Is Junior Year of College Too Late to Break in?
Hi All,
Due to the everlasting situation involving Covid-19, I've had a bit a of time to think and I want to make a career path transition from commercial real estate to investment banking (tech, industrials, etc...)
Background: I'm a junior at a top 50 university, private equity internship (6 week - freshman year summer), Internship cancelled at a top real estate brokerage firm this summer because of Covid-19, and a 3.3 GPA.
I'm very realistic with myself and understand that I'm not competitive enough for BBs and EB's. Also, I missed recruiting for my summer analyst class by 6 months. Anyway, I'm seeking advice at where I should start my networking search.
Any advice is good advice,
IMO- it's too late. I would say you could recruit FT right now but I think all the banks hired their interns / completed their process. Additionally, you'd most likely need to have a 3.5+ GPA if you don't have any previous IB experience. You can always go to B school and recruit for an associate. I wouldn't waste time going through the recruiting process now.
There is no such thing as "wasting time" when it means putting the pedal to the metal and pursuing your goals, regardless of the challenge.
At the boutique level you are not too late.
or you can always take a extra semester
Lol don't listen to these people, if you want it bad enough there is a way. I started IB recruiting 2nd semester senior year.
You can get a local boutique internship to upgrade your resume. Then start networking and you will be in decent shape for FT 2022. Try to get your GPA up to 3.5 tho.
Obviously BB will be hard, but you can definitely get a MM job.
You just gave me so much hope!
So i go to a non target in the city and i struck out for SA 2021 with a bunch of 1st rounds, you think the best thing to do is get a bouqtie for spring or summer and recruit for fulltime or take a extra semester, from what i know full time is harder so not sure here...
Yes find a boutique for Spring and start networking like crazy so people have you on the radar when positions become available. FT recruiting is hard, but if you stay on top of it, it is certainly possible. Since you go to a non-target, I don't think an extra semester is worth it. Rather do a MSF to get a brand name school on your resume.
Too late? No. Exceedingly tough? Yes.
P.S. You can do it - don't give up
I know saying "this" is hated,
but this.
not too late....but getting pretty close. Find banks (probably smaller) that are still recruiting for summer 2021 interns....you should try to find 30-50, and then apply to all fo them. This is a lot of work, and will take some time. First you have to find who is still recruiting...then you must apply. You missed the sept/oct career fairs and major interviewing cycle. However, you can still find firms that are still hiring. Also, look outside banks to the Big4, accounting firms, consulting firms..anything professional service oriented. Even tech would be a good place to intern this 2021 summer.
get off your ass and start working...you should spend 6-8 hours a day on this.....every day.
Hey man, I'm actually in essentially the same boat as you (even with grades and school ranking). Spent a bunch of time thinking about what I want to do with myself rather than actually doing over quarantine, thru this past summer summer, and even this school year... and now I don't have an internship lined up for the summer. I'm actually taking my spring semester off (for a multitude of reasons, but figuring out what the hell I'm doing with my life is one of them) and am going to be more serious about recruiting for banking for the following summer. Happy to chat more if you wanna hit my DMs.
hey man i am in the same boat as well, go to a non-target low gpa gave ib a shot and through networking was able to get a handful on interviews but wasnt able to convert, so i have no idea what to do next besides looking for regional boutiques or taking an extra semester to try again
never too late. network, research, study and network some more.
Network heavily and start sending your resume to any and every open position at any bank that is hiring (BB, MM, boutique, any bank) the worst they can say is no. It doesn't make sense not to try because it's a long shot.
Took me 2 years after college to land an IB job. Dont give up. If you want it bad enough, you’ll get it if you put in the work.
hey, i wanted to get your thoughts on taking an extra semester to try and recruit again, ( i tried this recruiting cycle had a handful of interviews for sa 2021 didn't convert, im planning on to try and land boutiques or valuation role rn) but is it ok to take an extra semester to recruit again for a summer internship?
Yes it’s ok. I personally hated school so I got out as fast as possible. If you are going to take another semester, better be networking and getting people to help you into these SA programs
I vote delay and re-recruit SA'22
I second this.
Do u think there will be decreases headcount for sa 22 due to covid?
No idea boss, who cares? Recruiting will be difficult no matter what
People in IB and on this forum especially are qualified but superlinear in their career goals, at least early on. This idea of 2 years IB M7 MBA than PE makes people think that everyone has to follow the linear path. You might not be able to land GS full-time, but with networking and hard work you can land some IB gig then lateral if you desire a more prestigious name. No everyone follows a straight path to their goals.
You messed it up, pls fix thx
IB>PE>HSW>PE
I started IB recruiting first semester senior year from a mid-target school. Had virtually no finance experience prior to that so there was very little chance of getting an interview at any bank, let alone one of the larger ones. Ended up delaying graduation by a year and started cold calling small boutique banks for fall/spring internships. Was lucky enough to land a spring internship, then leveraged that to get a summer internship at a respectable middle market bank. Took the full time offer at the middle market bank and then lateraled to GS/MS/JPM after a few years. Definitely not an ideal path but still possible to break in if you network and have some luck along the way. Feel free to DM me and happy to chat more if helpful
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