How to improve placement for my non-target investment group?
I’m currently leading my non-target school’s investment group, which is the only real pipeline on campus for students looking to break into finance. While we’ve had some success placing members into roles like IB, WM, and ER, it’s usually few and far between, so I want to take our group to the next level and improve both the quality and quantity of placements.
Right now, we focus heavily on modeling and pitching, but this only starts if you’re a junior. Sophomores and freshmen are considered interns. We just started doing resume reviews along with networking and recruiting strategies, but it’s the few upperclassmen who have been successful teaching them in a non structured or scalable way. Given the competitive nature of recruiting and the disadvantages of coming from a non-target, what else can I do to better prepare members and increase their chances of landing top roles?
Would love to hear from anyone who has been in a similar position or has insight into what actually moves the needle for candidates from non-targets as whole, not just at the individual level. Are there specific networking strategies, alumni outreach approaches, or technical training methods that have worked for your group?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
To elevate your non-target investment group and improve placement outcomes, here are actionable strategies based on the most helpful WSO content:
1. Expand Networking Efforts Beyond Alumni
2. Develop a Structured Training Program
3. Enhance Resume and Interview Preparation
4. Strengthen Alumni Relationships
5. Focus on Leadership and Differentiation
6. Create a Feedback Loop
7. Collaborate with Other Groups
8. Promote a Culture of Determination
By implementing these strategies, you can create a more structured, supportive, and effective pipeline for your group, increasing both the quality and quantity of placements.
Sources: Networking 101 – 8 tips from a “non-target” school student, Networking 101 – 8 tips from a “non-target” school student, Some Thoughts on Networking, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/job-search/my-2-cents-on-sa-recruiting-from-a-non-target-background?customgpt=1, The Case for Choosing a Non-Target
Non-target former "co-portfolio manager head of XX investment group" whatever you wanna call it guy here. Don't think anyone cares what you call yourselves whether you add on your LinkedIn if you're an "intern" at your school fund or a manager. Get everyone exposed early to IB and in my experience people usually found out about it pretty late. But also don't shove it down everyone's throats because it's not the end all be all for everyone.
Keep real close on your alumni from that program. Try and get Zooms going so the whole group can learn from them (or bring them in to talk if they're local). The impact won't be immediate but because we started connecting the dots with our alumn in our college's group, we've begun forming a strong pipeline with those who've made it uplifting those in school to get placed at other groups thanks to the insight and perspectives they had. Students should be real fired up to go through recruiting with the non-target chip on their shoulder, and the alums should be excited to see the program grow with more curious people and thus shed some knowledge. I still grab lunch/coffee with a handful of my former colleagues in that program at least once or twice a year. And text them a bunch, even if it's just regarding our fantasy league. End of the day it's not what you know it's who you know.
Whoever faculty is managing you guys in connection with the school, make sure they're totally aligned with what you're trying to do here. Pick their brain if you haven't already on how you can turn this ship around. Echoing my first point: not everyone wants to do IB. Don't take away totally from the fund, but try to allocate resources and carve out a section for the hardo kids to be able to collaborate better.
I went thru undergrad with little to no help from my investment fund, despite it being the best resource we had. Our last semester we pitched the whole IB team and curriculum expansion and left the fund management in the hands of some bright (but tbh kinda hardo) kids. Few years later and I'm on LinkedIn seeing investment fund people getting placed at small boutiques and middle-markets right of undergrad, which is way better than the occasional shooting star coming out of the program. Furthermore I'm noticing that a lot more students are looking me up, speaking with each other, connecting me with others and asking to be connected with other alumni. Is this the result of my senior year efforts? Not sure. But it seems that kids are getting placed better and more often these days, despite no seismic movement from my college's admin.
I'll leave you with this:
"You may not benefit from the shade of the tree you plant, but someone else will."
Very noble of you to be thinking about this. I hope you find fulfillment in uplifting those around you. I know I did.
EDIT: Spelling
I really appreciate your take on this. Super helpful to hear from someone who went through basically the same thing as I am now.
Since IB recruiting is so early, it's really important that people start doing professional development stuff ASAP. Our club runs a training program for all new members where they have to do professional training (they get taught how to network, what's expected from freshmen year - sophomore winter to get an offer, resume reviews, etc) + club training. It's taught by people who have offers and starts from their second week in the club. I don't know if I entirely buy that it's not scalable for your club because even if just 1 person has an offer, if they care about giving back to the club, it should be a pretty easy sell to them ("I'll make all the materials with you for each training session, you just have to present it" or whatever deal you need to strike).
Also, yeah no one cares what they're called (interns or whatever). If you're serious about them getting offers then the underclassmen need to also learn technicals.
Another note is that you need to accept people who are serious about their careers, in whatever field that may be. Our club screened pretty heavily on resumes + written application, and then also interviews. I went to a public target and basically no club at my school accepted second semester sophomores or juniors – they were just too far behind for recruiting purposes. This probably wasn't ideal but since it was a public target, there were so many people, and as a result, a ton of different business/consulting/finance/investing clubs and frats. There was like a GreekRank but for our biz clubs lol. Bc of this each club was kind of in competition with each other, and many saw taking a junior as a risk they didn't want to take, bc chances were they wouldn't be able to get a top tier IB/MBB internship, and that would drag down the reputation of the club, since basically all of our clubs reputations were predicated on placements & internal culture. And once you're in, you care mostly about protecting the clubs reputation.
By scalability what I actually mean is closer to sustainability. What happens when the driven upperclassmen graduate and the juniors they leave behind don’t have the same level of drive or competence (evidence in the offers they have)? Given ur public target, the population is very different from my school where finding quality talent is incredibly difficult. Thanks for sharing what you feel works best!
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