How early is too early?
Hello all, I am a freshman at a non target looking to break into banking, ideally BB/EB. I was able to get a 4.0 my first semester while landing a role in the investment fund, earning a leadership position in the IB club, and an internship at a boutique bank for this upcoming summer. I’m wondering how else I can prepare for SA recruiting next year? Additionally, is now too early to start networking? Some say it is never too early, while others say bankers simply do not take freshmen seriously. I would love any advice for a non target student in general or Networking specifically. Thank you in advance.
Just start trying to build out your resume by getting internships. Find something sick for this spring or summer and then in the fall you can start reaching out and people will give you the light of day because you’ve demonstrated genuine interest.
Build out the resume more, but it’s not too early to network. Start reaching out and have educated questions ready for them, make it clear that your goal is to get to know the team but you understand that based on your experience you may not be ready to apply for the internship program. Then, if the calls with team members go well, reach out every 3-6 months to check in. This will keep you on the top of the team’s minds, plus will give you more industry knowledge to use in interviews and your career beyond them!
I disagree tbh. I would wait until after 2026 recruiting ends since people are busy with that. You could risk coming across as annoying. I’d honestly wait for October 2025 to start, there was a thread in September where analysts were complaining about sophomores reaching out in September because recruiting teams haven’t started keeping track of calls. I would prioritize sophomore summer networking, a sick sophomore job basically garuntees an offer.
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