Reflections on 2026 SA Recruitment

1,076 cold emails, 41 coffee chats, 52 IB apps, 3 interview processes, and 0 offers - all since October 22nd, 2024. 

I failed. But what did I do wrong? 

Kidlin's law is “If you write the problem down clearly, then the matter is half solved.”

At the moment, I feel lost, so writing my situation out may give me direction. 

Let’s take a look at my curriculum vitae: 

• I attend a non-core school (non-target, whatever you want to call it).

• I’m a sophomore / junior student (Dec/2026 grad date, so technically a junior but classified as a sophomore on applications).

  A quick LinkedIn search reveals fewer than 60 alumni from my school currently in investment banking. Of those, most either transferred after two years or pursued a Master's in Finance or an MBA at a core school. Fewer than 10 entered investment banking directly after graduating.

As far as my professional experience, I don’t care if I dox myself so I’ll be fairly specific:

• 1st year, I landed a boutique private wealth management internship (firm has over $2B in AUM).

  Also joined multiple clubs and placed highly in a couple case competitions. 

• 2nd year, I joined a software startup (~150 headcount and raking in $25M in revenue) as a corporate finance intern. 
•  

• 3rd year, I completed a PwC External Audit internship in New York during the busy season and received a full-time offer, though I have yet to sign and will likely decline. 

  This upcoming summer, I will be joining Microsoft's Finance Rotational Program internship in Redmond.

As far as non-core resumes go, I’d like to think this is competitive, but I understand the lack of direct IB experience is a disadvantage. Nothing a ‘little’ networking can’t overcome, right?  

1,076 cold emails, 41 coffee chats, and 52 IB apps later, I’ve only been invited to participate in 3 processes. But why couldn’t I convert any of them? 

Again, I don’t care if I dox myself so I’ll be fairly specific:

• Opportunity #1: BMO

  Networked with 3 people at the firm and got the opportunity after an MD passed my resume to the recruiting team. I prepped my ass off, practicing my stories again and again, only to choke during game time. 

  The associate who interviewed me was kind enough to hop on a call post-interview to provide some feedback (I reached out after receiving the rejection email). 

  He told me that everything I said was fine and that all my answers weren’t actually bad. Supposedly the reason I wasn’t selected was due to my school’s name and my lack of direct investment banking experience—factors where other candidates had a competitive edge.

  I knew that answer was bullshit. If I was pre-destined to fail because of my “school name” and “lack of IB experience,” why give me an interview in the first place? There must have been something I could’ve done differently that would have changed the outcome. 

  But, to be honest, I already knew why I didn’t move forward: My nervousness leaked through the interview, which caused my behavioral stories to be all over the place.

  So from then on, I promised myself to never repeat that same mistake. Exude confidence at all times, even if you have to fake it. This meant talking slower, waiting a couple seconds after a question to actually THINK of an answer instead of trying to recite a non-relevant memorized story, and to speak genuinely (do not try and sound smarter than you are). 

• Opportunity #2: LMM PE Firm 

  Networked with 3 people at the firm, and received a r1 invite. This time, learning from my previous mistake, I treated this interview like a conversation and made sure I was in the right head space (needed to exude confidence).  

  The flow was phenomenal and I passed the interview with flying colors. 

  The very next day at 8 am I received a r2 invite. This time, it was going to be a strictly technical round ~30 min. 

  Although I had a pretty good understanding of financial concepts already, I’ve never sat down and studied investment banking technicals, I’ve always been concerned with networking and only networking. 

  Writing this now it seems obvious that this was a grave mistake on my end. I had 4 days to master technicals, starting from ‘zero’. 

  So what did I do? I sat down, read over 120 pages aloud from the WSP red textbook, and practiced the 400 Qs aloud from start to finish. I also binge-watched YouTube videos on IB technicals. This was all done while working 55 hours per week for PwC during my internship. 

  Surprisingly, just by doing this I actually understood the concepts and everything started to click together. 

  Heading into this interview I was fairly confident. 

  After a short intro from both of us, the interviewer fired one basic technical question after another, and I was acing everything that was thrown at me. 

  And then he asked me “What cost synergies can be achieved through an acquisition?” 

  The question seems simple enough, so I gave him an example of how a manufacturing company can buy out a distributor to cut down on shipping costs. 

  But then he asked “Can you give me more examples?” 

  In truth, in my prep for this interview, I only read about possible revenue synergies M&A can provide. Not cost synergies. So I was stuck. I couldn't think of anything else. 

  Eventually, the interviewer gave me the answer and we continued with his questions, where I again aced almost everything thrown at me. 

  Leaving the interview I thought my chances should be 50/50 since I couldn't fully answer 1 or 2 of the questions, but I was still confident because I answered the other 15 questions perfectly. 

  Two days later I received the rejection letter and my heart sank. 

  Key Takeaway? With how competitive high finance is, you literally cannot miss a single technical interview question. Doing so hurts your chances exponentially. So, I vowed to never make this mistake again. 

• Opportunity #3: Lincoln International

  Networking with 3 ppl seems to be the magic number, as yet again that was the number of coffee chats I had before receiving my r1 invite. 

  The interview was 30 min and completely behavioral. Perhaps the easiest interview I ever had.

  Our conversation flowed effortlessly, I spoke confidently and thought it was one of my best ‘performances’ thus far. 

  However, a week goes by and people have already received their round two invites (I know this via Discord and a WSO thread), and I still haven’t received mine. 

  My assumption is that I did not move on, as they expect to have superdays end of march according to the interviewer's timeline (he had said this to me in round 1). 

  Weird part is I have no idea how I could have done better, or what I did wrong. I would not change a single response of mine in the interview. Regardless, some of this stuff is out of your control and you just have to accept that and move forward. 

So here I am today, not knowing what my next move is. Is investment banking the best career for me? These are things I have to answer on my own, so I now ask myself: 

Well, what do I want out of a career? What am I even good at? 

• I know I have a natural curiosity about everything. I love to ask questions, and often find myself pondering why / how things work the way they do almost constantly in my life.
• I also love numbers, because I find it interesting to quantify things. It’s extremely satisfying to assign something to a number EXACTLY (not sure if that makes much sense).
• Most importantly, I need to feel like what I’m doing actually matters. I like to see that my work has a tangible impact on something. I find passion in purposeful work. 

My initial thought is that working on transactions / deals will satisfy all three of these requirements. 

But what do I know? 

I see investment banking as a clear answer, but am I missing something? Is this the best career for me? I am not afraid of hard work, I’ve been accustomed to it my entire life. 

But, I AM afraid of working so hard that I won’t see the bigger picture of what I’m actually doing. It’s like cutting through a field of 10-foot-tall grass relentlessly, but if you’re unable to peak above the canopy, how do you know you’re going in the right direction? 

After all, "If working hard made you rich, donkeys would be covered in gold."

I now stand at a crossroads. Do I stick with the Microsoft gig and see what's in store for me? Or do I somehow find my way into investment banking right now, as opposed to later? I am not sure. More thinking is needed. 

All I know is that talent has a way of shuffling its way to the top, no matter where they start.