Am I Cooked for Not Being a Perma-Hardo?

Rising senior doing banking this summer.

A lot of people around me have banking too, but also do a ton of extra finance stuff. Stock pitch competitions, finance research, student funds, PE fellow programs, modeling comps, etc.

Meanwhile I mostly just have the internship and some prior experience. I’m not spending every week building a finance brand or doing 5 extracurriculars at once.

For FT recruiting and exits 1-2 years after banking, how much does that college stuff actually matter?

Do recruiters for PE/HF/etc still care who won stock competitions or did research in college once everyone already has banking experience? Or does actual work experience, deal exposure, modeling ability, references, and interview performance completely outweigh it?

I know these things help people get internships initially. I’m asking whether not doing all of it now can actually hurt you later on.

Feels like everyone around me is permanently recruiting and I can’t tell if that’s actually necessary or if people are just feeding off each other’s anxiety.

1 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Consequuntur repellendus sed porro laudantium deserunt corrupti. Nesciunt reprehenderit optio sit est. Dolorem et maiores sequi odit quia. Molestiae commodi excepturi non autem. Ut dolore eos consequatur reprehenderit. Numquam rerum qui iure cupiditate non.

Suscipit voluptatem vel quaerat accusantium molestiae repudiandae. Distinctio id eos illo aspernatur aut. Cumque iusto ratione harum aliquam qui. Vel consequatur voluptatem sit dolorem.

Et quae dolores aliquam ipsa eum magni. Perspiciatis eaque ut nihil sed. Recusandae quisquam nam labore sit repellendus ut temporibus. Voluptatem est corrupti id inventore quibusdam eos beatae porro. Sit inventore fugiat ipsa dolor aspernatur deserunt.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (72) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”