Sup yall, as of now have been officially rejected from one firm and have had a first round from one other which went well. Has been radio silence besides then. At what point in the next few weeks (assuming this continues) is it time to give up? For context, recruiting for SA 27 from target/semi.
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I never gave up and I got an offer at a top BB in Jan 2026 for SA26. Kept grinding all of 2025 and eventually the right opportunity came. I know a lot of people who got burned out and gave up and a lot of opportunities passed them by.
I would go as hard as possible until late April. Take a break over the summer and then attack again in the fall when there will be a few openings a few decent places. Be the most qualified when the candidate pool is weakest
How’d you go about this? I mean in the sense of networking ? Did you tell people what you’re gunning for during calls?
Curious as well.
Stuff would just randomly pop up for 2-3 days and you had to see it in time. I think it from kids reneging or the bank realizes they can take 5 more spots so they run a small process. Each day I would doom scroll LinkedinJobs and Handshake between classes seeing if there was anything decent. I saw RJ, Citi, Santander, Goldman, BofA, Houlihan Lokey, Baird applications but you had to catch them in time.
Once I applied I’d send emails to everyone I previously networked with at the bank which were all alumni (non/ HYPW target) - didn’t get a single response from anyone outside my school’s alumni network. Most of the people found my situation pretty inspiring (don’t complain - just come off as hungry) so they gave me referrals to HR. Within a week I’d get R1s and I was so dialed bc I had been religious grinding technicals, had a lmm ib stint over the summer, and a 4.0 from the previous semester - I started getting offers at banks that rejected me in early 2025 for SA26.
There was little to no information about WSO on this stuff when I was looking for it so hope this helps
Is that Citi Houston? Was also in the process. Also class of 2027, at Yale/Princeton, not yet secured 26 SA though.
BB NYC IBD
Keep pushing dude something will drop eventually. Some European balance sheet banks will have roles in markets or S&T open up and that will put you in a decent position ahead of FT. I know a guy at Y/P who did exactly that and he got BB/EB for FT.
Some other banks might also have IBD openings until April but you gotta be checking every day
I gave up in mid-March last year, and then took a break from recruiting to finish out the semester with some semblance of sanity. Started casing in July and signed an MBB offer in October. At the time I was really mad at myself for losing motivation but I actually think the pause helped my mental health a lot; I was really burned out
That’s huge man good for you
Congrats to you too!!!
It’s only January wtf. I got my EB offer in mid-March and know plenty that got BB offers well into May. Keep grinding.
I think this year is earlier, no? EB/BB’s sent out a lot of offers already.
processes sped up a lot this cycle
I won’t give you unsolicited advice but maybe this will be a helpful perspective.
- The outcome of your recruiting process (ie whether you get an offer or not / quality of that offer) is directly related to your commitment to the process and your ability to overcome the adversity of rejection and the challenges of preparation. So “giving up” ensures you will never get the offer, but committing to it even in the face of adversity will help you, a lot.
- In a sea of hundreds of thousands of applicants, you are the only person who will unconditionally advocate for you. This is a two way street: you have the potential to meaningfully boost your odds, or you can squander it with self doubt
- Everyone that has “made it” faced some adversity or rejection along the way. Every one. Those that made it persevered through it.
I’m not trying to lecture you, but junior summer will come no matter what, and whether you have an offer in hand is completely up to you. I’d say embrace your skills, kill the interviews, get the offer, and celebrate your perseverance 💥👊🏻
Hey I’m hammered rn thanks for the motivation tho I’ll lock in and keep persevering
I think getting interviews and getting rejected is different from barely getting any interviews. OP is barely getting interviews, so he can’t even get an offer in the first place. I think that’s what OP is saying. To be realistic, bankers don’t even reply to emails anymore, and I think we’re too deep in the cycle and too many processes have started already.
I'm from a semi target and thought the same thing, but this week I got chats turned to referrals from RBC and GS which both started process months ago (for RBC they opened in Nov)
Many banks haven't even started round 1 (like BNP etc). Recruiting is tough and getting interviews are a privilege, but if you give up now, you'll never make it anywhere. You'll face the same issue in consulting and other industries. No matter how marginal the hope is, you need have the mindset or you'll fail.
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Eh.. many adjact roles that convert well. Certainly cast a wide net. One industry I rec is portfolio valuations
I'm from a target and tbh bc of my late star, haven't gotten any round 1s or any super days yet. great GPA w solid 2-3 IB experiences. Wanted to give up, but realized the recruiting process is a marathon. You grinned all those hours for technicals, internships, networking, why give it up now when traction is kinda bad. There's no need for casing. If IB fails, then do corporate banking, asset management, MMs which all have a later timeline. No matter how accelerated the timeline is, if you give up now and blindly do casing, you'll just be distracted and fail both.
You'll recruit for PE and plenty other times post IB too. You need to keep going and try your best. Panic is your enemy at this point.
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