How to deal with consistent rejections?
Dear all:
I am a rising sophomore attending Baruch College. This is my first and probably not the last time experiencing a pool of rejection letters/phone calls pouring over me. These rejections come from interviews/networking event/school program. My GPA is 3.65, finance major, no relevant banking experience prior. Now I began to doubt my ability, if I could ever get a position on wall street. How should I construct a new plan to work toward my goal of getting into wall street?
Rejections suck, but they are a part of life. You have to find your own way to cope. For me, if I made it to an interview and was rejected, I would try and follow up to find out why. If I didn't nail the technicals, I told myself I under-prepared, and would not make that mistake again. If it was a fit question, I would work on polishing my responses to questions of that nature. If I was flat out rejected without an interview, I accepted that maybe my experience & background was not good enough for firm XYZ at THAT TIME.
Your options are to stay at it or give up, and take an easier path in life. Do not give up.
You just need to come up with a plan for breaking in. If you have zero experience and are applying for IBD positions at BBs, maybe tone down your expectations. My first time looking for finance internships, I sent out 25+ IBD apps, didn't hear back from a single one.
My advice moving forward: your school is fine, your GPA is fine. Work on what you can control. Apply to every finance position across the board, and practice technicals until you are confident in your interviewing ability. Stress that you are a hard worker and a quick learner, and while you may not be able to add value yet, you will be able to soon. Look at unpaid positions, PWM.
Keep your head up my friend, and feel free to PM me if you would like to hear about how I broke into finance. Always looking to help those polite enough to ask for it correctly.
Thank you so much for your advice. Can you recommend some small firms/boutiques to apply to?
I can, but I am not going to unless you can give me a strong reason as to why you cannot do it yourself.
Search by city, and pick the largest of the following nearby (Chicago, NYC, Boston, LA, San Fran, houston, etc.)
Google lower-middle market and middle market investment banks in that area. You will find plenty. Use linkedin. When you find a smaller bank (i.e. 50-200 employees, look on the right side bar, and there will be similar banks of equal size).
Stay at this and you will have a solid list in no time! If you really wanna get after it, cold call some of the guys. Some people love it, some despise it. Cant hurt as long as you are respectful and polite.
Ditto on all of the positive comments made by Deal Team Six, but I also have a couple points of constructive feedback (don't take this personally, just trying to help you improve your chances):
Baruch definitely has a presence throughout the IB world, but most of the kids I know have (or at least pretend to have a higher GPA. They are also very very very involved in banking and finance clubs on campus. If you're not, then you're putting yourself at a disadvantage to directly comparable students (especially when networking with alumni). Take whatever classes you need to in order to get that GPA up as high as possible. Note: I broke into banking with a sub-3.5 from a state school, but I got lucky with a tight networking contact
Do you speak another language in addition to English? There's something about your sentence structure/wording that seems forced/unnatural. Whether that's true or not, it's important that you're comfortable talking to people (especially for successful networking). I was awful at networking and saw no positive results until I started being more social (in my life outside of networking) and became more relaxed when talking to people. This also obviously helps a lot in interviews.
Thank you also for you advice! As for the clubs, I have attended finance & economic society, this upcoming semester I plan to join Wall Street club also. To answer your second point, yes my mother language is mandarin, but I do not have that thick of an accent, I speak fluently in English. I do however stumble on my words in networking chats..... especially when I get nervous, my accent tends to become thicker than usual.
Hey I go to Baruch too. I just joined Finance and economic society last semester (only attended a few sessions). I'll be attending it regularly next semester for sure.
100% agree with the comments from Deal Team Six and BluePilotG4.
Having been on both sides of the equation, there is nothing worse than networking with somebody who is socially awkward / uncomfortable. Make sure you come across as natural and confident and you will see the best results.
Additionally, there is no such thing as being over prepared for an interview. Make sure you continually prepare, so when you get your break, you will be able to present yourself in the best light.
Hey Personal MBA Coach, I think you deserve a response...heck, everyone does. We're listening, sorry about the delay ...my best guess at places on WSO that could help:
If we're lucky, maybe these professional users will respond: jbird94 Joshmmay Philip-Gavey
Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.
You've been rejected and don't have a job. What's next? (Originally Posted: 02/05/2009)
This is excerpted from a full post at my site, but figured it'd be useful for forum participants. 95% is general advice regardless of industry.
So you've been rejected and have no offer. What's next?
This is priority numero uno. You’ll typically receive a rejection call after the interview. If the caller is one of your interviewers, politely ask him/her for feedback on your performance. Don’t come across as bitter, upset, or anyway emotional - simply interested in receiving feedback for future improvement.
Once you’ve received feedback, take it to heart! Practice will only help for future interviews or next year’s recruiting cycle.
If this isn’t your last interview, prepare doubly hard for the next one. No surprise here. Internalize feedback about your shortcomings (”you were unstructured in your approach to the case…you had an insufficient understanding of the underlying business drivers…we didn’t feel that you were a good fit for our company culture”). One of the most common mistakes people make is to practice alone. Do it with another person - it’s 5x more valuable. Ask your family as a last resort.
I’ll say it here: getting an offer to any of the top 50 management consulting firms is a major accomplishment
Apply to whatever is available and take interviews even if you wouldn’t accept the offer. Practice is key and options are valuable.
There are plenty of other options - ones you should’ve considered from day 1 anyway. If your heart is still set on management and strategy consulting, the best thing you can do is recruit for jobs with the best combination of brand recognition and skill-development. Suggested areas include finance (eg, investment banking and sales & trading) and the corporate track (eg, corporate management and product management). Not a particularly innovative list - but you get my point.
Consider grad school. Particularly if your undergraduate institution is not a “target school” - a top tier grad school can be a solid reset button. Masters programs are shorter and less selective than other alternatives. Important disclaimer - don’t get a masters degree just for recruiting purposes.
Finally, there’s entrepreneurship. I’m clearly a big fan, but startups won’t allow you to break back into consulting unless you consider post-graduate education. There’s no clear network and no channel into management consulting. It is a viable path, however, to venture capital.
Never stop networking. It makes a difference, particularly in tough economic times when there are 10 equally qualified candidates for 2 positions. It comes down to who you know and how well. If you’re in school, network at information sessions, social mixers, business conferences. If you’re out of school, network through school alumni, colleagues past and present, family and friends. Online media (in particular, blogging and forum discussions) can be another great way to meet people with overlapping interests.
This particularly applies to summer internship applicants. Driving factors for resume rejection include low GPA, lack of leadership experiences and initiative taking, and lack of strong work experience. Work on them however you can. Interview rejection can include factors above, plus lack of preparation.
Don’t slack off. Many complaints that people have about their current jobs are fixable - insufficient responsibility, lack of challenging work, no upward movement. The solution to these topics belongs on another blog, but my advice is to take initiative wherever possible. This applies for current students as well. Your track record of promotions, driving impact, skills learned - will be critical when you try to make the shift.
Hope that helps everyone.
Cheers, Kevin www.managementconsulted.com
People don't resort to Investment Banking and Sales & Trading after they've been rejected. Maybe for MBB, but not for anything else.
And, you don't think a big four path is a good back-up?
Thanks again though for the post.
Rejection pick me up (Originally Posted: 01/11/2008)
I just got rejected by Bear Stearns, Tell me something funny, I need a pick me up. interviewing sucks.
You suck and will never make it in this industry since you got rejected by Bear.
ahahaha I hope this a joke
Honestly, it's just a job. Besides, Bear Stearns is in the shitter as it is. Wouldn't let it get you down personally, there is a ton of BS involved in this sort of process.
If this doesnt cheer you up, all is hopeless
Lol thank you for that.... I like turtles
^LMAO
"No Child Left Behind"
At least you didn't get rejected THEN mugged by a bunch of clowns weilding steak knives.
So yeah, you'll be fine. Besides it's Bear Stearns, everybody knows that if it isnt GS/MS it isn't shit!
This is the funniest stuff on the internet
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1796886
Bullshit. This is the best.
"To me it look like a leprechaun to me. All ya gota do is look up dere in da tree. Who all seen the leprechaun say Yahhhhhhhhh!"
"Could be a crackhead that got hold to the wrooonnng stuff." I want the gol' too! I can't believe this shit was actually on the news.
its ok. i had a friend get rejected by Target...
The Leprechaun video could be the most amazing video ever... that and Bubb Rubb and the Whistler Tips...
or the "boom goes the dynamite" kid....
http://youtube.com/watch?v=W45DRy7M1no
or the "boom goes the dynamite" kid....
I've seen this one before. It hurts to watch. Painful. Painful. The best part is when he says "oh no" in the very beginning.
Chin up, don't feel sorry for yourself. Edision failed how many times before he invited electricity?
Edison is still a failure. Electricity sucks. What a waste.
its okay, brah. i just got rejected by gleacher. he's probably using my resume to whipe his crack right now. but is that going to deter me from applying to other banks that interest me? hell no.
same here, I'm Working on Morgan Stanley as we speak.
poor kid
you guys are very short-sighted, bear stearns is still a good bank to work for.only if you are good enough to get hired
It is rough out there... got a rejection call today - I thought the interview went really well, my resume's a little weak but I really thought I had a good shot at this job. The analyst said there was nothing wrong with me or my interview, thought I was a strong candidate, but just with the markets being slow things are more competitve than usual - she even recommended mutliple times that I apply for FT in the fall.. bad timing I guess..
lol
Drinking Away Rejection (Originally Posted: 03/16/2012)
Those lonely nights ... apparently fruit flies understand us more than we appreciate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/health/male-fruit-flies-spurned-by-fe…
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/03/sexually-rejected-flies-t…
Alcohol, the cause of--and solution to-- all of life's problems.
-Homer Simpson
I've taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me. - Winston Churchill
The trouble with the world is that everyone is a couple drinks behind. - Humphrey Bogart
how about drinking away a 90% drawdown?
I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. - Frank Sinatra
They speak of my drinking, but never think of my thirst. - Scottish Proverb
Molestias quis autem sit animi consequatur perspiciatis. Molestiae consequuntur unde iure blanditiis qui. Consequatur totam provident unde nemo sunt. Sapiente distinctio corrupti similique nostrum eum.
Rerum praesentium sint et laboriosam minus velit neque. Corporis recusandae impedit laborum maxime dolore tenetur quod est. Sapiente qui impedit mollitia veniam. Ratione veritatis laborum id. Illum qui molestias sint sed consectetur officia praesentium. Atque eaque atque inventore ad ut. Dicta distinctio ipsam quibusdam vitae ut.
Dolor adipisci sint at illo non. Quo voluptates adipisci dolorum illum possimus enim nisi. Cumque laborum accusamus laboriosam occaecati. Et excepturi vero sint deleniti consequatur iste repudiandae sit. Perspiciatis eos et inventore animi.
Eos aut optio nihil possimus quia deserunt. Aut sit nihil eum. Reiciendis neque voluptatem doloremque soluta consectetur. Rerum cupiditate architecto qui. Qui eum sit voluptatem voluptas dignissimos et est. Quo explicabo sunt sit consequatur ea qui.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Quis amet sunt natus suscipit id doloribus quam quia. Deserunt ut rerum optio beatae consequatur aut facere. Ea delectus fuga assumenda et sapiente officia.
Quia qui in quo voluptas cupiditate nihil sint eius. Est consequatur vel nesciunt rerum facere. Tempore ut dignissimos porro impedit.
Enim sit autem cum sequi. Harum consequatur enim totam inventore. Et vel hic a quaerat. Neque odit voluptatem sunt optio distinctio.