Recruiting Rant
I don't usually rant that much, but not going to lie, I wanted to post something since this might resonate with a lot of folks. I know whatever I'm saying isn't really unique to me, since so many people have gone through the same processes and way farther down the line from on-cycle + mba + HF/VC recruiting.
I come from a middle-income, Asian-American household with some financial constraints, and grinded my way to H/P/S from a grade-deflating public high school. I've always tried to be as high-performing as possible. Literally had to stress about getting a 95+ on legitimately every assignment.
Got into the top clubs there, and interviewed my entire sophomore fall for PE/HFs, kept a 4.0 in STEM, pretty much finished a major, and ended up landing one at a Tiger Cub for this summer after like 8 interviews.
But it never feels like enough. You see Linkedin and there's some Harvard alum person who worked at GS + H&F and is at Stanford GSB, or Wharton + PJT RX at Apollo, or a friend of a friend starting a unicorn (or soon to be).
Now I'm recruiting for junior summer, and the stress is back. Trying to target the top firms, interview prep, and stressing about getting interviews. I've done all the right things, now I'm just worrying about executing to perfection.
For you older/experienced folk, how do you manage these super stressful situations? Like, I guess it never ends, but is there a point where you can just sit back and appreciate things?
Based on the most helpful WSO content, your experience resonates with many in the high-stakes world of finance recruiting. The constant pressure to perform, compare, and achieve can feel overwhelming, especially when surrounded by peers with seemingly flawless trajectories. Here are some insights and strategies to help manage the stress and find balance:
1. Shift Focus to Actions, Not Outcomes
2. Reframe the Stakes
3. Practice and Preparation
4. Avoid Comparisons
5. Take Care of Your Mental Health
6. Appreciate the Journey
7. Recognize That Stress is Part of the Process
Remember, the goal isn’t perfection—it’s progress. You’ve already proven your ability to excel under pressure, and with the right mindset and strategies, you’ll continue to succeed. Keep pushing, but don’t forget to pause and appreciate your hard work and accomplishments along the way.
Sources: 6 Tips To Boost Your Confidence And Nail Your Next Job Interview, Depressed from recruiting, 6 Tips To Boost Your Confidence And Nail Your Next Job Interview, Interview nerves
If I went on the internet and googled fat midget latina getting golden shower by autistic danish gay party clown and hit enter I'd see a lot of fat midget latinas getting golden showers by autistic danish gay party clowns. Now that doesn't mean there's some kind of epidemic of fat midget latinas getting golden showers by autistic danish gay party clowns it just means that I got what I was looking for. The point is if you go on linkedin and look up a bunch of wharton kids in a bunch of 1% acceptance rate clubs who went PJT RSSG MF Buyout SM Hedge Fund or Goldman TMT to Apollo to Unicorn or whatever else. There's always gonna be people from better schools, better clubs, better jobs whatever else at the absolute pinnacle of prestige but there's also plenty of kids from nontarget schools who manage to land fire shit. You're doing great and interning at a tiger cub which is a place lots of those older guys you're comparing yourself to are slobbering to get into. Just worry about yourself, do the best you can, and stop comparing yourself to people who are the top 0.000001% of the top 0.000001% especially when you don't even have a junior internship yet. Hell 10 years from now you may even be in a better spot then they are as long as you grind it out.
Bro you couldve used so many things as examples and this is what you land on? Kinda telling on yourself no? But yes agree with the messaging. Although I will add comparison with others is one of the best sources of motivation. Just dont go too far with it.
Personally really enjoyed the analogy here
bump
Curious how’d you land Tiger club? Cold emailing and attaching stock pitches?
School has a dedicated pipeline to a couple funds, and just went through several hours of pitching longs/shorts, investor acumen qs, some accounting like 3statement modelling, and a lot of behaviorals. Was like three phases, round1, two superdays
Your problem is thinking that just because someone is working at a better firm or went to a better school they will be more successful than you, when these things are not a given. Do you realize that a majority of funds (HF/PE/other strategies) are started by people with great pedigrees and they still end up losing money / shutting down? You may get more at-bats if you have the golden pedigree, but you can still FAIL. Just try to be the best version of yourself and work on your craft. Also, be happy for people. If your friend gets PE analyst at Warburg and you don't, you are still winning because he is your friend. Trust me that Henry Kravis doesn't feel like a loser because he's worth much less than Steve Schwarzman, he just says "what can I do to get my firm where his is?"
I like this thank you so much haha yeah survivorship bias is a real thing as well
"I'm just worrying about executing to perfection.
Is there a point where you can just sit back and appreciate things?"
Comparison is the thief of joy. And you're way too in your head about "prestige" and trying to rank yourself to perfection. Having experienced a HF, you should know investing is an art, not a science. Who says the PJT RSSG guy at Apollo is any more perfect than you will be? They're all titles at the end of the day - appreciate where you are, what you can do, and what you want to accomplish in life.
Thanks for the encouraging words, yea sorta grew up trying to be perfect and just can't shake things off when things don't go my way in an interview for example. We only have so much time so will try to make the most out of it lol
MF you are ahead of pretty much everybody in the history of mankind. I promise you will be ok.
But if corporate prestige is the only thing in life that you chase, you will never actually be happy. You need to have gratitude and appreciation for the big things in life, like being at the best school in the world, and the little things, like eggs on toast, a nice breeze, Busch Apple, even Charlie Kirk memes.
If you are not content with your personal character (the only thing you can truly control), you will never be happy. A good life is marked by good character and being happy, not a cracked LinkedIn.
Bruh
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