STEM student lost in London IB recruiting
Hey, I'm a second-year Chemistry student studying at a target in London trying to break into IB. I missed out on the relevant IB spring weeks in 1st year (got a Big 4 spring in audit but didn't convert), so I don't really have relevant finance internships or experience apart from being a member of my uni finance society.
I've had my CV reviewed by bankers who said it's good enough, but I couldn't even get past a J.P. Morgan insight day application I applied to recently (just a CV drop). So what chances would I even have with an actual summer internship?
I just get so confused about what to do right now. People say network, so I did, which I found fun and interesting to hear stories from summer analysts and analysts. But it hasn't really helped, and when it comes to applying it doesn't seem like they did anything special to get their offers. I also tried cold messaging and emailing small IB boutiques to try and get some actual IB experience over the summer, but still nothing.
Some people who have internships right now have told me not to worry, saying I'm a STEM student at a target and that should be enough since IB isn't that mentally demanding. But that doesn't really help and it honestly doesn't seem to be true. I feel like this upcoming application cycle I'll just be wasting my time sending apps into the void again.
Any help or advice would be very much appreciated. If anyone is open to review my CV please lmk!
Any reasons on why you went to study/are in Chemistry despite aiming for IB?
Doesn't matter in UK
so what's the point of studying finance in UK if firms end up recruiting anyone
Because you want to study finance.
You wouldn't honestly tell me that you need to study finance to excel in this industry, right?
In the UK, as long as you're at a target, your choice of degree isn't that important but ideally these days you study something at least somewhat quantitative.
Your degree, as long as at a respected institution, is really treated like mini academia - you study what you want to learn about. What you choose to work in after doesn't necessarily have to be related.
E.g. in the UK, unlike the US, you do not have to study accounting or finance to be an accountant.
british unis don’t follow the liberal arts mode of education and thus doesn’t allow u to add on additional majors/courses hence the choice of course that u made at age 18 doesn’t count against you when recruiting (unless it’s something shitty like global sustainable development)
Spotted WW
It does a bit, but not a deal breaker (as compared to something like going to a non-target)
Which is stupid. Why do we believe random people that their passion is finance?
I think it's pretty funny that you've received such hilariously bad advice so far. Most people will say they're willing to help others but aren't necessarily interested in telling people the truth. Or simply don't know/refuse to acknowledge it. That's evident in your story and that's evident in my experience.
What's the truth?
Sidenote: What is a JPM insight day? I've never heard of such a thing. Are you sure you were even eligible?
I just realised my writing style is really AI-like but I promise I wrote that by hand haha.
Thank you for this, I needed honesty here.
I agree a lot with all points especially point 3. I've felt this way, felt like I was being gaslighted on a few of these networking calls. (I did it mostly to learn their mannerisms/how they operate which may seem weird but was useful to me)
I did technically pay for a CV review through an IB prep website (it was a feature on the website) which they say is reviewed by bankers from JPM and BofA but most of the advice was how to improve what I already had which was partly useful. I asked a similar question about not having IB experience. They said I have a "great" amount of experience but again I take it with a grain of salt - they mentioned starting an M&A newspaper or building an operating model and valuation analysis of a company and putting it at the top (Idk how much of an impact this would have but will do it).
I was signed up to an early recruitment email list after applying to the spring last year and they emailed me a link to apply to it a few weeks back. It didn't seem like it would just be a Q&A session as they mentioned there would be group exercise and other stuff.
so what you gonna do now that u got nutmegger's feedback
will you become a chemist or settle for for 4 audit
Why aren't you in a position of responsibility at any finance societies in your uni? All these targets have like a billion societies to sign up to with various roles. Or why aren't you in a leadership position in any society?
This is like the lowest bar thing students should be doing in 2nd year.
The newsletter isn't such a bad idea. The model, eh.
As for the review, yeah I mean, it's a review rather than career coaching - they're not going to tell you how to add experiences, it's about optimisation.
To be clear you don't necessarily need IB experience to get an IB SA. But you can't just have a big 4 spring, 0 relevant ECs and be at a target and call it a day.
Unless you have any other experience apart from the big4 spring you won't really be that competitive even with any DEI factors in your favour. Better to just get experience wherever you can, maybe in the chemistry field (useful for healthcare ib) . Networking can help at some firms but in general is pretty useless (if the aim is referrals)
Hey,
I graduated from a uk semi-target with a STEM background (Maths).
I'd confidently say coming from a STEM background to a certain degree you do get preference for certain opportunities, especially those which are known as being technically rigorous. I definitely got preference for a lot of things and managed to get 4 internships before even graduating (quant equity, RX, M&A, private credit). It's especially good having a certain variety of skill sets which normal people otherwise won't have. Found it especially useful to have a good knowledge on certain algorithmic problems, PYTHN process automation, R, etc - all of which was basic stuff I had learned during my studies. I received return-offers to every single one of my internships. On top of that, generally I found I was able to process a larger allotment of information as things went by, which is a good characteristic to have.
Having only 1 experience so far (that being the insight program) obviously isn't the best, but it's also not the worse. I had lots of peers who were able to land SA/Grad roles without having any insight programs at all! It's not the end of the world, so don't fret. Play your cards right, stay consistent, and do what you need to do.
If you're doing chem at the main targets (Oxbridge/UCL/Warwick/Imperial only) I'd argue chances are you're far smarter than the equiv application from other unis or your own doing finance/accounting/econ, etc. Grind out those technicals to the point there will be literally no reason for the normal majors to be chosen over you. You naturally arguably even have more coming for you as you can play the angle that you can especially be good in a certain niche industry within finance, i.e Healthcare, O&G, Industrials, NR. You will have more in depth knowledge behind certain things, which will especially be useful if you were to potentially get an opp in GE/VC/PE.
Play that advantage for you. Pick up some projects, network with alumni! Make sure you do your best to come across as an intelligent individual but obviously be someone that's likeable and approachable.
I was able to play my cards right, and now will be starting out at an EB this upcoming fall :)
Happy to connect further if you have any questions in dms !
P.S -
meh, internships in london are just luck of the draw anyway. interns at my bank rarely have actual experience (or knowledge). the kids who do the best have normally just applied to every single internship on trackr with some ai-generated cover letter and a scripted hirevue answer
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