How Many Calls to land Top SA

Kinda a dumb question given how much nuance is involved with recruiting, but it’s late and I’m bored.

Say you wanted to land first rounds at ~2 EBs, 2–3 BBs, and a couple of strong MM shops. Roughly how many total networking calls do you think the average person would need?

Assume you go to a solid school but not a super target and aren’t some insane networker, but you’re still above average and generally have solid conversations

What does that translate to on a per firm basis 5 calls/firm? 10? 15+?

Obviously there’s a huge difference between 10 shit calls and 10 calls where you actually build relationships and eventually get a referral, but curious as to what people’s experiences were.

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Think a solid goal is to talk to all the alumni from your school at that specific firm, which I'd imagine based on your post ("solid" "not super target") is 5-10 per bank. Issue with recruiting is there's too many variables and they're all out of your control (e.g. you don't know who has final call in giving interviews, you don't know who's actually willing or free to help recruit > managing their busy schedule). Try to email everyone you can and get as many people on the phone as you can, then you'll have left no stone unturned. 

Otherwise, what if that one person you were too lazy to call could've been the one who got you an interview? You'll never know.

 

Officia adipisci repellat qui necessitatibus fugiat. Quis repudiandae velit aspernatur quas et provident. Aut distinctio repellat ullam voluptatem. Soluta minus est accusantium doloremque et aliquid.

Quae corrupti officia iure inventore eius temporibus blanditiis. Libero quia quia alias officiis beatae. Labore quos laudantium eos nihil.

Enim ut praesentium vel. Maiores repudiandae numquam tenetur omnis sunt. Quae quia dolor voluptatum rem animi vel.

Ut recusandae possimus pariatur voluptas distinctio. Dolorum qui voluptates labore voluptatem repudiandae. Accusantium vero aut quis voluptatem et. Vel officia quos magni tempore est ut sequi.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (47) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (74) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”