How hard would it be to lateral into Investment Banking for FT

If you are at a relatively large bank doing corporate banking for a summer internship, how hard would it be to lateral full-time to investment banking within the same bank? And what about lateralling to IB at another firm?

16 Comments
 

FT recruiting for IB is generally brutal and hearing stories from friends who did FT recruiting this year just proves that. It's possible, but the chances are very slim.

 
Best Response

Lol it is not "super easy" to lateral from SA in corporate banking to FT in IBD. Take it from someone who actually went through FT recruiting - it is absolutely brutal even for well-qualified candidates. You can do everything right and still miss out because in FT recruiting you're competing against 5-10 other people at the superday for 1 spot.

 

communicate your interests with HR and find a buddy in the group you're targeting. its a networking game

What concert costs 45 cents? 50 Cent feat. Nickelback.
 

it depends on the network you've already established. If you made it to superdays at MMs or BBs and you showed them that were a smart kid and a likable person but it just didn't work out for you, you have a solid shot at re-interviewing with them again if you keep in touch with them. but if you don't really have a network right now it will be very difficult to lateral into IB.

a lot of interns that work in corporate banking are trying to make the switch over to IB. low chance to move into IB within the same bank, even lower to lateral to another firm.

I had an easy time with full-time because I networked hard when I was a sophomore/junior and people liked me enough to give me another shot at interviewing or refer me to a buddy at a different firm. FT is not brutal for everyone but there are a lot fewer spots left and interviewing is less structured, so there might be spots available even though a bank won't put a listing up on their career site.

 

How important is ur internship junior year for FT IB? Or is it mainly just about networking?

For example, would I be in a better position if I took an IB internship at a small boutique vs corp banking at a large bank?

 

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