Didn’t convert my spring week. Any impact on my odds for next year?
Ignore employment title, writing for a friend in first year (I am second year).
“Finishing my first year at LSE. Didn’t manage to convert my spring internship at a top 3 EB in London. Cooked or not?”
The friend is anxious because they know that not converting a summer internship can make you quite undesirable on the full time analyst job market, and is wondering if this applies to spring weeks too, to a lesser extent though perhaps. He has decent society positions and an objectively strong CV (I did a summer at an EB, have seen lots of good CVs and think this), as well as a boutique summer internship this summer. He has been prepping technicals for some time and is likely to be able to tick that box in interviews. Behaviourals and general likeability wise he’s a nice guy and easy to talk to, doesn’t struggle to make decent convos with people he has barely met. Any thoughts or experiences are appreciated.
When applying for banks better than your EB spring put converted on your bullet point underneath (indicates confidence hence applying to only better seats). When applying for banks worse than your EB put fast tracked to AC (indicates uncertainty hence applying to worse places)
Nobody will check but you just need a coherent story as to why you are applying for those places
I see ok, thanks for the pointer. I personally think staying honest is the best policy but tbh I respect anyone who has the balls to do this, you’ll probably thrive in banking too.
I’m wondering to what extent people get away with this type of strategic slight lying? I’ve heard of people lying about getting stupidly high firsts in some modules on their CVs and getting JPM summer (the background check is just 2 binary conditions answered by your uni which is just (YES/NO) for “grade at 2:1 or higher?” and “do you actually attend”). The spring week thing is not necessarily super bad like lying about grades but still a lie nonetheless. Aren’t you scared of getting caught?
Also, this person is doing PPE so they’re a first year on a four year course at LSE, so perhaps would you recommend they just say they were ‘ineligible’ for conversion instead? Probably safest if they were to go down this route no?
I didn’t convert my spring week at a top 3 EB in London, managed to score a summer offer at a EB when it came to summer recruitment and then 3 grad offers at EB/BB
My background is semi-target, family doesn’t work corporate and no prior connections to the industry.
Some advice, don’t dwell on the failed conversion. Try get a summer internship at a small boutique in the first year of summer, work on what made you fail to convert and really start preparing for summer recruitment. Do extra curriculars at societies that employers know about. Network and get to know people. Once you’ve done those your chances are pretty solid you just need to put the work in simple.
Thank you for this, some decent advice, and congrats!
I guess the question was less about whether it makes you feel bad/sad (he’s just glad he actually got the spring, and knows he can perform well next year etc., he just wasn’t fully focused on the conversion process due to external factors) and as long as all it serves as is a strong line on his CV, rather than a signal of rejection due to non-conversion, then he’s not bothered by it that much.
I won’t leak the exact conversion rate of the EB as much it would be distinctive but they were brutal numbers (20-30%). So he’s not mad, just anxious it’ll impact his chances due to the dual signal it sends (ie elite boutique vetting/pedigree, but also rejection to be converted).
How tf did you intern at an EB in your first year summer?
I think you might be confused, I’m writing for a first year student, I’m a second year student signed for summer 2026 at a top EB in London. In my other posts I might have said I have already done it to simplify the wording/shorten it, but I haven’t done it yet.
Ahh hold on second thought yes I did also say I ‘did’ a summer at an EB already, and that’s my fault. Please refer to the above. Confirmed upcoming rather than completed, apologies for the confusion!
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