How to Start Emailing/Networking for 2027 IB SAs right now

I am a sophomore at a semi/low target with positions in a couple selective on campus business/finance clubs, a finance internship, and an incoming sophomore summer finance internship at a F500 with a 3.7 gpa in a stem/business double major.

With that being said, due to personal reasons but also a lack of initiative, I only decided after thanksgiving break I want to try IB.

Should I even bother if I haven’t sent out a single email at this point, and what should I do starting today/asap to make sure I don’t stay too far behind as I know some of my peers have started networking as early as October. How should I go about sending emails right now and how many should I aim to send out in the coming weeks? Looking for some guidance here and I want to hold myself accountable

7 Comments
 

By wasting your time you mean the 30 seconds it takes to change one sentence and the names of your cold email template? Cold email is one of the highest ROI activities in recruiting. Not sure why you wouldnt do it until you find a job.

 

You’re going to be just fine. Reread your entire first paragraph. Take a moment and realize that you’re ahead of most of the curve.

It’s still December, so it’s fairly early in the recruiting process. Having a prior internship and an upcoming one this summer is massive for a sophomore, and more than most (including me) had/have at your age.

Banking is competitive, but there are thousands of ib internships available every year and people with much less impressive resumes than you get in all the time.

You’re in a great spot, but the best time to start applying and recruiting was yesterday. The second best time is today. Good luck!

 

Having any finance related work is definitely a positive.

As far as big name generic finance v. regional ib, it definitely depends on what generic finance means. If it’s an ops/highly back office role, I think I’d take the ib exposure. Might be controversial, but the safest way to secure an ib offer is to intern and kill it while you’re there. Since the next internship you’ll have to recruit for is your junior year internship, definitely shoot for ib if that’s your goal after graduation.

 

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