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Ha, so obviously USC considering the schools listed and the one auspiciously omitted - laughable comparisons.
Now that that is out of the way, your best approached would be 1. see if there are recent analysts and to a less extent associate/vp alum from USC in NYC offices and reach out to them, 2. network with the campus recruiting team and tell them you have interest in the NYC office and see if they can make intros for you. You should also be networking with LA/SF people too as there is a historic pipeline into those offices. Generally speaking the NYC teams will review your resume as well and processes will be run somewhat separate (probably depending on the firm) so you need to cover your bases.
i go to an east coast target, and interviewed for multiple SF offices through networking (basically the reverse of you) so i feel like i have a decent understanding of this.
basically, you need someone on the inside (preferably in the NYC office) to push your resume for NYC recruiting if you don't get OCR.
If you are trying to land a position with the NY office, why would the SF/LA people be screening your resume? You should be networking with the place you are applying for.
Lol, I believe there are a ton of people that would trade positions with you for going west coast rather than nyc. jealous
One of my close friends who went through SA recruiting last year faced this same exact problem as an LA kid. Thankfully there is one BB that his school has a very strong relationship with and whose NY office is actively trying to recruit kids from. There were a few others as well who included a supplemental location preference questionnaire after first round interview invites were sent out. In these cases, first round interviews were with people from NY offices (the one BB actually sent out two bankers for OCR interviews one day; others were over the phone). It doesn't make much sense for NY people to resume screen, LA/SF people do first round, and then fly to NY for final round.
As far as general networking advice is concerned, this is definitely where looking to recent alumni can be critical. I would definitely be careful on coming off as too interested in NY recruiting when networking with LA and SF people. A kid I went through SA recruiting with did this by fishing for Houston contacts (he has a whole family background in energy) and it ended up screwing him over when it came to interviewing to more "go-to" offices. It's okay to ask for potential contacts (especially if the convo directs it-- say they bring up NY, east coast, etc.) but just remember that you're more likely to get an offer from these regional offices. With that in mind, don't burn potentially stronger bridges by coming off disinterested in west coast groups.
@ke18sb nice try but actually, I don't go to USC. It's Stanford/Berkeley. I eliminated USC to see if your answer will change, but will not disclose any further from now on cause I want to stop people from guessing...thought Marshall wasn't that bad.
@Discounted Cash Bro As a lurker, I have seen a lot of your posts and know you are an experienced member. My friend at my school who interned at GS/MS/JPM last summer went through OCR, in line with what GreekRX said, but would be very interested if you have any experience or insights into that. One thing to note though, that friend is a beast, he had interned at Lazard/Moelis/Evercore IBD beforeas a sophomore, so when it comes to junior SA recruiting he didn't network and just went through OCR and later told people he wanted to go to NY (did just like what GreekRX said). However, I don't have that kind of experience that is very rare among juniors, so I need to network to increase my chance.
@GreekRX Do you think it helps to network with NY people though? Like I know some people who are very interested in breaking in have done weekend trips in previous years and found success. How could that work then and how could I get it work...like having someone inside to push your resume like what "kidflash" said?
regarding burning bridges, I'll really try my best, but I am also applying to HK just fyi so SF people are gonna know I'm interested elsewhere.
@zeroblued haha why do you say so? I would totally love to attend an east coast school and recruit in NY (also because I'm from California). SF offices take too few people, while NY offices take at least 10-15 times that number, but there's not necessarily 10-15 times the number of target school students on the East Coast.
Thank you so much everybody for your input, really appreciate it.
The thing is though, if you're from Berkeley / Stanford, those are basically the ONLY target schools for a lot of SF banks. Sure they'll grab an East Coast or random other kid here and there, but it's largely focused on those two schools. In fact, my firm had a "Cal Superday" and a "Stanford Superday" (with a couple random other kids sprinkled in)
Also, the lifestyle in SF (generally speaking) is MUCH better than the lifestyle in NY for banking. You definitely see the laid back nature of the West Coast come through every now and then
Same way any non-target gets in. Network.
Plan of attack doesn't change. I think that is your best bet.
Have experience with this. You can go through your OCR first-round and ask for your resume to be pushed into the NY group for your superday. I'd recommend networking beforehand though, since you could potentially end up with separate supers in NY and SF as separate processes.
To echo what others have said, for those looking to come to SF who don't go to West coast targets: good luck. You have almost no chance if you don't have someone push your resume hard and seriously kick ass in the interviews. The SF banks can easily fill their SA slots with extremely well-qualified Berkeley/Stanford kids with tech backgrounds and ties to the area. Can't overstate this. Having interviewed in NY and SF, the bar is much higher in SF than in NY. SF has fewer slots and honestly, the interviews are a lot harder. You have to know your technicals cold and demonstrate pretty clear passion about technology.
And OP, please delete that part about your friend and his background. Banking is a pretty small world, and just from what you mentioned I have a pretty good idea who he is. He'd probably prefer his anonymity. I know I do.
I actually know a few people at both Stanford and Berkeley that fit the description, but will go ahead and delete that part. Thanks
Appreciate it. And yeah I'm pretty anal about anonymity, but I think that's what keeps the conversation honest on this site. People will stop contributing if they're worried about being outed.
Too bad it isn't USC, know 3 analysts in one group (small) from gs/jp/ms. I say, just grind your butt off.
From what I've seen, if you want to do SF banking, the place to be is Berkeley, not USC. Majority of GS SF, MS Menlo, CS Tech, JPM Tech, DB, etc all come from Berk/Haas. Same with the SA classes. Stanford probably places well, but there just aren't that many students interested in finance there to begin with, and the ones that are usually have NYC ties.
Very true, however it is still fairly "easy" for students down in LA (USC, UCLA, CMC) to land SF gigs. It's not like networking for NY where you have to go out of your way to make contacts indirectly. Most BBs that hold on-campus networking events include reps from LA and SF offices. They also do OCR for both.
Actually, I would say 30-40% of the kids who got SA offers at one particular west coast target school last year with BB tech groups in SF.
How about offices in LA? Would BBs actively recruit in USC, UCLA, CMC for SA positions in LA even though they are not target schools?
I have been lurking for a while and this is my first post, please be gentle.
Are you asking if BB regional offices in LA actively recruit at USC, UCLA, Claremont, etc? If so, definitely. I would actually say a lot of BBs in LA consider these target schools (I can't say the same about other large schools in SoCal like UCI, UCSD, or LMU). It varies from bank to bank, but a lot of them look to USC and UCLA early on (first or second week of January) to fill SA positions once the formal recruitment period begins on campuses. Of course there are a few banks that look elsewhere and leave maybe a spot or two open for kids at these schools. I know for instance that some elite boutiques like Moelis and Houli RX will interview kids at these schools but also heavily recruit at Ivey, Wharton, and a few others.
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