Have you heard of anyone landing an offer without prior networking?
I know of only 2 people who have done this. Both women and both super targets (not discrediting women, these girls are as qualified as any, but odds are in their favor).
The prompt for this question comes because this is what I am hoping to accomplish. No networking opportunities for me unfortunately without cold emailing.
Don't underestimate the power of cold emailing. Send enough emails and you're bound to find some analysts who will want to talk to you and you will get lucky.
Got my current job without any networking at the firm though it was OCR. Every place I networked at I didn't get an interview at ironically though those were also the most sought after places like GS / MS / EVercre
I'm currently an intern at GS/MS/JPM and I didn't do any networking. Non-target school as well. I just made sure to crush the hirevue and interviews.