Who are the kinds of people who will NEVER be able to get a job in an Investment Bank?

Convicted felons maybe, but even they can find a way

talent pool for IB has diminished significantly.

at this point the path to BB IBD out of undergrad is fairly attainable and straightforward.

complainers either have 3.5 or go to a school outside of T40.

i go to school on the west coast, so i could be biased.

POOR SHMUCKS who can´t POUND the interviewer in the ASS will never GET that OFFER

t. @Lloyd BIankfein"

Usually, truly smart and honest individuals. The interviewer sees this person and becomes concerned about how they could meaningfully function in an environment of obfuscation and salesmanship.

The kind of person you described would always break into IB period. If you go to a target university, its because you're either connected enough or hardworking enough to be admitted. If you have a broad network, you either have a very well of family, or you're incredibly socially gifted. If you have amazing EC's, you are clearly a leader.

If someone checks, all of those boxes, they will 100% be able to get a job in investment banking if they are motivated enough. I suppose you technically didn't mention GPA so if someone checked all of those boxes, and had like a 2.7, then maybe they wouldn't get one I guess. But I feel like you meant to add good GPA as well.

I think the bigger challenge is that there are "windows" during which one can break into IBD. Those are during uni, via internship, at graduation from uni, or during MBA. Lateraling over from industry is generally only possible if you're in a particularly sought-after area (eg. an engineer coming from mobile Internet space, or a physician lateraling over, or occasionally a lawyer lateraling over to an M&A team). It's not so much a 'type' of person who can or cannot come over (though ability to network is quite key) but rather those windows of opportunity that can be tricky to navigate.

JSmithRE2010 summed it up pretty well, but I still wanted to post this Calvin Coolidge quote as I think determination applies to any success inside or outside of banking:

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

Joe