How to find bankers from non-targets?

Hello all,

I'm a major non-target student looking to network with bankers at BB's & boutiques in the NYC area. My first plan of attack before sending a mass of cold-emails to complete strangers was to look for other bankers who are from non-targets as well.

I am having a little difficulty going about that on LinkedIn. I do not really know the names of many other non-target universities outside the ones in my state.

Has anyone that went through this have any good methods? Anyone know any non-target/ small semi-target schools that has people in banking?

I can always type in random school names in the filtering tab but I figured maybe someone here knows a better way. Thanks.

3 Comments
 

as a someone who is non target please think outside of the box. Majority of the help i received during recruiting was from target schools alumni cause the kids who broke in from my school all have a sense of entitlement. compile a list of local investment banks, bb to mm to boutique. add everyone on linkedin, find email formats, learn how to write a cold email. Learn how to respond. if you can't figure this type of stuff out, or searching for information then don't even think you would last.

 

I searched for IB analysts and filtered for location, some people still have their location set as where they're originally from. So I could filter my city, which has absolutely no investment banks, and get hits of people in NY/Chicago/SF or wherever at banks who grew up in the same city as me and worked that connection.

One "non-target" school that I found came up a lot was Kansas, these dudes are surprisingly everywhere, so maybe that's a good start. Look beyond just the non-target connection though and work any kind of similarities you can find. The biggest thing once you get someone on the phone will be being able to get them to forward you on to more connections, once you do this your network starts to grow exponentially.

 

Aut impedit pariatur quis molestias esse natus molestiae. Quam minima molestiae ipsa minus in. Accusantium aut quo voluptates ab eligendi incidunt rerum in. Dolorum illum accusamus iure ea quos voluptas. Ea officia dolor quo aliquid rerum repellendus quo. Ad ex debitis dolores. Quod eius consequuntur qui culpa.

Quo itaque occaecati qui. Sint aut voluptas optio et odit voluptas. Repellat officia nisi voluptatem perferendis nobis.

Ad corrupti amet quod velit rerum sint odio ut. Hic repellendus maiores minima quasi velit. Aut voluptatem tempore nesciunt impedit voluptas quia sit.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 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

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”