Hey everyone,
Just wondering how hard it generally is to get into MM IB Thinking Stifel, Janney, William Blair, etc.
Have a 3.83 from Indiana Kelley in finance. Rising sophomore so I still have time but just wanted to understand what my chances are and stuff. Everyone on this site is always talking ab BB. Would welcome advice on some good MM IB firms too.
Thanks!
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It's A Problem with The App, It Forces Caps And That Repeating Stuff Unless You Take A Ton Of Time Fixing It
Preface: this is super hypothetical and subjective. Take it with a grain (or two) of salt. I’m a MM banker.
If a 3.8 candidate from a target applies to a BB and is a decent interviewer with a solid grasp of technicals, it can probably be said that they have a ~20-25% chance of landing an offer. That is, out of every 4/5 processes they are actually engaged in, they’ll land an offer in 1. Sometimes candidates like this will strike out completely, and sometimes kids will end up with multiple interviews. But it’s probably something like 20/25%.
MM IB is not substantially easier, I would say that if that same kid interviewed at Blair, Houlihan, Piper, they have a 30-35% shot of landing the offer. So like 1/3 banks they talk to.
In both cases, it’s tough to even get into the process in the first place, so make sure you’re taking that into account. For lower MM firms, it’s still not easy, and what makes it even more difficult is that many of these firms have far less structured recruiting processes. So it’s sort of the luck of the draw with these firms.
For additional perspective, my MM bank is decent, and there are guys I work with who have the Ivy/near ivy credentials and ‘pedigree’ to work at any firm.
Just the luck of the draw and where you end up sometimes. All about how prepared you are and how many opportunities you proactively set up for yourself in undergrad.
I'd second this for my MM bank as well (one of the ones you listed). Maybe extra 10% chance on any given interview, all else being equal. Agree that generally pedigrees might be a tad worse, but still plenty of Ivies and such
Fully agree with this.
This is so well explained. Yes - most kids in MM banks aren't dumb or less worthy, a lot of it boils down to luck or whether the interviewer was clicking with you at EVR that day
Worked at Blair/HL as an SA and the class was very impressive- I think the caliber of candidate at a top MM is pretty similar to a BB in the end. The process may be a tiny bit easier, but I think a lot of kids at top MMs could definitely land at BBs but just ended up at the MM due to offer timing, location preference, culture, or other random reasons.
My SA class had lots of target kids (ivies, UChicago/ND/Northwestern/etc) and some non-targets, but all the non-targets I talked to were super impressive- 4.0 GPA, tons of networking, head of some finance clubs and knew their technicals cold. So it’s doable to land at a top MM from a non-target, but you have to navigate the process perfectly and it wont end up being much easier than a BB.
Yep. At my MM (not NYC), which most people on this site wouldn't have even heard of, ~80% of analysts were from top 20 USNWR schools or top LACs. I think most, if not all, would have gotten offers at BBs if they had recruited on cycle. Most of our analyst classes seemed to have made the decision to pursue IB late, although there were a few that wouldn't have been interested in NYC regardless.
how was your experience at Blair/HL?
I really liked it. people all seem smart but great culture, and they are constantly cranking on deals. I'm pretty happy with my decision to choose it over a lower BB, probably would take an EB or a better BB over it if I had the choice but definitely no regrets
My MM team (I'm a nontarget) is pretty much the same as a BB in terms of schools and XP.
If you network and apply to ask as many places as possible in the MM, while not excluding mid-tier MMs like BMO/Raymond James/SunTrust, you should land at least one offer.
Are you in the IBW? You will get consideration from several MMs if so. If not, try and network and apply through the portal. Some bankers are sticklers for IBW only and others are more lax. I interviewed two Kelley kids who were not in the IBW, though neither made it to the second round.
I am not in the IBW unfortunately. Thank you for the advice though.
Janney = Lower Lower Middle Market
How do MM compare to UBS/DB?
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/dbubs-vs-top-middle-market-groups
MM firms are more on the entrepreneurial side. highlight your entrepreneurialism in your interview. leaner deal teams so you’ll have a lot of responsibility as an analyst. emphasize this too why you want to work at a MM specifically. leaner deal teams —> more analyst responsibility, access to senior management, entrepreneurship, culture of a smaller firm, etc.
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