Non-Target: Finally Made it

Hi everyone I just wanted to share that after months of preparation and grinding I finally secured an offer for summer 2022. Coming from a non-target school I just want to emphasize a few things for others in a similar situation as myself.... Exhaust your Linkedin network. If your school has a database that isn't enough and it may be missing key alumni. Second, stay focused on the big picture, it will make it more manageable to work through the Rosenbaum and Pearl book if you think about what you're working towards. Finally, I would try to really have an impressive wow factor as to why you want to go into banking and why you're in the room. I suggest looking deeply into a few deals and thinking long and hard about the impact of those deals and why they are important transactions.... Draw from there and you can probably come up with an answer superior to most run-of-the-mill answers. Best of luck my friends!

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Congratulations! That's amazing to hear, you should be so proud - Giving me hope :)

Anyone wanna share how they did it - I'm so confused in the sense of "exhausting linkedin" like check, did that - I've spoken with a handful of target analysts and barely got traction w alumni analysts (one of them reached out to me individually but never responded so welp) ..but I spoke w two VP alumni, one saying he'd love to help and that my resume is very compelling (don't worry that's not going to my head because I can barely get someone to look at it besides him) ...but like is that *enough* at a BB? I'm just frustrated cause im like how do non-target people do it haha. Any insight would mean the world. 

For reference - diversity, 3.9 GPA double major account/business, computer science minor, (west coast quasi/semi target (top 20 school in US)) - 2 relevant internships (1is in IB at a decent name firm (MM)...I feel like I'm getting no where and yeah just trying not to stress but it's a natural part of this process

 

Congrats. Everything seems like good advice except the last bit. Don’t think any amount of insight about some announced deal can be the main deciding factor for a candidate. And very few deals have a hidden strategy in the first place - buy companies, grow revenue, earn bonuses.

Should be able to speak to deals and deal making “fluently” but chances are if you need to dig super deep for some wow factor on any particular deal that anyone can research, your interviewer will not appreciate it because either you’re wrong or they themselves don’t know about it. Don’t know of or hardly any junior-mid bankers or even senior bankers that dig so deeply into deals outside their immediate coverage

 

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