SA 2026 - STOP MAKING THIS RECRUITING MISTAKE
Currently an analyst at EVR/LAZ/PJT and wanted to share some information for those of you recruiting for SA 2026. Myself and other analysts in my group have been receiving networking emails over the last 1-1.5 weeks from students. I urge you guys to stop doing this and wait at least a month for several reasons:
1. We literally cannot take your name down for at least a month, as the call spreadsheet has NOT BEEN SENT OUT YET! This means that, even if one of us does speak with you, it is purely for you to learn as we won’t even take your name officially.
Additionally, chatting with us now won’t get you anywhere as we won’t remember you when the time for referrals / the spreadsheet comes. We’ll also be too busy to circle back with you later in the year even if we do decide to speak to you now.
2. Lots of the analysts in my group, including myself, are not taking calls from emails sent this month. This means that, if you email us now, it essentially amounts to a wasted alumni connection.
3. We already have screenshots of emails from hardos circulating in our gc. None of them are getting a single call from an analyst in the group.
My advice for you all is to chill. Stop sending emails before most colleges have even resumed and wait until mid to late September at the earliest.
This. At a different EB and our situation is the exact same. Please stop emailing us, we have 100 other emails to check and networking emails in August are getting instantly deleted.
Every student needs to see this
hey can anyone please explain how the networking sheet works at these firms? Just curious as i’m looking to recruit for sa26 n have found networking to be a bit of a black box. thx in advance
It’s where we’re required to take down names from students that we’ve spoken to. We add their names, rate the call, and a bit more info to the sheet.
We only refer people for interviews from the sheet, so if you aren’t on it, you don’t get a referral. This sheet only gets sent to us mid September-ish, so there’s no way for us to take note of people to refer before September (hence why networking right now is useless). Hope this helps.
thanks a lot! much appreciated
This was super helpful thank you!
Super helpful. So would you say that the ideal time to send emails is mid-September, as sophomore year starts? Should freshmen even send emails?
I thought only Associates and VP's have pull in who gets an interview. Do those banks take analysts' recommendations on the spreadsheet seriously?
.
Do you know if the same sheet gets hand out at the same time for london offices?
I'm not gonna dispute what you said, but I've personally had good talks with people at both EVR and LAZ in the past month; some of them even explicitly complimented me for starting this early. Maybe it varies by group?
That said, I'm holding off on sending out emails during August, both because I'm travelling and because I want to focus on other things during the little actual break I have left post-internship.
The analyst’s attitude towards emails this early can vary by group, but if your call(s) went very well, then it’d make sense for them to compliment you. However, at my bank, which is one of the two you mentioned, they can’t take your name down (to refer you eventually) until the middle of September. Good on you for deciding to hold off during August, and I assume since your calls went well you didn’t come off as the hardo type and moreso curious instead which is great.
I certainly hope I came off well!
Stfu
chill
.
HL is the only one that does and they dont start looking at apps until Jan.
oh ok
HL Apps open early every year. They won't interview for a while and when they do it will just be RX (at first).
ok thanks
Does this apply for people recruiting for FT roles as well? Discovered banking too late to go internship route and am now looking for FT IB role after graduating several months ago. Based on what you've said I'd guess email open rates are probably reduced across the board in August including for people like me but still curious as to what y'all think.
Nah u gotta lock in it’s grind time for u my g
What do you mean by “hardo” type? Is that someone who sends the same email to everyone in the same team? Tryna understand what hardo means so I won’t come across as one.
You’re an idiot and this is terrible advice. An IB analyst will not know their schedule 1 month in advance, and even if they schedule a meeting in September, they’ll likely cancel it and not circle back with you. I’d personally delete an email asking to meet a month later.
Based on your comment history you’ve never worked in IB a day in your life, so let actual IB analysts give advice and don’t posture like you (a prospect) know better.
You’re probably the dumbest / weirdest person on this site. I’m an analyst in a top RX group, but sure, im a low performer because I don’t know my schedule one month ahead of time to schedule coffee chats.
Stop giving students horrible advice and let people who actually work in the industry advise prospects.
Does this also apply to potentially networking for diversity programs? Many of those applications have already opened, so just wanted to know if that would also be considered wasteful.
You aren’t supposed to network for diversity / insights programs, those are all run by HR. The only ones you could network for are sophomore summer IB ones (BofA, MS), but the ones that guarantee an interview don’t use networking.
Thanks so much!
When does ms diversity or insights program get released for sa 26?
Which diversity programs have opened so far?
As long as you actually follow up later this fall, it would not hurt to start networking now. IMO, it says a lot more that this student is (1) very eager to start networking early and (2) was organized enough to follow up with me in Sept/Oct (as I asked them to). To other analysts, is it really the end of the world if you have to talk to the same student twice?
Does this apply to BBs as well? What about networking with MDs/VPs?
When would you say is the most optimal time to start networking? Mid/late October? I suspect the applications will be sent out around late December or early January for fall 2026, is that a correct estimate?
.
This post has weird power trip energy. Not sure if the advice is actually correct or not, just flagging.
Bro works at an MM in London and is calling a post made by a US EB analyst about US recruiting incorrect even though the post has 18 SBs, 0 MS, and all the IB analysts in the comment section agree. Seems like you’re the one with the wrong advice.
Poor comprehension. I quite specifically didn’t comment on whether the advice was correct or not.
I've also been been doing this job 5x longer than whoever posted this irrespective of where you think I work. You are an intern on a forum please behave as such.
It’s a 2mo analyst thinking he’s the shit is the vibes it gives me.
Students - feel free to network all you want; also at an EB and dgaf if you want to chat, if I like you I’ll remember you.
Hi! Can I pm you?
Bump. Having same problem at BB.
For context, what does a hardo email sound like?
Using too many assertive sentences instead of framing yourself as a curious student
Makes sense
You make a good point but some people will stand out for doing exactly what you’re telling them not to do.
wait stop i had great chats with ppl from evercore and all those banks and some diversity program stuff is already out. It's so unfortunate to hear that ppl are taking names down to not email just for trying to stay ahead. :/
Just email them again mid september for another call, dont sweat it. Would hold off on sending more emails for now.
I def will! Ty!!
Someone give a good example of a hardo email that gets sent around in the gc. Want to see what I should avoid
Someone give a good example of a hardo email that gets sent around in the gc. Want to see what I should avoid
I see where OP is coming from, but do u really think they’d forget you even if the call went well? Also I feel like this is a bit different for most MM banks and smaller shops than it is for most EBs. Obviously you won’t be added to the referral sheet before recruiting kicks off but those connections you make in the summer (when banker is less busy and has more time etc. which becomes important if ur non target ) will pay off come winter time when apps open up because you alr had prior connections with the bankers at x shop. Idk man all the alumni at my school said start building connections in the summer and this post kinda freaked me out because I put a shit ton of time/missed out on a lot to take some of these calls this summer.
Congrats Laz
is this timeframe relevant to london SA recruitment as well? just curious since networking is also seen differently here
OP is definitely a prospect posing as an analyst to reduce the competition so he can do all the networking himself. Don’t fall for it.
Currently recruiting for full time. How do I make my email subject line differentiate myself from someone networking for summer internships?
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