How hard is FT recruiting compared to regular SA recruiting?
Question in Title. Went through SA recruiting where I was able to network well and get around 11 R1s and several SDs. Ended up not doing well in the SDs (mostly because i didn't prep enough w upperclassmen & analysts) but was able to sign an alright MM with good volume just smaller deals.
Want to FT recruit for job security and also to move to a better firm if possible. Curious how hard it is compared to SA recruiting (esp given my success/lack of success)
Harder and easier. Harder, because the actual number of seats is far fewer. Easier, because the candidate pool is typically weaker, so it's easier to stand out.
My own view watching others get in on FT recruiting is that the best people who did so usually have a story about why FT recruiting is for them. I found a good number of CS/premed switchers did quite well actually. They're smart enough and usually have a good reason as to why they wanted to come to finance.
So try to have something that makes you stand out more.
How is the candidate pool weaker? Shouldn’t it be harder, given most people received return offers and were at an ib? SA recruiting are candidates of the same level
Well, you answered the question yourself. The people gunning for it the hardest got their return offers, and are removed from the pool. Most people don't go through FT if they have a return offer, just not worth it.
IME, most FT recruiting comes from one of the following
-Got IB internship, didn't get RO
-Got finance internship lower than IB, wants to do IB
-Completely different field, looking to switch into finance.
That would be the majority of candidates. At least ones you'd even bother to look at, there are of course some with no internships or experience who have an idea they can walk in.
So standing out there means having something that puts you in the top of each pile.
i assumed a lot of FT recruiting was people from lower tier IBs who got their return offers but want to move to a better IB. Thats where the best of the best are competing against each other.
also ive heard no RO means ur screwed
Yea same. I thought that if you don't have a strong story as to why you didn't receive a return offer, or if you didn't have a SA at an IB, it's hard to get a FT offer. Not only is getting interviews harder, but I'm pretty sure that the bar and level of competition is higher, especially because most candidates are trying to lateral. I heard being at an IB for SA and getting a return offer gives you a huge advantage over kids who weren't in an IB or had a return offer. Please let me know if you heard something different @usernameladiesman217.
This is not very applicable to all banks, I’m speaking from a London point of view here:
I did a IB summer at a very strong mid-market, I ended up getting the return offer but I wanted to fish for a ‘better’ bank so I only went for EB / BB.
For the 3 EB and BB I got to the AC for, they only let people with summer return offers into the AC’s. You’re fighting for a very small number of seats with very tough competition that are all able to perform well on the job to get a return offer from their IB or similar industry. I’d say if you were recruiting for mid-markets then perhaps you’ll come across less strong competition but then again, the number of seats is also very small.
Also, the level of technicality in the interviews is definitely a huge step up from summers. Since the number of seats is lower as well, they are much more picky with who they pick.
I did my undergrad at Harvard so my interviews were mostly fit
seems like your sole issue was lack of prep given the large amount of first rounds you were able to secure
completely agree with this, I def had a wrong idea of my prep thinking i was fine. At this point I have a better guage for SA recruiting but what would FT recruiting focus more on?
Ur deals for sure
I'll answer this best as I can as I just went through the past cycle and went through three processes and accepted at one of them.
I interned in FP&A at a major F500 for reference so I came in through the cycle with no SA at a major bank although I had an internship at a regional boutique my sophomore summer and also had my technicals sharp already from prepping throughout college.
I'd say compared to summer analyst recruiting, full time recruiting is much harder due to the following:
Do you have to network a ton before the apps open or do you blind submit?
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