Afraid that no group will rank me for SA. Advice needed!

I am going to be an SA in IBD at JP Morgan. I am currently going through the group placement stuff. I am really scared that I won't get my top groups and no group will rank me for SA. Any advice?

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Best Response
  • No matter what, you will be placed in a group (... obviously)

  • You should focus on trying to set up calls with people from the groups you are the most interested in - I would mainly target analysts as those are usually the ones making the decision for SA placement (at least that's how it worked for me). If you get on well with people, show that you are genuinely interested by their industry / product group and ask relevant questions, you should be well placed. Your focus at the end of each call should be to get another contact from the team, to have another call.

I was crazy scared before this whole group placement thing myself, and was not contacted at first by any group. However I sent some emails and scheduled 2 or 3 calls per day during 2 weeks with several groups that interested me. I ended up interning in the group I ranked #1, which was also the top group and the most demanded one at my bank.

Therefore: don't be scared, be organised and demonstrate genuine interest. Do not just wait for group selection, do something about it.

 

We literally only have 2 weeks for group selection (they gave out the contact list and half of the groups don't even reply to our emails)

 

1) You will be placed in a group. 2) If you have a contact list, reach out. Keep in mind though that analysts and associates have been dealing with coffee chats/recruiting calls since August or September, many analysts are recruiting for PE right now, and in general, with it being the beginning of the year, it's a busy time--don't take it personally if you don't get a response 3) If a group is your top group tell them so 4) The way this works (at least as my BB) is someone sends around a list (typically of people that have ranked my group) and asks if anyone has an impression of anyone on there--if one or two people say yes, that may be enough 5) More likely than not, due to point 2, people may not even apply, in which case, yes it's a bit of a crap shoot--however once you actually intern, it's not like anyone will remember (or even know) if you were randomly placed in a group or if you were someone that the group wanted. 6) Again, to reiterate, group ranking is much more important for full time placement (although caveat here is that SAs get a general offer and cand return to groups they didn't intern in at my bank) than for summer offers. HR plays a much larger role, and they do this mostly by trying to match people based on how you rank groups and group needs--that being said, networking in the case that someone may recognize your name on a list, won't hurt. 7) To reiterate point 1, you will absolutley be placed in a group--it may not be your top choice but you will be somewhere. If it's not where you want to be and your bank allows for movement, still do your best and network elsewhere over the summer.

The fact that banks only give you a couple weeks between providing networking contacts and submitting choices tells you how little input groups have in selecting their interns. Not saying the impact is zero or you shouldn't reach out, but I also wouldn't be overly concerned. Presumably you networked with people to land the offer and that may be enough.

 

Just wanted to get a banker's perspective on this - if a group asks you what other groups you've been talking to, and you haven't really spoken to anyone else because conversations with that group have been going really well, would it be bad to just give them a couple group names anyways? I mean even if things are going really well with them, I didn't want to seem like I'm desperate/they're my only option.

Do you think this will come back to hurt me when they talk to those other groups? I don't want it to seem like I lied to them or anything like that, I just panicked/didn't want to seem arrogant when they asked who else I was talking to

 

If a group asks you what other groups you've been talking to, and you haven't really spoken to anyone else because conversations with that group have been going really well, would it be bad to just give them a couple group names anyways? I mean even if things are going really well with them, I didn't want to seem like I'm desperate/they're my only option.

Does anyone think this will come back to hurt me?? I know groups talk to each other, so I don't want it to seem like I lied to them...

 

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