How do you explain your poor grades to your employer during interviews?
I have an anxiety problem during examinations and my mind will go blank when it's really bad, especially simple things when my peers flip their scripts and complete at a faster pace seamlessly when compared to me. I usually perform during exercises in class, however during exams this is a problem I struggle with.
I have done several boutique corporate finance internships and have no problem performing at my role compared to exams in schools. But how do you explain that to your employer? I also possess very strong communication skills. (If you have poor grades network the shit out of the industry) I have met with people from MMs and BBs for coffee chat hoping to break into the industry and am doing my best to built my own comparative advantage - learning a business proficiency in another language as well as reading extensively beyond the average student. I humble myself before anyone willing to meet me and do my best to carry myself well and pitch my past experiences. My coffee chats have helped got me through the door for HR for a few interviews at MMs and I personally struggle with getting the offer at the final round.
Investment Banking is so fiercely competitive. People have perfect GPAs, have branded CVs and thousands of case competitions championships. When I think about benchmarking myself against other CVs at the bulge level, it's not at all surprising why I am not selected if someone else can do the same as I but with a perfect GPA.
I am truly passionate about M&A and the strategy laid out in corporate finance and it is something that I want to do in the long run at a BB/MM. I am in my final year of studies and am seeking advice if I should once again foray into Investment Banking Summer applications 2020. Would appreciate advice from any of you. Not many of my peers understand what I have went through. ):
- a hustler seeking guidance
Come up with a good excuse. Not a good idea to tell someone you suffer from anxiety during tests. Banking is a very stressful environment, people will think that it isn’t the career for you. Also, people don’t want to work with others who are super stressful as stress has the tendency to rub off on others. Not trying to sound like a dick, but opening your eyes to these things. Maybe try talking to them about things you are reading before showing them your resume.
Agreed with the other poster, don't mention your anxiety or anything like that because it doesn't look good in IB. I've had a few interviews and even though I have a 3.6, no one has questioned my GPA because I've made it to an interview. If they did ask, I'd say I screwed up freshman year, adapted, got better study skills, and have done well since.
If you have like a 3.2 though, it's different. Everyone's definition of a bad GPA will be different. So if you have below a 3.5 than you may be an auto-ding without any networking and they'll probably ask you about it.
I had a 3.4 and I made it to several interviews and never got asked about it. I know I'm definitely in the minority here from what everyone else says, but I can't imagine it's like the main thing on people's minds when they do an interview. I always thought my networking got me around that.
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How bad exactly is your GPA?
I am a final year student and have got a GPA of 3.3. I did poorly in my first year 2.9 and have been working my way up from there, but have barely missed the cutoff for 3.4. It's been a crazy journey for me trying to climb from the bottom and right now as we approach summer 2020, i am reconsidering my alternatives. I currently have 2 boutique corp fin internships and a consulting internship at an MBB. I have strong technical fundamentals and have no problem getting to the final round of interviews, just short of getting the offer. ): Maybe because I'm born ugly :')
Would appreciate all your legendary advice...
Oof that's going to be a hard one to conquer. I would just cast a wider net and keep grinding. Maybe highlight you major GPA. I do not know what you mean by Boutique corp fin internships, but assuming you did a good job you could always go back (assuming these are boutique IBs) and then try and grind in a front office position from there.
Yeah, I'm in a bit of a spot.. beggars can't be choosers.
the wider net you're referring to would be Corporate Banking, Wealth Management ie...?
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