Advice on FT Recruiting Timeline with respect to internship

Hey, apologize if this is a dumb question but I’m a bit young in the area and wanted some clarity on this.

Context - I am a rising senior at UNC breaking into IB, and just started my summer banking internship. Going great so far, interested in a return offer for sure I would say. However, I’ve always believed in leaving my options open and even had tried maintaining some sort of relationship with a couple firms I had to decline post-current firm offer acceptance where I could be interested in FT.

Simply put, I had a strong understanding on the typical timeline for IB internships last year. BB starts in early months, super days, but MM/boutique can be more in the summer which was my route. But what is the typical FT recruiting timeline for my first job post-grad? Less strict?

Hope this isn’t too convoluted, maybe a better way to phrase this is should I be doing some light recruiting WHILE in my internship or not?… or if not, like relationship upkeep/cold email bearing in mind it’s not formally applying? Obviously I want to focus on my experience at hand, but am not sure what the typical window would be to accept a potential return offer and if I could leverage others… trying to mitigate “pigeonholing” here if that makes sense…

3 Comments
 

Cum et dolore officia qui velit ullam eius. Fugiat hic similique adipisci praesentium dolores. Non totam eveniet perferendis pariatur quidem rerum.

Ut adipisci quia doloremque sint dolores. Nam est eius fugiat sed ut autem. Earum id ut excepturi ullam. Doloremque vel saepe nobis dolor.

Assumenda explicabo repellendus repellendus. Quo occaecati recusandae vel incidunt tenetur. Sit earum rem id voluptatem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”