Sick of this recruiting shit, lost
Came from a non-target state school and didn’t know what banking was till late senior year. So, I was basically screwed on recruiting for FT. I’ve recruited for the last 9 months doing hundreds of phone calls and thousands of emails. I can’t find a job, I’m sick of it. I’m qualified and learned this industry all on my own over the last few months. Not sure what next step to take to find a job. I’ve targeted IB and VAL but no luck. I’ve kinda accepted that I’ll need to get my MBA and recruit in a few years again but not sure where to start finding a job that’ll be good for that process.
Only good thing that’s came from this shit show, is I want more than ever and it put a chip on my shoulder to get better I guess. Sorry for any spelling, typed this disaster on my phone.
Took me 2 years out of undergrad to land an IB job. Took me about 8 months out of undergrad to just get a job period (some back office role in prime Brokerage) it’s all about persistence and wanting it. Keep getting on the phone and keep on studying for interviews. Keep applying and showcase to people, this is what you want.
As per just getting any job to start with. Just apply to everything. Dont be picky, you aren’t to good for any role. If it pays, take it and while in that role, be the best you can be in that row and continue to network and apply for that front office stuff. Just gotta keep grinding
I honestly think the majority of people who are in high finance jobs m&a and IB didn’t get jobs straight out of uni. Just keep working. Remember, everyone starts as an analyst.
whoever ms'd you is soulless
It’s not that deep. It’s a fucking web token.
(Wasn’t me, just saying...)
Sorry to hear you're struggling. Took me about 10 months of networking and trying to get a banking job til I got mine. Never worked at something harder in my life and trust me, I almost gave up and posted something like your post so many times. I know the "just have persistence and it'll come" comments don't always make you feel better but really, there are so many success stories on here and you're gonna be one of them.
Not sure if you're graduated or not but doesn't sound like you have a job at all right now? Here would be my advice for you which take with a grain of salt.
1. Maybe expand where you're looking outside of IB / valuation. I came from a TAS background and that seemed to get my foot in the door some places, even though I never made it past a bunch of first round interviews. Look at the analyst at a look of banks you're looking at, the ones that didn't come out of school, where did they come from? I remember seeing a bunch of ppl that were credit analysts or similar jobs. I know you want IB but if you need a job out of school, see the common stepping stones people took and maybe try applying to those jobs.
2. Do not overlook boutiques / smaller shops. Just my opinion but I think the less hours that usually come with boutiques is a huge benefit and looking at peoples posts lately, I would be hesitant to join a larger firm at this point. Once again, just my opinion but check out some boutiques.
3. Idk how recruiting and staffing outlook is for most banks but you're searching in a pandemic, don't forget that. There's a lot of uncertainty and don't let the rejection define you, cause I promise you you're smart enough.
4. Your career is so damn long. Even if you delay your banking career by 2-5 years, you will catch up so you aren't delayed.
5. Not sure what you're actually doing to network but I remember always being so nervous when I hopped on a call with someone on linkedin or had an potenital opportunity in front of me. Just like talking to girls, people can tell insecurity and it usually isn't received well. Be confident in yourself. Be confident in your words, your asks and your intentions. Don't tiptoe around asking people to pass your resume along or get a foot in the door. Just my opinion again but the way I see it is you probably won't ever meet that person again if it doesn't go well so if they get offended by you being hungry for a chance than on to the next one.
Can you expand on your TAS background - was it difficult to go from TAS to IB? How are MBA exit opps, etc.
Yeah sure. Like many people, I wanted to do banking before my last year but didn't bother trying to break in then. Got into TAS and I thought it was great experience.
As far as breaking into IB, like many people I had my struggles. I will say, I started networking and trying to break in right when Covid hit (used all my downtime to learn modeling and prep for interviews) so I probably didn't have much traction during spring and summer cause stuff was wild. I had a few first round interviews with UMM banks but never made it far cause I think most banks were hiring people with IB experience over me. But I still had some good looks. I feel that TAS is probably the best experience you can have other than maybe valuation. I have my CPA so maybe that helped me standout maybe not idk. But I think having deal experience and being able to speak on that in interviews was helpful. I think the key to leveraging TAS to get into IB is all about how you sell yourself and your experience. But overall I stayed confident I would get into IB, just a matter of time and what firm. I also found a ton of people on LinkedIn that came from TAS so I targeted those people to network with. So I think TAS is a great place to start if you're like many people that can't get in out of school.
As far as MBA exit opps, I never really looked too much into MBA cause I wanted to break in before that. I did know a coworker with only TAS experience that got into a top 3 MBA program. But I'm sure with a good GMAT score and good resume, you would have good options.
I think anything less than 1 yr of experience isn't enough to try to break in but YMMV. I think the 1-2 year mark is the sweet spot.
Could I PM you?
Yeah sure
The above comments are good advice. And think about what you're saying here. There are kids who have been gearing up for this since HS. Spending years getting in to the right programs, the right schools, networking, internships, etc. Thousands and thousands of them that have been grooming for this for years. Are you like "man, I just figured out what finance was a few months ago, why haven't I gotten a top job yet?" This is damn hard to break in to, and you're just getting started now. Respect to you if you have the perseverance to stick with it, and it will take time. But if you really do want it and really keep grinding. You'll get there. Most important thing you can do now is build your experiences. Professional and personal. Get in to the field. Doesn't have to be at the best firm in the best city. Find an in somewhere smaller if you have to, but at least that gets your first foot on the door. Small steps.
“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”- Randy Pausch
Love this thanks for sharing
So you said you didnt know what banking was until senior year, which is fair, but what were your other plans until then? Previous internships etc?
Have you ever thought about a masters degree in Europe? Compared to the US much more people do their masters right after their bachelor.
I cant promise you that you will get into the GS or JP but you will definitely still be able to get into IB.
For example:
Assuming you do a 2 year masters degree in Germany with and additional semester abroad in total you will study for 5 semester.
At the beginning of the first semester you can start as a working student part time and then still have 4 semester breaks (8-12 weeks) to do an internship.
Hope that helps
The problem with Europe is you have to speak the language as if it was your mother tongue to work there. OP ain't breaking into Germany or France if he's not bilingual in German or French
I know what your getting at. But at least in my experience after you study for a semester you should be able to speak German at a B2 level. This was sufficient enough for a few friends of mine.
But yeah, if you are not good with languages this is definitely going to be a problem
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