How to pitch myself for a group when banks recruit generalist?

Let's say that I live and breathe consumer and retail; like, if I break into IB and the bank does it, I will always choose C&R over any other group if given the option (this is just an example: my personal interest is different, just not something super sweaty like M&A or TMT). How would I pitch myself as having strong knowledge of the industry and genuine interest in it if most banks recruit summer analysts as generalists and then do group placement? Would my industry-specific knowledge be relevant at all? 

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Understood. I guess I just have a personal interest in one specific industry (due to prior history, think something like a CS major wanting to do TMT), so I wanted to think of a way to highlight that. Thanks!

 

you research their C&R group. when they ask why this firm? you have a more unique answer. Will obv need to study some deals/technicals for that specific group. Make sure to make ti clear that you would still be interested in their firm if they cannot place you in that group. Network w some ppl in that group beforehand if you can. make sure its not one of the weakest groups at that firm cus ur interviewer might think ur talking out of ur ass

 
Most Helpful

I had a similar situation (ignore title, incoming FT). The advice given to me by an analyst at GS was to coffee chat with people in the group you want, and explain your interest to them / ask them for advice on how they would handle the generalist pool given your high interest in only their group. When I was interning this summer, I was surprised by the amount of analysts who explained their recruiting process to me as either only wanting to do banking for a specific coverage area or not doing banking at all, so there may be analysts with prior experience in this. Since each bank has a different culture they’ll be able to talk you through how to approach it. 

 

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