Freak Out Options
A little background, Im an Econ major at a Target (Top 10 school). Im applying to IBD through OCR, and I've done successful networking with analysts at GS/MS/JPM both at info sessions and over phone. But considering how competitive those banks are, Im starting to regret not having networked with other BBs.
I dont have a great GPA, its ~3.51 - 3.60 (keeping anonymity here), and Im getting really nervous about this whole SA recruiting process. Im wondering if there's anyone in a similar boat who's gone through the process, struck out junior year, and been successful in eventually landing a BB or good MM investment bank during their senior year?
Is Fall FT recruitment basically impossible without a brand name IB internship? What have you guys done? I've read that you get another shot at SA recruiting if you get accepted into a Masters program during senior year. I could do that, but it seems like a tremendous waste of time and money for a degree I likely have no use for. Does anyone have a relevant experience they could share about breaking senior year / soon after graduation?
You need to chill out. Assuming there are still open postings, I wouldn't say it's too late to start networking with other firms. Even if you're a little late for SA (and I am not saying this is the case), it puts you in a pretty good position once accelerated FT and regular FT recruiting begins.
TLDR: Stop thinking about what you can do 6 months or a year down the road to get into IBD and start thinking about what you can do today to get into IBD.
As someone who went through the FT recruiting process last semester at a lesser school than you, I ended up at a great firm with a lower GPA and a boutique internship at a place you have probably never heard of.
I completely understand your freak-out because I had multiple panic attacks during the FT recruiting season and every ring, ding, and tick of my phone would cause me to have a small heart attack. I'm not going to tell you to relax because that's the last thing that I wanted anyone to tell me, but one thing I can say for certain is that given your credentials (Top 10, some networking, GPA >3.5), you WILL have your shots, but it's up to you to take the shot and run with it.
For the last part of your question FT recruiting was easier than SA recruiting for me. By that, I mean that FT recruiting had less technical questions and focused much more on fit probably because I had done an IB internship.
Here are my two final pieces of advice:
1) For SA recruiting (and FT for that matter), focus hard on the technicals. Example: Understand the concept behind why working capital increases/decreases with an increase in AR/AP/inventory/etc (actual cash in company's coffers vs non-actual cash) and why this affects FCF. It's no longer enough to walk someone through a DCF, LBO or Acc/Dil model because you have to remember that the people interviewing you now probably used the exact same study materials when those people were interviewing for jobs.
2) Even if you don't land the BB job of your dreams for SA (many people don't) you still have a shot for full-time. Just get an IB internship and network hard during the summer. During my boutique internship, I'd do networking calls in-between comments and built up a pretty strong rolodex by the time FT recruiting rolled around and had interviews with almost every bank that came on campus.
Thanks guys, Im glad keeping your head in the game can still pay off even if things dont work out. If BB/Elite Boutique doesn't work out at all this summer, I'll get myself another boutique offer for the summer at least and work from there.
Although I don't think its a good idea, I am curious about the MA option because it hasn't been discussed at length. Do people really get another shot at SA if they're going to have another year at school? The requirement used to be "a year before graduating", but nowadays I see the OCR asking specifically for juniors. Again, Im more inclined to get work experience and lateral in if nothing ever worked out, but the info could be useful for others as well.
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