There are usually a few threads on this every now & then, but I figured my story is unique enough that it may be useful for others that may find themselves in a similar position to themselves, or are just in search of a success story to give themselves confidence. I'm a senior who just accepted my BB IB offer, happy to answer any questions you guys might have.
Background:
Top 50 US non-target with decent IB alumni, 3.7 GPA, engineering/economics double major, 2 boutique IB internships, SA at an upper middle market PE fund
Cold calling/emailing to land offers:
I was an engineer who didn't know what IB was until the middle of my junior year, when I was able to get me an internship at a regional boutique over my winter break to get myself some experience (I had basically nothing significant on my resume). From there, got myself a boutique IB internship back at school via cold-emailing which I did part-time during the spring semester, and then cold-called my way into an upper MM PE shop. I ended up interviewing with 10+ firms across the entire spectrum (from regional boutique up to BB), which resulted in 3 superdays and 1 offer. **Feel free to ask me whatever you'd like, or PM me if you're more comfortable doing that instead.** EDIT: Some of you have asked me about how I prepared for my interviews, taught myself finance, etc. The WSO guides were incredibly helpful to me in my recruiting process, so if you are interested, I believe they are available via this link: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/investment-…
Scorched earth policy, didn't leave a single stone unturned.
OCR was useless, there was 2 postings: one for a 10 man local boutique and one for a satellite office at a BB that didn't have any traditional coverage groups. Luckily for me, I recognized this all the way back in winter.
I initially started with reaching out to alumni. We had decent alumni representation on the street, and the nucleus of kids looking to go into IB from my school is small, so I did get a pretty good response rate.
Once I did my SA stint at the PE firm, I started leveraging the people who I worked with to see if they could put me in touch with people at all the various prestigious banks they previously were at. This was only possible because my fund specifically had a policy against hiring analysts, so they were more than willing to help me out. I got to know some very helpful guys higher up through this, and got a couple interviews via this.
The rest of the interviews came through my own sheer effort and a brute force cold-emailing campaign. I'd aim to send at least 25+ emails a day (relatively personalized) and targeted guys in the industry my fund specialized in. This was also helpful, as we were basically the leading name in terms of PE funds focused exclusively on that sector, and it helped build credibility on my end. I would essentially try to get in touch with anybody possible at various banks, and this provided the majority of my opportunities. You'd be surprised how much people are willing to help out people they don't know but are well-qualified.
Can certainly elaborate if I missed anything you were looking to hear about.
OCR is always useless. I also came from STEM background. You say you didn't know f*ck about IBD? I had a friend in commerce who once told me "you should look into ibanking" and I replied "why would I want to do internet banking"?
I didn't know f***ck about IBD. Good to hear things worked out for you. Congrats!