Hi,
As someone from Europe reading most posts about how to break in, I can't help but think that the recruitment process is a lot less personal than the US. I've spoken to coverage bankers on both sides and they agreed that this is the case.
Does anyone have any stories of networking having a large impact in Europe?
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Depends what city we are talking about - London, Frankfurt, Paris or any other?
There are similarities for all 3 cities and differences. For London all banks usually have a similar process/requirements. But may vary between Frankfurt and Paris.
For networking it does have an impact but to a lesser extent as the number of applicants/place is lower. I know that for top Tier BB networking does help, but you can land a spring week without networking and getting return offers if you perform well enough. For summers networking is key for GS/MS/JPM.
I assumed the hiring methods would be similar for all three, are they substantially different?
for Frankfurt I can tell you networking doesn't help much if you're grades are not good enough and/or if you are from a non-target. Of course there are always exceptions (and of course there are always some people who know an MD personally), but this is not the general rule.
That being said, your chances are almost equal to get a job if you just apply online, than if you'd meet an analyst beforehand. (=> Networking is neither a "must", nor really necessary for getting interviews)
London: I have friends who just hit up people and met seniors for coffee ("informal interview"), which eventually led to them landing offers. This was for buyside roles though, not i-banking.
Afaik main differences for London are these: - Academics are less important. Most banks require a 2.1 (equivalent ~3.5 GPA) but beyond this your grades won't make a difference. If you attend a target you do not need to study relevant subjects like finance / econ. Plenty of people in IBD have history degrees from Oxford. I would argue that a non-conventional degree from a target can actually place you at an advantage since you will stand out more as a candidate. - Networking is less important, though still helpful. You can go through the whole process of spring week -> internship -> FT without networking once. - On-campus recruiting is non-existent, applications are made online. - Languages are super important, European languages especially. At a typical BB probably 70% of the analyst class will speak a European language in addition to English. If you break in and your only language is English you will most likely be placed into UK coverage; teams that do a lot of cross-border deals like Lev Fin and Industrials will be harder to access, narrower geographic coverage teams like Benelux and Nordic will be impossible. - Something like 30% of each intern class will be converted spring weekers, so getting a spring week is a top priority if you are in first year. - Less emphasis on technical questions during the interview process. At least for IBD, my impression is that banks here are more interested in finding interesting, sociable, hard-working individuals than hardcore finance nerds. Hence why you can break into IBD with a history degree so long as you come across as interesting and willing to learn. I know for Germany the interviews are a lot more technical.
Regarding your first point, doesn't a 1.1 give you an advantage over other candidates?
Not really.
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