are less relevant (more on these later).

2) Don't overcomplicate things + buy help

• Spring week and internship recruiting is pretty straightforward; you don't need to micromanage and overprepare. This includes reaching out to hundreds of people for advice or trying to get interview/hirevue questions in advance. There are diminishing returns on preparing for interviews and applications; once you reach a minimum threshold, you don't need to go further. Its hard to accept, but that's just how it is; you cannot micromanage recruiting to maximise your odds. It is simply not that deep. They want real human beings, not BIWS drones.
• All you really need: a standardised CV which has been checked by a few people, a cover letter you've spent no more than an hour making, a good "why IB/why this firm" answer. Competencies and behaviourals will generally test your ability to be articulate, think on the spot and have a structured answer. In order to succeed you need to: a) not have a rehearsed answer and b) have a collection of experiences you can talk about that can be spun to hit the most frequent competencies. If you learn to be calm during interviews and not too anxious (for some of you this isn't possible and I empathise with that), you will realise that you can think about your answer and put something together organically which is strong and makes you seem likable. 
• The only service you should ever pay for is something like JobTestPrep which helps you practise for the tests. The tests cut a lof people; you need to practice to get better at them. Do not pay for CV writing/reading services, mentoring or masterclasses. They aren't worth it. You can find the same advice online for free if you ask the right questions on r/financialcareers or on WSO. It might reassure you that you're taking a hold of your future by purchasing masterclasses and seminars but in reality that's just lulling you into a sense of false reassurement. You can't buy an interview. You just need to apply. I saw a student-ran club run some masterclasses at some point (pretty sure the owners don't even have decent internships themselves but hey-ho) and I found it bizarre that people pay for them. Its a good business to run for the owners but you are not getting your moneys-worth as a consumer.
• Technicals aren't a major aspect of sellside recuiting. Most firms won't ask them. Myself and my friends were never asked them. They're not asked as much as they are in the states where pretty much all research/IBD roles will ask them but I have heard of a few smaller firms (and occasionally BBs) ask them here. I was under the impression its because people mention them or their CV alludes to them being present so the interviewer (who has quite a bit of free-reign outside of the HR-demanded questions) decided to grill them. Some PE firms probably ask about LBOs if you're wanting to break into one out of UG. I know some top hedge funds don't ask technicals though. Main takeaway: learn them if you want but most places won't ask them unprovoked. Its a personal decision unlike in the States.

3) Don't overdo networking

• Don't ignore networking, but for larger banks it won't usually lead to refferrals unless you've got an exceptional connection. Even then depending on the bank HR might end up blocking any impact it might have. You don't need to schedule multiple coffee chats to break in like you do in the states; definitely do some so you can learn more about the bank and culture and can talk about it in interviews.

If this post does well/there's enough demand I might make a buyside out of UG recruiting guide since I have some experience with it and there seems to be a lot of misinfo going around about it.