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From my peer group I actually got a lot of interviews from BBs, MMs and LMMs relatively speaking but failed to convert any despite getting nearly all to SDs which I guess is telling that there's very few seats even for those w previous IB experience. It's still rough but I will say I think there's an uptick in seats at certain banks whose strategy is to take a gamble and take advantage of strong talent markets (Notably DB and WF who had a ton of seats, I think RayJay was in the mix as well, UBS and Citi had a somewhat big process too but idk how considering their performance). But for the most part unless theres an explicit strategy to hire more, most banks kinda seem like they're being conservative still. Niches like Infra/Project Finance and PCA also seem to have seats but for general IBD & PE seems to be selective asf. My personal observations correct me if I'm wrong.
Pretty much spot on with my experience. Lot of LMM / MM recruiting, but mostly for smaller teams that are being built or recently started.
Teams are very lean and even the boutiques I'm interviewing with seem to be extremely picky. Behavioral / Deal Experience doesn't seem enough, many boutiques are even asking to do case studies before continuing on the process. I've gotten interviews / superdays for roles completely unrelated to my background, but it's a bloodbath because competition is so stiff. Seems like everyone has IB / Relevant experience and the differentiator seems to be who has the most relevant experience (so PCA -> PCA, Healthcare -> HC) and fit.
Yeah I would agree with above. Got in a good amount of processes to superdays but it's been so competitive, often 6 or 9 people in the superday for 1 spot with everyone having IB experience before. Banks can be very picky about choosing the best person, so even if you interview well, it's hard to get a spot if you don't have exactly the background that they're looking for.
Welp time for LMM IB for me. TBH market will pick up a ton between now and next FT. Can't wait for that.
Where do you even find lmm apps?
TLDR: If you have good IB internship experience (or any relevant finance experience), a good attitude, do your research on the firm and the team and understand what you’re committing to, you already are ahead of 95% of other applicants
Currently helping my team recruit for a full role (EB / MM) and candidly speaking, a lot of these candidates just suck.
We are in a somewhat niche industry and the vast majority of applicants are clearly just applying to break in and have 0 knowledge / interest in our space.
Also have received 200+ applicants and the vast majority have no real internship / IB experience (the shitty search fund u interned at ur sophomore summer doesn’t count). This puts the majority of candidates behind any applicant that has any relevant experience.
Additionally, those with IB internship experience (who seemingly didn’t receive return offers) love to add all these deals they “worked on” to their resume but fail to explain any significant work they did on these projects. Another hilarious trend is these same candidates adding a bullet point on their resume of their “extensive modeling” then failing to answer basic accounting questions (that you’d have to know in order to balance any model).
Another component that is difficult is finding someone who fits the culture (this is where most super day attendees are getting knocked). This is our #1 priority as you can teach someone basically all the functions of the job. It’s all about attitude, fit and how personable / open to learning the candidate is.
Lastly, just knowing what you’re getting yourself into. The candidates we’ve interviewed with BB internship experience end up knocking themselves when they comment on how they wish they had more direction and help at times. In the EB / MM world, the majority of the time you’re working on your own to figure things out abs don’t have the extensive resources / coworkers you can leverage at the larger firms.
Apologies for the rant, just an analyst who’s currently frustrated with FT recruiting.
I’m currently searching for a full-time position and would appreciate more information on the role your firm is recruiting for. I have relevant experience (IB and PE) and am confident I can meet the expectations outlined in the post above. Please let me know if you'd be open to connecting!
Lol the username made me laugh, but feel free to shoot ur resume / info over to [email protected] (not satire, just made the email) and I can share more details there
Interned at top BB this summer and got return offer but group wasn’t of interest to so recruiting for other groups and banks. PM me would love to talk
Same experience as you w top BB, return offer, but ultimately not interested in the group. Doing FT recruiting but it’s tough
Would it be wiser to just rerecruit SA
Are you talking about delaying graduation? Or going to a MSF that way you can recruit for SA? Usually SA doesn't take kids out of college but it's possible.
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