Is there even a point in investment banking?
Non-target Accounting and Finance (very low ranked UK uni) who wants to be an investment banker. Applied to 20 investment banks in autumn. Now I'm in my third and final year of uni (plan on taking a masters at a Russel group). Should I apply to investment banks for next summer (which will in effect be my penultimate summer), or should I concentrate on internships that are less prestigious which will give me a higher chance.
I did get a 1:1 (equivalent to a 3.75+ GPA) for my second year of uni.
After I finished my last internship after uni, I had no job while most of my friends landed McKinsey, Citi, Goldman, Rothschild, BCG, etc. Applied to literally 150-200 jobs. I came from a top target school and had good exp. then I Had a couple interviews at top firms. Found one where the culture was a match and I liked the people. Now headhunters are hitting me every week and I barely have time to reply. Keep going. It will work out. You just need one person believing in you.
That’d really stretch the definition of top target lol
I’m gonna be straight with you bro. If filling out 20 applications in the Fall was so strenuous that you were still burnt out 6 months later, then you’re not cut out for banking and you don’t want to be in the industry as much as you think you do. I went to a shitty non-target too. But I sent out hundreds and hundreds of cold-emails and applications. 20 is absolutely nothing, and if you’re solely applying through company portals, then those applications probably weren’t even looked at in the first place. Get on LinkedIn and start emailing 20 people a day and then you might make some headway.
Giving some actual UK-focussed advice rather than American non-target hardo BS:
Your chances aren't zero, but they're almost certainly zero straight out of university. Your biggest hope is to go into something like big4 audit after graduating, get an ACA and then get hired after that at a bank that takes post-ACA hires. Networking is largely a waste of time because of how automated the application processes are now, and don't waste your time and money doing a masters.
Once I do my masters, I then go to a target school. But you're saying I shouldn't even do that? I don't get this piece of advice at all, sorry.
It will potentially increase it by a couple thousand pounds. That’s it, and that’s not even guaranteed - many grad programs won’t offer you any extra salary over a Bachelors. It certainly won’t be worth the five figures you’ll need to shell out for it plus opportunity cost of time.
Your best bet is to go Big 4/Top 10 professional services firms. Apply for M&A > TAS > advisory > audit in that order of preference. If you get M&A, you have a good chance to pivot to BB/EB after 1/2 years and can easily move to MM if not. If you don’t get M&A, do your ACA and after 3 years you’ll have so many doors open that you won’t believe.
Or go and do the non-target Masters and be the living embodiment of the surprised pikachu face meme when you apply to every bank and you get rejected at CV screening.
"Is there even a point in IB?"
It comes across that you're disillusioned with IB because you don't think you have much of a chance. The reality is you don't and it's not easy, where you are now it will likely take 2-3 years of focused, hard work before you would end up in IB.
Your post history indicates you're at South Bank uni, have just started learning financial modelling and don't have any experience other than bartending (which is fine). I can't work out why you want to go into IB but you're going to need a good enough reason to keep yourself motivated. As others have pointed out, being fatigued from 20 applications means you might not have your motivation fully formed (I'm only guessing) and you probably aren't investing your effort in the most effective way (20 x 8 hours of research to know what to write in a cover letter doesn't seem optimal, could have spent 20 hours applying and 140 hours learning technicals and networking). Further, why are you telling us only your second year grade and not cumulative grade?
My recommendations would be along the lines of
As for masters. As above, don't waste time and money with Durham. Higher ROI working for big 4.
I do have experience as a finance assistant. Currently I'm an investment banking news writer. I'm not disillusioned, I just meant, is there a point in IB internships for me next summer. You're right. I didn't invest my effort in the most effective way last year. The reason why I'm only telling you my second year grade is because in the UK first year doesn't count. So my cumulative grade is 1:1 (3.75+ equivalent).
I will buy the WSO guide for sure.
A lot of people on here are telling me to take a similar route as you have recommended. I think I'm going to seriously consider those extra options now. Thanks for everyone that chimed in. The advice was helpful.
That's the most bs answer to why IBD (or PE, for that matter) I have ever heard