No Idea What to Do for FT

So I'm in need of a little help/advice. I'm currently a rising senior at a top target (HYP) interning at a top MM IB (Houlihan Lokey, Harris Williams, William Blair, Baird etc). I'm NOT in NYC, and have decided that for FT that I want to be in NYC, ideally at a BB or top boutique, since the bank that I'm currently at isn't very strong in their NYC office. I have a very solid resume (3 finance internships, 2 in IBD, 3.8 GPA, solid ECs) and need some advice for FT recruiting.

Basically, where and when do I start? I have a list of friends who are now analysts at BB/top banks/MBB (people who graduated within the past two years from my school) who I'm considering reaching out to, but unfortunately I just don't have many, if any, senior banker contacts.

In addition to my entry level friends, how else can I effectively network and try to flip this current SA stint for a top FT? There are obviously certain banks that I:

A.) Got offers from, but rejected them
B.) Got to Superdays, but rejected by them
C.) Got a first round then dinged
D.) Got no interview at all

How can I reach out to those banks again and whom do I contact? Which banks (from A-D) do I actually have an upper hand at given my interviewing experience?
How does accelerated FT recruiting work and how can I get involved in that?
What about people within the bank that I'm currently at?

Basically, I'm kind of lost as to who is appropriate and useful to contact and when I should start doing this for FT recruiting.

P.S. I'm almost certain that I'm going to receive a FT offer from my current bank given my current relationships and conversations with senior bankers and my mid-summer review, as well as this bank's historical offer rate.

4 Comments
 

B-D are all good options for you. A will be tougher.

I'd try to contact a recruiter and stay in their radar, then also ask one of your friends to put you in contact with an MD or at least a senior VP.

If you have a good resume, and it looks like you do, even a note from an associate to the recruiter will be enough to get you a 1st round.

 
Best Response

Ok, so reaching out to my friends and trying to have them put me in contact with some more senior bankers makes sense and sounds very do-able.

What I'm confused about, but glad you answered, is in regards to contacting a recruiter at banks where I don't really know anyone. Now, I have all of those banks' recruiters' names through OCR, but it just seems a little weird for me to reach out to them considering they have read a million resumes from my school and don't know me personally.

Makes sense if I got to a Superday and can try and spin it that way, but what about banks where I didn't even get a first round or get to a Superday? Seems a bit off if I'm just like, hey I know I didn't get an interview last year and you don't really know me, but I want to interview again for FT. Does anyone have some sort of tips or template for these kinds of things? How will this look to a recruiter and why would they ever actually help me out?

 
finance11

but what about banks where I didn't even get a first round or get to a Superday? Seems a bit off if I'm just like, hey I know I didn't get an interview last year and you don't really know me, but I want to interview again for FT. Does anyone have some sort of tips or template for these kinds of things? How will this look to a recruiter and why would they ever actually help me out?

Is your current SA stint your first relevant internship/work experience? I'm sure you have a great resume, and it was made even better by adding a SA stint at a top MM bank. As far as the ones that rejected you or didn't give you a first round, that doesn't mean it will happen again. Now you have more experience and will have a big name brand on your resume. That could be enough to get you to the next level those banks. With a top target school name and at least one SA job at a top MM bank, they're very likely to give you a look (assuming good GPA and ECs).

 

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