The Athlete Disadvantage
Are athletes interested in finance at target schools able to land WSO's coveted jobs? Or are they often too busy with juggling practices, academics, and game schedules to deal with networking and focusing on their careers?
On the other hand, do these top athletes maybe have a specialized network provided by the Athletics Department to help them attain these prestigious internships and jobs to compensate for the athletes' lack of time and energy?
In my experience, athletes actually tend to have a slight advantage when it comes to IB recruiting vs non-althetes. Banks tend to look past any traditional Resume "deficiency" (slightly lower GPA, less club leadership, etc.) if you can explain it's due to the amount of time your sport commands. As a bonus, banks tend to like athletes because it shows you can handle pressure, stress, and long hours.
While there isn't any specific "specialized athlete network" (that I know of), im confident if you look around on LikedIn and reach out to bankers that participated in college sports, you'll have great luck networking with them.
Lots of athletes land IB positions, for the reasons Throwaway mentioned. Definitely make it a point of emphasis on your resume and try to network with other former athlete bankers.
Based on what I've read on this thread, athletes tend to get recruited for sales (and sometimes trading jobs) but not as much for IB. Is this generally true?
I don’t know much about S&T recruiting, but from what I’ve seen in banking, there’s certainly a strong contingent of former athletes across BB / EB / and MM. From what I’ve seen, Barclays and MS take a lot of athletes for example.
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Depends on the school,
-Athletes in the Ivy League are able to get summer internships as their schools don't have summer training programs for their teams. I'd say students in this setting are at an advantage because although their GPAs will take a hit they'll have a differentiator as an athlete. There are tons of IB bankers who are ex-Ivy League athletes.
-Athletes at top non-Ivy schools (Stanford, Michigan, Duke) are at a slight disadvantage because they aren't able to pursue those internships as most have full time summer conditioning programs. They do still have strong alumni networks and their GPAs don't look too bad from their schools.
-Athletes at non-targets I'd argue are at a pretty big disadvantage because they don't have the ability to do summer internships, don't have much of an alumni network to turn to and their GPAs don't look great especially from a non target.
Former athlete and from experience I would go to greater lengths to help out a current college athlete who reached out. That being said, it comes down to them actually making an effort to take advantage of their network
former athlete as well and agree 100%
Nope, not at all. The stamina and health from years of playing sport will help you a lot when you become analysts, not to mention being an athlete would somewhat make yourself appear to be kinda interesting person, especially when it comes to behavioral questions (tell me about one time you failed, etc kind of question), you could extract a lot of captivating stories from your sport experience.
Athletes at targets have equal chance, if not more, at landing and surviving Wall Street jobs.
Was a college athlete myself. That line on my resume was probably the most talked about one in interviews. People tend to ask how the season’s going, how I got into the sport etc. It makes you a more interesting candidate so in that sense it’s an advantage.
However, I find a lot of athletes from target schools fall into the trap believing that their networks (which are usually very strong) will carry them to the offer. While that is true for many non-IB jobs, it’s not true for the jobs talked about in this forum. Steer away from that and you should be good! Study hard from the guides!
Incredibly well put. Huge differentiator in terms of a unique and elite experience. But largest trap is now preparing from a technical and behavioral standpoint. This is not the old days..interviewers expect just as much interview prep out of athletes as they do their normal classmates.
Currently as a college athlete (football) at D1 school (non- target). Schools do absolutely nothing to help you get the "prestigious" internships like you say. Most student athletes are also "required" to stay at the school for workouts over the summers. For that reason I would say its a major disadvantage.
On the other hand, as I networked like a mo-fo, I found that I came off as a far more interesting candidate to recruiters on the street. D1 Athletics really helped me portray myself with hardworking, time management, and team leading qualities. To me that goes further than any extra curricular activity you can have on your resume. Us student athletes are on an insane schedule that would be tremendously difficult to handle. Wake up 430 am, weights 5am, film 6:30am, breakfast 7:30am, class 8-10, pre practice 11, practice 12-2, lunch 2:30, class 3-5, study hall 5-7. Bed by 9. Repeat.
Now imagine participating in that grueling schedule while balancing a double major and maintaining somewhat of a social life? That sort of pressure would crush the average student. That is why particularly in my case I found that all recruiters, whether it be IB or ST or AM, love a hard working athlete.
Kickers from Dartmouth do well.
Dartmouth O-Linemen do pretty well, also:
Hammerin' Hank was a beast on the field.
Friedman was a hell of a wrestler, as well.
I have a friend who went to an Ivy as a D1 athlete. He got into banking no problem. No BB, but a reputable MM shop.
I was an athlete at a non-target and landed internships in corporate finance and AM. I even squeezed in an LSAT and law apps. I have the usual boot-straps mentality that anyone can do it no matter their situation if they have the drive to put in the extra work and can withstand rejection. Even if you're putting 30-40 hours a week on the field there's still time to send emails, set up networking calls with alumni, and blanket online apps. As far as the summer camps and workouts go, the athlete has to make the judgement call on that with their coach. If you're playing football on a scholarship for a D1 program, then making that happen is next to impossible. But iif you want it, then take it.
I too was a D1 college athlete at a target. At the time I did not focus heavily on a “normal” career nor could I imagine juggling school, athletics and networking at the same time. Of course it can be done but will take a bit more effort and time which would only help an athlete differentiate themself more in an interview.
I ended up leaving school early and went on playing my sport professionally for over 10 years. Soon I will begin my career in banking at a BB. Ultimately, I was able to get my foot in the door thanks to a network of athletes (non-school related) and because of my professional playing career. Maybe it’s best to say that athletes have unique backgrounds that can open doors if leveraged properly.
Great story, do you mind sharing what sport you played professionally?
Thank you very much I appreciate it. But if it wasn’t for the help of other athletes, mostly ex-hockey players, and all the resources on WSO it would have been very difficult if not impossible. It goes without being said that athletes will go out of their way to help other other athletes, especially in their specific sport, if approached.
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