Seeking Advice As A Senior Who Is Expecting To Graduate During The 2021 Pandemic
Hi everyone, I would love to hear people's honest opinions on the situation that I am in.
I was originally about to graduate in late Spring 2021. However, given the pandemic I was unsuccessful in obtaining a FT in an IBD role and I have recently contemplated on delaying graduation to December 2021 to re-participate in a FT process. Rationale is, provided that I do graduate in Spring 2021, I would have to start looking at Banking or Direct Investing roles through an unstructured process and given where the North American labor market is at (i.e. Vaccine Rollout, Pandemic Social Restrictions, WFH), I doubt that I will make any "reasonable progress" to landing a role that I will genuinely be content with (i.e. Mind not wandering elsewhere).
Please let me know whether this mental model make sense - Keep in mind, I am a senior who had ~a year give or take, of College experience stripped away due to Covid and "Zoom University" as well.
By graduating in December 2021, I have a shot at FT recruiting tailored to December graduates which I will supplement by networking aggressively in the Spring & Summer. I suspect that by then -- vaccines would be more widely distributed, people will go back to work in the office, and the broader labor market would have tackle the uncertain curve that have plagued job prospects across various industries (including roles in IBDs) which hence, give me better prospects at getting the "right role" upon graduation and not settling for something less as the dust will have settled to some degree.
While this is the largest and most influencing aspect to me considering delaying graduation to December 2021 -- I also am a senior who would be able to gain an additional college semester that I think I had taken for granted, and now sorely miss (i.e. Campus life, Going out to Bars & Clubs, etc). College is a once in a lifetime experience and it is something I will never be able to experience again (maybe until pursuing an MBA). Granted that the pandemic eases restrictions on people's social lives by September 2021, I will in many ways have a positive ending to my college social career while also having another shot at FT recruiting, whether I am successful or not. For me, it is all about minimizing regrets in my life.
What does everyone think about this? I know people have delayed graduation by a semester in the past, but I think with COVID -- this adds layer that I think is worth discussing. Interestingly -- my logic, intuition, and instinct tells me that delaying graduation to December 2021 is the right thing to do, because heck -- I am not "technically missing out on anything" when the world has technically stopped as well.
I might also add that I have internship experience totaling 12 months, all related to Direct Investing & Banking.
Please let me know what everyone thinks. Just want someone to check my blind spots. Thanks everyone!
I'm a first year analyst at an EB @ NYC. Here's my 2 cents:
FT roles are already hard to come around, it is almost March and I guess you don't have a good plan on what you're going to do this summer either... If you have read a couple of threads on this forum, you'll see that a lot of the shops on the street are looking for lateral hires. If I were in your shoes, I would get a Big 4 valuations/audit/ or corporate FP&A type role and then try to lateral to investment banking a few months later. You can start networking now or once you start working so you'll be able to a part of those lateral processes. My group also lost 2 analysts + 1 A2A Associate over the last 3 months, and now the seniors are running lateral recruitment to replace them not on campus recruitment.. Obviously there is the monetary cost to consider as well. Plus who knows how the US (and global) economy will rebound.. The decision is upto you at the end of the day. You will be the one who lives with the success or failure of this decision.
not OP but do you expect the FT offer rate to be high this summer?
Edit: asking about SA-to-FT offer rate.
Most teams are losing experienced analysts, so they’re looking to fill the spots with other experienced analysts. It’s unlikely that they’re going to hire extra inexperienced analysts when they can just give offers to more of their interns, who they will at least know (as long as they don’t totally suck).
In other words, it’s likely going to be just as cutthroat for FT recruiting this year as always. It really is the lateral market that’s hot right now, not the FT market.
To clarify, what I was asking was if the SA-to-FT offer rate will be high, not if the lateral FT market will be hot.
My personal opinion is SA-to-FT offer rate will be normal. No reason to speculate that it will be high or low. Don't forget that you will be joining the firm full time in Summer 2022, almost 1.5 years from now... Loss of junior bankers is an imminent problem that requires an imminent solution (hire laterals so you don't have to spend a lot of time training them from scratch). Do your best and you will 99% get a return offer unless you're a socially awkward person (which I hope you're not lol)
Makes sense. About the last part, I am definitely an introvert lol (not socially awkward but not the most outgoing person). Any insight into if that'll be a problem in securing the bag, and if so, ways to overcome that?
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