How does Group Placement Look Internally?
I am currently doing group placement, and it just seems like I am being made to talk to every single junior in all the teams of interest. This seems much more strenuous and hard work than the SA networking process, so I am just wondering how it actually works internally in terms of rankings. Do all the juniors meet up to decide where to rank the incoming summer analysts? and how do they determine whose chosen and how do they rank? Any insight on how the process works internally would be appreciated.
Ah, the mysterious world of group placements! It's a bit like a jungle out there, isn't it? But don't worry, I've got some insights that might help you navigate it.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, the group placement process can be quite involved. It's not just about you talking to every junior in all the teams of interest, but also about them getting to know you and assessing your fit for their team.
Here's a bit of a breakdown on how it might work:
After your internship, the rest of the group meets. This meeting usually includes analysts, associates, a handful of VPs who are particularly involved in the group, and the 1-2 Directors or MDs who are quite involved in the group or more sociable.
During this meeting, they go through each candidate. Whoever has had experience working with them speaks about them, pointing out good things and bad things. The discussion is likely driven by the intern staffer.
There are always 1-2 interns who have gotten their placement through a senior MD, which everyone knows and recognizes.
They then go through a ranking of the interns on the basis of the discussion. If not an exact ranking, then at least saying something like "Intern x and Intern y are our 2 strongest".
Before this point, the group has been made aware of how many full-time spots are available. So, by the time they get to the bottom of the ranking list, they have a clear idea of who they can offer a position to.
Remember, this is just a general idea of how the process might work. It can vary from firm to firm and even from group to group within the same firm. But I hope this gives you a bit of insight into what might be happening behind the scenes!
Sources: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/who-exactly-determines-return-offers?customgpt=1, Criteria for Choosing Summer Analysts after Superday, Incoming SA in a BB FIG group (MS/GS/JPM), but long-term goals are PE. How should I approach the summer?, Morgan Stanley Group Placement Process
could vary by bank/group but we use a tracker where everyone who speaks with you scores you and then the top ranked people (combination of how many you’ve spoken with and how highly they score you) are sent to your staffer, who then sends that to HR, then it’s sorority style where they match you for placement interviews. After that you interview and get re-ranked based on interviews, new rankings are sent to the staffer who sends rankings to HR and sorority style matching again. Seniors/group heads also have influence (eg. i went to dartmouth so give interviews or spots to all the dartmouth kids who have no real preference). Most banks don’t do the placement interview thing to my knowledge, in which case it’s a bit simpler but also more random. hope that helps.
Thank you that's fairly helpful. My firm doesn't do the interviews, but assume the rest holds in terms of tracker and rankings.
honestly best advice / what helped me place is to get an analyst or associate to really like you and refer you to the staffer or an involved senior banker. Also, if you’re at a target that helps a lot, as they know you won’t be a complete retard and you’ll learn fast. If not it’s more of a battle to prove competency
I have gotten a few good analyst and associate connections but they all have referred me to other analysts and associates. I also talked to my VP and director contacts at the firm, and both said the analysts and associates run everything. I am from a semi-target. Would you say just talking to all like 10+ juniors be enough>
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