Never thought I would say this, but I am more than halfway through my junior year SA stint and I feel lost. I am at a firm I could see myself at for FT, but I don't feel like I am on-track for a return for a couple of reasons. What are some recommendations for the next 4 weeks to finish off strong and (hopefully) secure a return?
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That’s a better question for your mentor/manager or some of the other juniors you’ve been working with. Hard for us to give you specific advice here
Everyone makes mistakes or goes through a patch of rough luck - don’t focus on the past. Put your head down and do your best for the remaining weeks.
Approach the folks you worked with closely and ask for feedback and aggressively make an attempt to fix those issues fast and make sure you are not repeating the same mistakes. Be super proactive - ask for work, be enthusiastic and when given a task, be sure to triple check your work for errors. Would also advise you to make an effort to grab coffee with 1-2 MD/Ds so that you are at worst, slightly more memorable or at best have someone going to bat for you when the team deliberates on return offers.
At the same time, do be prepared for the worst case scenario of not getting a return offer. It probably would not hurt you to do some soft networking with prior warm connections at different banks just so that you have some leads if you do end up needing to recruit for FT.
Do not stress or feel dejected. Focus on what is in your hands and do your best. It is just a couple more weeks. You got this.
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