scared of the future
I have gotten rejections from 2 BB SDs so far and summer 2022 SA IBD is wrapping up soon. Right now, I'm just hoping for a miracle to happen as I don't know what to do anymore. I'm sad and scared, but also hopeful? Advice from people who are going through this right now or has successfully got out of this situation? I'm very worried.
Sorry to hear that man, I'm in a similar boat: 4 superdays, 2 of which ended in rejection. Not sure what to say besides being a SA is not the only way into investment banking.
How did the other 2 went?
Haven't heard back, but it's been over a week for both so I doubt anything will come of it.
Keep going
My SA offer finally came mid October last year
Was it for a BB/LMM? I feel like this year’s process started off earlier and will end earlier too :(
Feel you. 13 first rounds so far. 4 SD's as of now. 0/3 and 90% likely 0/4 since it's been 3 weeks since one of the supers I haven't heard back from. Non-target non-diversity and feeling like my chance of placing is low as hell rn. Been feeling like shit for the last week and a half but life is tough. Hard as hell to break in for a reason
Could relate to that many number of first rounds too, how are you preparing to finish off the recruiting season strong?
Idk man. Super cynical at this point. My summer internship ends this Friday, but I'm just gonna send as many networking emails as possible and hope some hail mary can get me into a process and eventually nab the offer. Rest of summer just gonna try to take networking as seriously as possible and do it like a dog. At this point I don't even care about the firm being "good." I can always lateral later. Just need to get my god damn foot in the door.
I cried everytime I got a rejection LOL, especially since both firms were places I really wanted and whenever I sent a SD update to people at the firms that I really liked when I talked to them, I felt like I disappointed them too
Nah don't get disappointed and feel like you let anyone down. At the end of the day, your performance in an interview probably makes up 20-30% of the decision. A lot of it is luck and somehow being memorable enough that your interviewers like you more than other candidates. It's why the hard decisions end up being on "fit", which is subjective and causes some tight decisions. There's gonna be qualified candidates that don't get offers at every super, even if they act personable and answer every tech correctly. My best super at the 4 places I interviewed at was Jefferies, and I've never felt so low when I saw that rejection email. Didn't cry but it was so crushing because I wanted it so badly and just to be done with this shit. Especially as a non targ, would've been huge for me. But oh well just gotta keep pushing. Only can control the effort, not the outcome. Gonna keep grinding until every bank's door is shut.
There are many posts on here that talk about this, but the summary is: there isn’t one path. Yes the tried and true: target -> summer internship -> convert to full time -> PE, etc exists (and is clearly the best bet), but so few people end up on that path. As someone who has been in finance for 10+ yrs, many senior people didn’t get there that way. It takes a while to figure out what works for you, what you want to do, etc. Your first job probably won’t be your last and you’ll learn a ton.
As someone who didn’t go directly into finance (and eventually found my way to a HF), I would say:
1) make sure you understand the landscape: what jobs exist out there? Where can you learn valuable skills?
2) look for a job you can connect to: don’t be “finance or bust”, figure out what it is about finance that attracts you to the job, and try to understand where you can do that (and maybe even find things you enjoy more) - even if the thing you want is money
3) think long term: if you can’t get a FT job right out of undergrad, come up with a 3-5 yr plan on what you are going to do to change things
4) pick the job AND the firm: the fit at a company is so important early on. Will you have good development opportunities? Mentors? What is the culture like? Don’t discount this
5) and of course, network
There are many other posts that go into more detail, but I think this is a start. I hope you do find that job in banking, but just know there are so many interesting jobs out there, you are going to be fine.
Thank you so much for your input! I think that for me, it’s a lot of pressure from people around me that has already received offers, and always hearing about alumni and older people that went the traditional IB/MBA/PE route. I’ve seen a lot of senior people not having the normal trajectory, but I think that it’s just more rough when the traditional route is somewhat becoming the norm
Hey man, really feel where you're coming from. I was in a similar boat in July. I had done 8 first rounds and 3 supers since March, and was getting to the point where things were feeling hopeless. Then when I was arguably at my lowest and things looked incredibly bleak, I finally broke through. It can really be a numbers game and sometimes it turns out that all you needed was a bit of luck. Just keep pushing and good things will come. The worst thing is to look back and wish you'd networked with just a few more people or submitted one more app. Good luck man, I believe in you.
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