SA 2024 Recruitment Process Reflection

grind harder in early months of recruiting and build those relationships -- I waited too long

At superday when they are checking for fit, you WILL absolutely feel it as well. Based on experience, If there is a fit, you will feel like you are being genuine and your interviewing guard is lowered. It might feel weird bc you are used to being a little uptight at networking events / you were stressed in other interviews. Don't know how to fully describe it, but 'fit' is a very unique feeling, at least from my experience.

Start NETWORKING yesterday

another one, many people are not prepped well enough with technicals from what I noticed. Grind those out like you're studying for an exam. The BIWS guides and advanced guides are just the baseline and those should be down cold. If you mock with upper years, chances are they have some more bank-specific resources. So you want to get those as well. Prepping behaviourals can be left until 2/3 weeks before your interviews start.

I recruited for the SA23 cycle as a non-target int'l. My biggest takeaway is understanding what you really want and how banking is going to help you achieve your goals(exit op is only a part of it) . Many ppl join the game bc they see other ppl are doing the same thing. The best way to prepare and land Interviews is doing relevant internships, including the bucket shops or biz brokers.

Sure some of your questions might be more in-depth, for example, deals you work on, road blocks for the deal moving forward, and specific vertical. Your work experience and personal opinions serve great to those interview questions and the title def gives you a leg up in rez screening too. The on-campus clubs are all cookie cutter answers that interviewers have heard a thousand times a day and rlly aren't that impressive nor important.

Have the balls to reach out to VPs/MDs… if they like you enough they will literally guarantee you interviews/super days (also these conversations are normally chill af so why not reach out?). Talking to analysts and associates is definitely important as those will be who you’re putting in the hours with once on the job, but having their boss recommend you definitely doesn’t hurt.

As someone who leaned on seniors a lot, do it even more. If you’ve built good relationships so far they’re happy to help you with literally everything and you’ll realize how they’re even smarter than you already thought. The post-SA insight is huge

This process is random. Just take things one day at a time, do what you're supposed to do, and things will (probably) work out. There were plenty of places where I thought I was connecting well but got dinged before first rounds. There were places where I barely spoke with anyone and got offers. I had interviews I thought I killed but got cut. I had interviews I was (and still am) sure I bombed, but they ended up being successful. Be patient and just keep going.

Also, have realistic expectations. Ambition is great, but you're just setting yourself up for a few months of sadness if you go in expecting your top pick.

Always be ready for an interview. A networking call may become a phone screen. You may get 6 hours notice with an actual interview (yes this happened).

Don't lose hope. I was rejected pre-interview stage from every low-tier MM "safety" bank I applied to.

Get the simple shit right. Quadruple check every email you sent out. Don't act like a bot.

Two tips I'd mention that people don't typically touch on:

1) Make sure you know at least the basics of the technicals by sophomore fall. Having a basic knowledge of technicals (basic accounting, valuation methods, high-level DCF) will give you a leg up against other candidates when you recruit for sophomore summer internships, which in turn help with your junior summer recruiting. 

2) Start networking early, but not too early. Start networking ideally by late summer/sophomore fall because a) you're not going to have the time to do so in the spring and b) when banks come to campus for OCR, you'd see people you've already talked to, which helps them connect names to faces. Speaking of networking, something I always did when cold emailing was to dig into the connections of seniors/juniors who have finished recruiting, because their connections are likely to be alumni who are more open to chatting with candidates.

I owe much to the WSO community, so feel free to PM me with any questions.

Be willing to bet on yourself. Go all in and don’t give up. This process is tough and unforgiving so don’t forget that

Mega non-target non-diversity intl student here. I was pretty late to the process and was shooting out 100+ emails per week for connection call, stupid thing. Start early, and DO NOT pigeonhole yourself into one single industry like ib. Take anything you can for sophomore summer, even a shitty search fund internship can turn into a story of passion. Another thing is to cast your nest damn wide, apply to every position there is, and network with everyone possible, but stay authentic and make the connection personal.

To the international non-diverse folks out there, keep fucking trying, it all gonna pay off. One yes is all it takes.

I'll chime in again since Intern in IB-M&A mentioned diversity recruiting. My take is slightly different: diversity kids, do not hold yourself to a lower standard just because you are diversity. 

I am diverse and had good gpa, resume, and go to a target. But I was quite frustrated midway through the process since I didn't receive any offers to diversity programs. Looking back, my frustration was unfounded because 1) the admission to diversity programs is highly erratic/random, and 2) frankly, I am sure there are people who needed these programs more than I did because I honestly did not grow up underprivileged. 

Well, my first thought was, "I'm fucked. Gotta compete in the non-diverse pool now." But I soon realized falling into the mindset of "it's easier for me because I'm a diverse candidate" was wrong in the first place, so I grinded on technicals and networking calls. To be honest, advanced technicals is not rocket science. As long as you put your mind to it, anyone with normal intelligence can get it. Got asked exactly the questions Intern in IB-M&A tells you not to prepare for – paper LBO, paper DCF, WACC / CAPM components, advanced accounting, Merger model, PIK/FIFO LIFO, etc. I eventually got a top BB and top EB offer through the normal process. (Now that I reread the post, Intern in IB-M&A feels like a troll lol) 

To sum things up:

Diversity kids, do not hold yourself at a lower standard because 1) practically, you might not get into the diversity pipeline, and 2) you do not want to be a mere pawn that helps your company's ESG rating; like everyone else, you're here to learn and contribute with your work, so grind like everyone else. 

And to others, just because someone looks diverse is not a reason for you to discredit their work and ability. Some of them have gone through the same admission process as you did, and others might have faced difficult circumstances in their lives you can barely imagine. 

Biggest advice for interviews. Be yourself, be conversational, smile, throw an extra shot of espresso in your coffee that morning.

An interview is just talking about yourself for 30 minutes, who doesn’t like talking about themself??

Show your thinking if you don’t know a technical and don’t get flustered.

Fortunate to have secured an offer at an EB for SA 24. However, (and I fully understand how bad this sounds) I wish I had started grinding harder for PE/GE roles because that’s truly where my heart lies, especially within the sector I want to specialize in. I am at a top target and received a superday at a few places, but on the technical side I just fell short. Definitely felt jealous seeing my classmates secure the offer instead. I feel like I disappointed myself more than anything because I know I would have had a better shot if I had put in more hours studying over going to shitty parties last semester. Whatever, this experience has made me more motivated to prep hard and network for full time. 

Recruited last year but helped / mentored a few friends at my non-target uni during this season. One that stood out to me got a really nice seat at a hard EB group to get into. The group only takes 1-3 people a year, everyone else at his SD was H/S/W and other ivies. He was the only non-target. He told me that he just shot the application over as a crapshoot, ‘you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take’ mentality. Because it was such a competitive process he didn’t even network since he thought he didn’t have a chance. So he spent that time with other banks.

‘Lo and behold, out of nowhere, he got an interview. Eventually the superday. He told me about all the other candidates that he met at a firm dinner the night before and laughed at how they were all absolute BOTS. Goes into the superday, fucks up some technicals, but makes all of his interviewers laugh. Guess what? He was one of the 1 - 3 candidates who got the offer.

If you are a genuine person and can show that to your interviewers, they won’t give a fuck if you know what PIK interest is or if you hit them up in October to network. The applicant pool for these positions are 80% of the finance-robot-hardo types we all joke about, but I’m sure that half of you reading this ARE THAT PERSON. Nobody wants to work with those people, so let go of your ego and make yourself interesting.

huge pov that helped me was thinking of the 1st round akin to a exam (as in ace all techs, give out fairly scripted answers) so you get the greenlight for SD. With SD obivo gauge the room but it helped me to just be likeable and go off the rails with your scripted answers a little more and make it more conversation like. However, regardless prep very hard for your techs, think of it as free real estate (in your control no excuses here to get anything wrong) wheras likeability is less so in your control and hence tech prep is just very high yielding.

Ok buckle in, because this gonna be long. For context, just signed with an EB where my school isn't a target. I also had mono over winter break which put a halt in a lot of my studying/networking efforts. If you are non-diverse, you can be from a target with a great resume and things still will be an uphill battle. Being from a target is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because people will take your calls and take your candidacy serious. A curse, because target school recruiting is NOT meritocratic. First, BB/EB fill the majority of target seats with diversity, full-stop. Privileged, prep school kids that get blackout drunk in easy majors and decide to recruit IB because it's trendy ended up getting top offers while non-diversity hadn't even kicked off. You don't even get an at-bat to compete with these kids, they simply are on a whole different timeline. Frustrating, but nothing you can do. That's why it's laughable when people on campus say we are a target for X place. Sure, if you are diverse or are in X social org.

Being from a target is also tough because everyone at school says to focus on the network. Yes, do that, but the pitfall is...what happens when that does not work? For me, I had no luck with my school alum or my school was not a target for EVR//PWP/MOE. Instead of buckling in and sending 15+ emails at each place late fall/winter, I got ghosted by the 5 or 6 people I tried and sulked. This is where the Kelley/UT Austin kids that are taught to grind had me beat. At my school, there's a culture of play hard and the offers come because we go to XXXX top 10 school. I mistakenly bought into this culture even though I'm a white male with no NYC connections. Mistake!

I want to emphasize that networking is a NOT a numbers game. It's quality, not quantity. For example, I had 7 connections each at two BBs and got passed over for the interviews for kids with fraternity connections (yes, quid pro quo type stuff goes on with OCR). However, for my Superday at an UMM/MF PE firm, I had 3 quality connections who made sure I was prioritized over the hundreds of applicants for ~3-5 seats. For where I signed, I was lucky that I had the grit at 1am to schedule send 7 emails to this firm where we had no alumni. I got lucky that one of those people was very involved in recruiting, got me looped in, and I was off to the races.

As non-diverse, idc if you go to Wharton, you can't be picky. I went into the process prioritizing BBs because I wanted the brand and camaraderie that comes with a larger analyst class. I thought I was hot shit and could get the GS/MS/JPM/BofA/Barc offer I wanted if I networked. Not so, and they run a later timeline where you really feel the pressure (if I don't convert then I'm SOL). You truly need to go for every single bank worth working at. Tons of nontargets/semi-targets are breaking into Moelis/Evercore/Perella type, just browse LinkedIn. Plus, if you get one of these offers, you can accelerate, which is the quickest way to see if a firm you like feel the same about you. If you want top tier exits long-term, do be wary of top MMs who try to sign talented kids early who do not have a clear line of sight with other interviews.

Overall, this post is really for target school non-diverse freshmen. Contrary to what you might hear, you aren't "set" with a M&A internship, high GPA, and top school. You truly need to spend sophomore fall building relationships at the EVR/MOE/LAZ/PWP type places that are more meritocratic than the BBs who are really random and political in who they pick. Highly suggest reaching out to any upperclassman on campus going to a place you want to be, they will be able to tell you how to most efficiently prepare/network- this is something I regret not doing more of. Also, if you want MFPE, at my school, that went entirely to girls who signed BB sophomore summer and a couple of dudes whose dad is a key client. Hope this helps someone.