networking not going right?
i am really confused - so i couldnt get anything for SA 2025 and I had networked with a VP at a BB in the west coast ( i go to school in the east coast) and he referred me and forwarded my resume internally, still got no interview from there. At a MM, one of the networks i know who is an associate put my resume forward in the reccomendation portal as well and yet I did not hear anything from them. i am networking and keeping a good network around me but i am confused, what am i failing at?
yeah ig they say that's why recruiting is a black hole. I dont rly know either. One bank i networked with 5 ppl on a specific team and had 2 vps push me. One of em said "i believe in karma so ill help you now and maybe in the future you can help my kids get an unpaid internship or something". 🤣🤣
Didn't even get a first round from them!
Networking and getting a referral often gaurantees your application is read.
Let's say that an average IB position has 500 applicants, let's say of the 500, 20% of them network (which may be conservative given the field). That would mean 100 students are actively speaking folks within the firm. Let's say of those 100, 15% get referrals which means 15 of them are referred. Now I understand magnitude of referrals is big, but let's assume the referrals are all equally weighted. Now of the 500 initial applications, let's say 50% were ruled out for not meeting GPA thresholds or not having the right resume (finance courses, clubs, competitions, etc.). That leaves 250 candidates who make it to Hirevue, of these, maybe 100-150 have their resumes seen by associates or hiring team for first rounds. You'll notice that the referral may give one notch in favour of a given candidate, but with this level of volume, it will come down to a bit of luck. If you have someone who's already done an IB stint or corp fin internship applying or someone with a double major in finance and math with a stellar average, they'll have a greater likelihood of receiving first rounds even without referrals.
All this to say that does end up being a bit of a numbers game with referrals.
I think your analysis on the hiring process is pretty accurate, besides your hireview/first round interpretation. I think maybe 1-5% max get a first round without networking, highlighting that networking is crucial. Getting a referral gets you that first round, and the rest is up to you to convert it into an offer. To not get that first round means you were either not capable for the job (based on resume) or they genuinely forgot about you because you weren’t on their mind during the time of recruiting.
That's a valid point. my exposure lies more aligned to consulting where referrals are weighed down and count for very little with top firms. Referrals hold more weight in the IB space than other fields.
I still stand by the fact that strong candidates will have a likelihood to receive interviews with or without networking. I recall a friend of mine who had no interest in finance or consulting got interviews at a tier 2 shop in Consulting and a few boutique IB firms purely because of his stellar resume (4.0 GPA in a STEM program + founded an engineering club). It definitetly does have an element of luck and numbers, so my experience and perspective may not align to the general industry.
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