Hey WSO,
New prospective monkey here (looking to land an SA position)... Unfortunately, I didn't figure out that IB was what I wanted to do until pretty recently. I am finishing undergrad from a non-target in a month, 3.3 GPA, no relevant internship/work experience, no clubs/leadership activities, etc.. From what I've read, I'm kind of a bottom-of-the-barrel candidate for IB. One way in which I do stand out (or maybe everyone in IB is like this) is that I am very very driven and motivated when pursuing something I am passionate about, and as cheesy as this may sound, I do not quit until I feel like I've succeeded. IB is where my passion has found a home, and I am doing everything I can to get my foot in the door. From taking various courses such as WSP, BMC, etc. to networking, I'm really trying to prove that although I am late to the race, I'm just as motivated, driven, and likely to win as anyone else.
My current issue is, if you were to just look at my resume and compare it to the hundreds of other resumes that every other IB SA position receives, I really don't stand out (based on everything I mentioned above). However, one way in which I am fortunate is that I do have multiple family connections with influential positions (MD, VP, partner, etc.) in various regional, boutique and MM firms. Before I start getting hate/MS for this, I just want to say that I am not usually the type to use "family connections" to benefit myself. That being said, I know how hard breaking into IB is, and I would be an absolute fool to not use these connections to the best of my ability. Say one, or a few, of these family connections manage to get me an interview at their firms, and ONLY an interview. I'm not talking about them getting me a job or anything of the sort; simply just getting me past the hellish resume screening and a proper interview/superday. In this scenario, what would be the best way for me to really outshine and prove myself during the interviews? As confident as I am in my ability to succeed once I start working, I have no real way of proving this to the interviewers. Any and all input would be greatly appreciated! I really do enjoy the industry and I feel like I am definitely cut out for the work. I just wish I figured this out 3-4 years ago.
TLDR; Very underqualified (on paper) prospective IB SA, potential interviews via family connections, how to nail the interviews?
Few ways to stand out:
- If these are industry specific groups, make sure you know a lot about the space and can talk general themes/recent deals. If generalist, be prepared to talk market themes
- Your technicals need to be 100% spot on to the point where anything out of the M&I 400 is a joke - look beyond that in other guides too.
- Be able to explain why your resume is bad. Every college student with a 3.3 and no work experience will say they're driven, but that's hard to quantify over the 3.8 that's had three internships. This might take some practice on how to talk through, but just saying "I am driven and IB is my passion" is not going to cut it
- On the same vein as above, find somewhere your resume does stand out. Surely you did something in college, even if it's not relevant to IB you have to give them something
- Ask interviewers good questions that show you've done your research
Thank you for the input!
- The one I'm most likely to get an interview at specializes in a few sectors, with healthcare leading (~70% of transactions), so I'll definitely do plenty of research there. To add to this, this is actually how my parents formed this connnection. They own a couple healthcare/biotech companies, which led them to meeting an MD at this healthcare-focused MM firm. Maybe I can use this background in healthcare to my benefit somehow?
- I'm studying technicals as much as I can daily, and with most interviews/superdays coming up in January/February, I think I should be ready for these by then. In the case I'm not, how common is it to delay interviews/superdays?
- Truth be told, I spent most of college dating the same girl, traveling a lot, and that's about it. I'm sure I'll find something to talk about though.
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