Working this summer at a REIT. Looking to transition to a BB IB for Full Time which I know will take a lot of hard work. Didn't network for SA in IB, but I am looking to get a jump start on FT now.
I have been looking through dozens of threads, just wanted to see if anyone had any extra insight?
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bump..
Start sending out emails now. Try to get people on the phone from now until the end of May. At the end of July, get them on the phone again to ask about FT recruiting and to "catch up". At the beginning of August, ask about how you can best position yourself for FT interviews.
I'm in a similar situation, working at a BB in a non-IB division... what would you say in the emails?
Plenty of guides/templates online, including in this forum. Just search/google around.
Did you search on WSO at all? This has been discussed multiple times (I have even typed the below up multiple times). Anyway, try something like this:
"Hello [Banker's First Name],
My name is [Your First Name], and I'm a [Your Year] at [University Name]. I am interested in pursuing a career in investment banking and was wondering if you'd have some time this week for a quick chat about your experience in the industry and at [Banker's Bank's Name]. Thanks for the time!
Best,
[Your First Name]"
Subject should be something like "[University Name] student inquiry" or "Student interest in investment banking."
Doesn't it look bad to start networking before even giving the internship a try? Granted, I know I want to move, but I thought it would be wise to wait until June and start networking then. From there, try and get invited to receptions hosted by the EBs as, from what I understand, BBs don't do those, with superdays for all banks mid to late August.
I was also worried about that... I always thought it would look bad to reach out/start networking before June/July-ish
No. You're just a student. No one cares. It's obvious what you're doing and is just part of the game. Worst case scenario, they think you're eager, which isn't a bad thing.
Should I focus mainly on Alum? or just find Analyst, MDs, and Associates at as many firms as possible?
Oak - the idea is connecting with someone with whom you have something in common. Alumni are the easiest shot, but I also got a lot of traction from talking to people I met at gym or through friends. If you can find someone non-random to connect with, do that.. if you can't, then reach out to anyone you can. Analysts are more likely to respond and probably have sufficient pull to flag a resume, MDs are less likely respond, but have the most pull. I suggest you connect across the seniority spectrum.
Last year, FT interviews started during the last week of July and most BBs/EBs wrapped up around mid August
following
I realize this is a bit of silly question, but I'll be doing S&T this summer at a BB (GS/MS/JPM) and I'm planning to make the jump to IB. The only thing holding me back from beginning to network is my technicals. I don't want to reach out before I know them cold, but at the same time I don't want to wait much longer to start networking.
How comfortable should I be with my technicals before I start networking for FT?
I have a couple question. During the summer, when you're working as an SA, how do you go about making connections with people at firms that want to work at? Do you just find time to slip out of the office for a quick coffee, or do you limit conversations to phone calls? Or do you try to meet up for coffee on the weekends?
Also, how much networking needs to go into FT recruiting? Since SAs will be extremely busy, what is a reasonable number of contacts to have at a firm? I remember for SA, I would have 5+ contacts in the same group. Is the bar lower for FT? I can't imagine having the time to have all of these chats, especially for multiple firms.
bump
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Wanted to piggyback off this thread and reference mine as well, just to give some context: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/do-ibd-groups-prefer-recruiting-f…
My question is, if lateraling over for FT, is the timeline possible such that I can jump right into training in June? Let's say hypothetically I start networking with good friends in a month or so to try and jump on the ship as a bunch of analysts are leaving, but BEFORE SA's even begin their internship, let alone receive offers in August. So, like I would want to hypothetically interview in 10-20 days and then, hypothetically, get an offer to jump on for full time in May so that I can get right into it in June for training.
Is this possible? Or is the best case scenario for me (a year out from graduating, working at a FinTech startup currently) to just recruit in the normal FT environment beginning of August and then start working the following year in June (basically just a year later) -- as if I was a college senior.
My job is decent but ideally I could catch a lucky break and get trained this summer so that I can start working immediately instead of having a hypothetical offer offered to me for next year instead.
Would anyone be able to help answer these questions:
I would echo a similar sentiment to some other posts above.
In the past two weeks people in my group have been getting a lot of emails from future SAs that are already asking for time to speak about FT opportunities in our group. Perhaps this is a culture thing that varies from group to group at banks, but the senior guys in my group that have heard about this do not see it as a positive. Rather than viewing it as a sign of taking initiative, their reaction has been more akin to "this guy hasn't even given the group he is interning at a chance yet. Isn't it a bit early to be planning to jump ship?" Personally, I tend to agree with their opinion on this, especially if we are talking about cold emails from future SAs that have no previous contact with our group. It would be one thing if someone was deep in our SA interview process, didn't get the SA offer with us but found a job elsewhere and simply wants to maintain contact over the summer (starting now). But when the email is coming from someone who has never networked with our group before and is interning at a BB or another EB, we react to it thinking the person is already casting a wide-network on potential FT opportunities before they have even started working at their firm for the summer.
As mentioned in other posts already, the highest priority and nearest-term goal should be performing well at your internship in order to get a FT offer. If you are a month or so into your internship and feel like you are performing well but have second thoughts about returning to that group for FT, then maybe you can start reaching out to contacts from your SA networking days about FT opportunities elsewhere.
One cautionary note I will mention is that my opinion above primarily applies to SAs who have internships lined up at another bank. I think the perception of these kind of emails may be different if it is coming from someone who does not have a traditional IB SA internship lined up and is just trying to get ahead for FT recruiting since traditional SA candidates have a significant advantage. I think a well-crafted email regarding their interest in IB, caveating with what they are actually doing over the summer, could be effective early on as a means to fostering a relationship that gives them at least a chance to interview once its time for FT recruiting.
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