From being clueless about IB to Summer Analyst offer: Thank you WSO

Before I discovered WSO, I knew close to nothing about the different career paths that exist in finance. I though the only options were being a financial analyst in FP&A or doing some finance rotational program (not that there is anything wrong with that).

I found WSO late in my junior year (at a complete non-target), way after recruitment for summer internships had wrapped up and I was still very naïve and had much to learn before I could successfully network with local boutiques. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn my lesson during my senior year of undergrad and did nothing to set myself up to successfully recruit for full time IB positions until it was too late. That’s when I decided to finally make the change, I turned down multiple job offers in FP&A and applied to grad school in order to have one more shot at recruitment.

Once I was admitted into grad school (a strong regional target, but one that most of you on this site would label a non-target), I cleaned my attitude up and started actively networking with alumni in IB and reading as much as I can on WSO and M&I about recruitment and IB in general. I was getting a decent response rate and had some good conversations with alumni in the field that helped me better understand the necessary skills to succeed in IB.

After going through interview with a few MM banks and boutiques, I am happy to say that my gamble payed off and I recently accepted a summer analyst offer in M&A with the bank I was targeting most. I would not have been able to do this without the countless useful posts on this site and reading the success stories from other’s with similar backgrounds to mine. I am beyond excited for this opportunity and WSO played a huge part in allowing me to get to this point. Thank you all and I hope this site continues to educate and encourage countless more students to pursue their dreams, whether it’s IB, PE, AM, ER, CF, or whatever.

TLDR: I went from being clueless about IB to accepting a summer analyst offer in M&A, with WSO playing a huge role in allowing me to do so.

MSF-2-IB

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