What the hell am I doing wrong?
I have been networking my ass off connecting with VP and MD alumni on LinkedIn premium, the only alumnus who answered is a Barclays dude and they got no positions open, nonetheless he checked my CV and transcript and he's shocked that I didn't get in anywhere. I adapted my resume to ATS, I went to my school's career advisor to make sure I was doing the right things, I even got my resume and cover letter checked by a non-IB recruiter in my family. I have been coveting investment banking since I was 16, so now I am asking for your help. I know we're in a shit economy, but in 2-3 years, new grads will have the advantage over me and I'll be fucked.
I would really appreciate any advice from people who also struggled breaking into IB. Thank you for baring through this rant.
entitlement
You can define ambition as entitlement to success, so technically, everyone in this forum feels entitled. Do you have an actually useful comment to post?
real
What other banks did you apply to? I doubt you can't get any interviews
A bunch of Toronto boutique banks, also CG's office in montreal, none answered so far. There are very few available IB positions in Canada, so I have been reduced to cold e-mailing people for non-paid internships. Also, why do analyst positions require 3-5 years of experience?
idk for canada but needing experience fo an analyst position seems weird
Have you applied to agentis? I think they have an analyst posting up
I’m going to be brutally honest here:
There are ~10 schools considered top target. Amongst those there are over 30k undergraduates. Of those, I’d suspect at least 3k will graduate with honors and a good gpa. At least 1k will apply for some sort of finance job and all will have internships. Some will come from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, and some will have wealthy connections in finance.
And that’s not even mentioning the ~20 schools considered semi targets or strong state schools that all have the same types of students with good grades, internships, and an interest in finance.
So, why are you special? What makes you better than the 1k+ students competing for a limited number of full time jobs? Why shouldn’t I hire the student exactly like you that can do the job just as well as you but knows someone at the firm?
If you truly do have as good a resume as you claim and yet are still getting rejected from firms, you need to think long and hard about those questions. And if you can’t come up with a solid answer, I’d prepare for another slew of rejections. Because IMO, nothing you mentioned in this post makes you special. In all honesty, it makes you sound like the most generic finance student ever.
Thanks, it seems sensible. I'll reflect on those questions.
To build on this, I remember when I was in banking we got an endless stream of profiles like these. Short of building a relationship to have an internal champion, people have things like ‘started an e-commerce business that did $xx in revenue’ or random random unique things to stand out. Candidate inflation is real
That's extremely helpful! I'll figure out how to put my startup experience. Thanks
I’m genuinely curious how you learned about investment banking at 16. I didn’t hear about investment banking until I was 21
I researched high finance careers aside from being a trader.
This comes from a freshman in college who has not broken into the industry yet, so take it as you wish. My mentor told me how cutthroat this industry is and that I have to be prepared for it. That you can be the best student there is with the best resume and still look average. He also told me that opportunities never fail to present themselves. Now I am not saying to give up on IB because it seems you are passionate about it. What I am saying is that your kind of resume is still impressive even if it may not seem this way in this industry. Don't beat yourself up so much, because if you are speaking this negatively of yourself right now I can only imagine how hard it will be when you are actually working for these big sharks. Good luck try to remain positive and confident in yourself.
PM
Banking in Canada is extremely competitive- much more than the US generally speaking. There are so few job openings and so many undergrads coming out of school each year- it's simply a numbers game. It's unfortunate but that's just the way it is here.
It’s a terrible market my friend. Keep grinding, you will get something eventually. I also have to agree with the other poster above, your resume is as average as it gets for finance (except for the language thing which is awesome but not really needed in finance) so don’t feel like you are special and that the world is against you. Use this as extra motivation on how much harder to need to work to stand out among the crowd. Even people with BB internships who didn’t get return offers are struggling to get any interviews in the current market.
Thanks, I appreciate the advice. By curiosity, how did you stand out to become analyst?
By networking and being well liked by those who you are networking with but unfortunately in this market even being well liked might not get you anywhere if their groups aren’t hiring. Would you be open to doing something finance related that isn’t IB? Might be easier to keep networking and making sure those connections stay warm for a potentially opening In the future while having some type of income now. Once again, it’s just a very shitty market and unfortunately you just got unlucky but a career is long so don’t let this get you down. Things will get better eventually and you can use your new found motivation to get ahead.
1.) That's shitty.
2.) Reign it in a little. You'll be okay man. You've got the rest of your life to grind. During the summer going into my junior year of college I had 33 informational interviews with finance folks ranging from many with IB analysts, to one 15 minute convo with the Global Head of a sector of a BB investment bank. Why do I share that? Because "connecting" with people is about getting to know them, the potential job comes after that. Change your mindset from "I only connect with VPs / MDs" (I inferred exclusivity here) to "I will learn from anyone who will talk to me." Then, show up, prepared, with good questions and listen intently to the answers. Don't interrogate, but show genuine interest. From there, ask (casually) if they have anyone they wouldn't mind connecting you with and that your schedule is wide open. You'll get referred to others and if you share your story (without sounding entitled) you will find a spot.
People like working with people they like.
Don't worry, I'm way cuter when networking. I didn't mean to sound that entitled, I needed to blow some steam to keep moving forward. Thanks for the insight!
Not a culture fit
.
That makes absolute sense! I guess that on top of entertaining them, I'll start building a bond as well, maybe also hit some bars known to have patrons who work in finance/consulting. Thanks, your message is basically what I was asking for :)
Looks like you're not doing anything wrong. not everything in life is a lesson, sometimes you just fail and it's not your fault and it's just pure dumb luck.
How badly do you want it? are you willing to be an year 1 analyst with 3 years of experience? how about post MBA associate (i.e. 5 years of working exp with 2 years of MBA)?
Life sucks, i'm sorry i can't offer you anything else but you gotta play the cards you've been dealt. just like playing poker, shouting at others, flipping the table isn't going to help you win.
.
Your background screams McGill.
Banking just sucks in Canada; there are very few opportunities.
1) Stay mad
2) Life is not banking
3) "Life is Roblox"
They ain’t believe in us
Hard truth is that sounds like every other profile that comes across our desk. Canada is far FAR more competitive just by virtue of volume of graduates vs. number of open seats.
How you differentiate is networking and not jsut the "I met a guy who passed my resume along" type shit. You need a champion at each firm, someone with weight who will push you into recruiting conversations, have the team give you a look, meet you type shit.
so many certifications, GPA, etc., but 0 common sense (or pure ignorance) to ignore the saying of those that cautioned incoming students about the job security aspect of IB.
and job security it's not only being laid off, but also recruiting (because, obviously, laid offs are an indicator that the business isn't doing well and if a business doesn't do well, then there's a smaller demand for new employees/interns, and if there's low demand and high supply, then it's even more competitive).
so what's the point of doing economics and being angry with the market. aren't you a rational individual to understand what's happening?
Even in this poor economy, 3 of my classmates got in FT positions in Canada.
is their background/experience more impressive than yours? if yes, that answers your question.
Screw banking, I would apply to a multinational present in the regions of the languages you speak. You'll have more opportunity to climb the ladder and rise quicker than others if you're skilled. At the top of anything (banking included) is big picture thinking, strategy, and managing relationships. It sounds like you've got the keys to the Ferrari with the ability to speak 5 languages. Skip the analyst mindset
So you doing a masters now or what?
That sucks man I've heard that Canadian recruiting is crazy competitive - however if you know 5 languages why not apply to the Middle East or Asia with your linguistic ability ?
US Market is not much better. It's frustrating when you hear the experiences of those that graduated in better economies but there is nothing you can do and its about how you react to this adversity.
Source: Myself in your exact shoes. I have taken 20-25 networking calls per week since last Fall with no luck FT. My mindset is maybe the next call will lead to my opportunity.
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