How to succeed in FT 26 recruiting?
Hello WSO,
Looking for advice for going about FT 26 recruiting. I'm a junior econ major at a target (Cornell) looking for IB roles. My resume consists of 3.5 GPA, WSP-type credentials and certificates, membership in a finance club (I probably can't join e-board), and treasurer role in an unrelated club. I have internship experience doing family-connected RE jobs in Florida (acquisitions, investment sales) and that's probably where I'll be summer 25. My goal however, is to be in NYC doing IB out of college.
I fumbled SA 25 recruiting. I applied to ~100 IB jobs and received Hirevues at most places that do them and a few phone screenings (Wells Fargo and Houlihan Lokey) but didn't get a real interview from anywhere. I think this is mainly the fault of my GPA, which I hope to increase to a 3.7 by the time I graduate, although it won't be that high when I'm FT recruiting as a senior.
I'm looking for strategies to pursue full-time 2026 opportunities. I plan to apply for 500+ positions, really anything I can find. I think my lack of connections in NYC means I'm better positioned for (marginally) less competitive BBs like Citi, BofA, and Wells Fargo than the many boutiques? I'm also considering expanding my search to other roles like asset management, sales & trading, wealth management, and real estate roles. Although these roles don't fit my ambition, I'm willing and ready to lateral. Any advice is appreciated.
There have been a number of recent threads concerning how to position yourself for FT recruiting best, read those as a start.
Consider delaying grad by a semester and recruit for SA 2026. Sure your GPA isn't ideal but if you're at Cornell you should be able to land at least a lower BB/Top MM if you learn from whatever mistakes you made last time. Even though you'll be a bit behind given a lot of OCR and networking already happening, there are Cornell alums literally everywhere on Wall Street so you can get back on track if you're willing to grind.
bump
honestly if you put in the work, you'll be fine. Cornell is great to recruit from and shouldn't be too difficult to land something as long as you cast a wide net and put in the time -- it's really just a numbers game at the end of the day given you have the technicals down and a decent personality
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