Smart or Stupid Strategy - going for SA position AFTER senior year?
I've seen people write about this -- they didn't get FT offer after their junior year internship. so they re-recruit as SA for summer AFTER their senior year.
Can people talk more about this? How viable is this? How do you even do this -- don't all the banks know that you're going to be a fifth year senior? And do they care? I read some people say "just change your email."
Also, isn't this risky? If you don't get FT offer from your junior SA job, then in August, you have to decide whether to start applying for FT job or another SA job? Or maybe can you apply for FT job through Sept. 15, and then if that doesn't work out, start applying for SA jobs maybe after Sept. 15?
I know, a lot of questions, but just seems like a strange strategy -- applying for a SA job after your fourth year of college. But is it a good strategy?
I did it and successfully got MM IB after delaying graduation by 1 semester. It can be worth it if your junior year internship is strong but not IB and you’re networking.
Can you describe the process a little bit?
Like when did you start recruiting FT (August before your junior year?)
What made you decide to apply for another SA job instead of applying for FT work at MM?
Did the banks know you were a rising senior when you were applying for another summer job? Did you have to spin this/come up with a reason (which, I imagine, was something like "I want to do an IB intrernship?)
If you don't want to go into details on this thread, can I PM you?
Nah, I'll just say it here, hopefully it'll help some other people.
Background: I was a May 2020 grad, delayed to December 2020 which allowed me to recruit for SA2020. I go to a non-target school ranked around 100 in US News and with around 15 alumni total in IB.
So they way I saw it, I was in a no-lose situation. Either I delayed graduation and got a summer internship for 2020, or I would fail to get an internship for 2020, take a summer online class and simply graduate on time and either get a masters degree or recruit for FT roles. I also had very good, finance internships that were not IB-related, so I felt I had a good chance at getting an IB internship if I delalyed.
Nobody really commented, some people I networked with asked but I just said that a) I wanted to do my double major and needed more time and b) wanted more internship experience. Nobody really questioned it, especially not at national firms. The only people to bring it up were people at boutiques who were curious why I was delaying. To big banks I was the exact same as May 2021 graduates/people who were graduating on time.
It's a pretty decent situation if you can pull it off, I now have 1 semester of taking Spanish Pass/Fail in Fall2020 then an entire semester off where I can work part-time/save/relax with my friends before I start FT in 2021. Would strongly recommend for nontargets who couldn't secure something in IB for junior year. I do think a better idea is to apply to Masters programs and SA positions at the same time though - realistically, you aren't going to be able to get BB/MM IB without prior IB experience, especially from a non-target school. You can apply to SA22 positions while also applying to Masters that start in Fall22, for example and if you can't secure a SA position you can fall back to your Masters which will allow you to recruit full-time in a much better position. Note that for this to work you also should plan your schedule ahead of time - I only need one more credit to graduate, so I have the option of taking just one online class over the summer to graduate on time to start a hypothetical Masters program for the fall after.
Just want to point out that most of the SA roles are only intended for students going into their senior year. You would probably have to lie about your graduation year. Not sure how that would work out for you....
Yeah, that's a non-starter, lying about that. You don't think you can apply for SA job if your taking an extra semester's worth of classes (Graduating in 4.5 years instead of 4?)
You can recruit for the summer after your senior year if you plan to take a fifth year, but you need to still take classes. If the bank finds out you're not enrolled while recruiting for SA that's an easy auto ding
Do the banks care how many classes you're taking? Or if you're only taking one semester more of classes versus two?
No, for a 5th year you just need to be enrolled. The extra fall semester is common
If you don't mind eating an extra semester of tuition it's not a horrible idea. I think if you can tell a good story as to why you did it there's no reason it shouldn't raise your "ceiling" for where you land. I.e. low-tier BB intern wants to land top 3 so they do this. Not a terrible idea - I'd assume someone who already had a BB internship would recruit well for another one since their previous internship was better than 99% of other candidates'
Yeah, to me, I just don't quite understand if it's a mutually exclusive thing regarding deciding bw going for FT or another summer of SA -- if you don't receive FT offer after your SA gig this August, is it best to first try FT recruiting in mid-August, or dive immediately into SA recruiting for the summer after?
it really depends how the FT market is looking. But if you're trying to land Summer 2021 you would really need to start networking ASAP, so it's probably something you'd need to do concurrently anyway
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