College junior here. I study at an Ivy but currently have a terrible (3.0) GPA. It's already January and I still don't have any internships for the summer. All I've heard were rejections so far. Realistically speaking, I'm not sure if I can still break into IB at this point. To people who have been in a similar situation, what advice would you give? What other careers can I look into? Is no role better than back office role?
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You had a straight 4.0???
Lol, good question...
yes
I'm in the same boat- I was late to the BB recruiting game this year, and unfortunately butched a JPM hirevue due to nerves. I'm still hopeful and looking at boutiques and will even dive into no namers just for the experience. Also been applying to consulting positions on the side- better hours hey? Fuck me lol.
The hirevue was given to anyone past the GPA cutoff. Pretty sure you still had to network to advance
yea sumn like that
ops is better than unemployed big4 is better than ops tech is better than big4
go apply for all of the above....also, project management / business analyst roles might be within reach...FDLP maybe (tho, again, low GPA might be a hindrance).
Accounting is a backdoor into many roles within the investment banks
Excuse my ignorance but what is fdlp?
I presume he meant fldp, finance leader development program. A 2-3 year program at F500 firms like Amazon, AT&T, IBM, CVS where you rotate through different finance functions. You should check out Johnson & Johnson's fldp, the minimum GPA is 3.0. Doesn't solve your issue of an internship though.
I was in your position a year ago (low GPA at a target school with no offer in sight) and want to let you know it's definitely not over. I actually didn't end up receiving an internship offer until mid May for my junior summer. I ended up working a pretty small boutique, but got some great experience and ultimately ended up re-recruiting into a reputable MM shop.
If you're really interested in IB, there is no secret, you just have to keep grinding. There are definitely still boutique banks out there looking for spring and summer interns. Cold email every boutique you can find. Leverage your school job board and network your ass off. It won't be easy, but it's 100% possible if you're actually committed to breaking into the industry. In the meantime, don't forget to bring that GPA up and practice your interviewing. If you do land an interview, you have to do all that you can to make yourself the most attractive candidate possible. Good luck!
THIS
I too was in a similar position and didn't even begin looking for IB internships until later than this time last year. I can guarantee you that there are still reputable places looking to fill their intern classes! Cold emailing will open many doors and if you keep grinding I know you can find a gig for the summer--the key is to not give up. I got my junior year SA because the bank had finished hiring its intern class through a superday, and then about a month later one of the interns rescinded. The firm re-opened online applications which was when I applied, had a virtual superday, and landed the one offer. That's not the first time something like that has happened and definitely won't be the last!
If you believe in yourself and your ability to grind try your hand at sales (in an area like RE/Tech/PWM). Sales is a meritocracy where people with unimpressive backgrounds make it big by hustling.
are you kidding? Yes, your life is over. COME ON MAN! Your search is just beginning. There's plenty of boutiques to go to, esp. if you don't need pay. One of my MBA classmates had trouble getting a summer internship. He took an unpaid NYC boutique role, at some financial advisor I've never heard of. Today he is the head of TMT ibanking for Europe for one of the bulge brackets. Nut up and hustle motherfucker! Get your foot in the door in this industry and grind. Rise up!
How bad is an unpaid remote internship on your resume?
Hate to break it to you buddy but NYIC is a scam bank (not registered with SEC, etc.). There have been a couple threads on WSO on this.
Take a look at Big4 Consulting or Transaction Services. Both are still great jobs out of college to gain experience and build resume.
Try transaction services first because working on deals is more relevant experience for IB. Only take a big4 consulting job if you can't get anything more closely related to IB.
this guy gets it^
IMO if you can't get an IB job it's on you. There are a TON of boutiques etc you can get if you put in the work to network with them / some larger firms are still recruiting from what I hear.
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