Why Canadian IB Recruiting is Broken
Canadian IB recruiting has been historically worse than US recruiting due to lack of positions, heavy nepotism, and poor exit ops but now it's actually broken. This is coming from someone that recruited a couple years ago and has moved down south so curious to hear how undergrads/Canadians are seeing this first hand.
Banks are now taking spots that have previously gone to undergrads and are giving them to people that are 25+ years old and already worked full-time. Since Canada doesn't have an established MBA recruiting pipeline, these masters students are taking roles from undergrads that have 5+ years on them in experience and prep time. 20-21 year olds are having to co-intern with weird 27 year olds that failed to recruit for 4+ years during their undergrad and finally got a spot.
Banks are also taking new grad spots that have historically gone to summer analysts or fresh grads and having people that have already graduated and worked full-time for 1+ years and reset at A1. The FT recruiting market is already bad but this makes it even more challenging if they have a year of deal experience and you've only spread comps and done bitch work for a summer.
TLDR: Canada has once again shown how bad their IB scene is and would rather have 30 year old analysts than 22 year olds who haven't failed at multiple recruiting cycles
Before you continue with this ageist rant, how about we discuss how Canadian IB implement worse form of DEI to favor women? Well, that is kosher as it mainly benefits white women. ~50% seats in hiring and promotions are reserved at this point. Everything is fine as long as line MD collects his DEI accolades setting him up for next round of virtue signalling as group head.
I don't disagree with your point but we see this in the US as well so it's not relevant to the thread.
How is this ageist? Positions that are for undergrad students only should not be taken by those that aren't in undergrad. If you started university a few years after high school that's totally fine as you're still in undergrad. These people i'm referring to already worked full-time for multiple years after undergrad and come back to take internships away from undergrads
Yes it is relevant. In US, DEI impact is diluted as they have more seats available at BBs and a credible layer of MM and boutique banks which is non-existent in Canada.
Historically, Canadian IBs due to nepotism, and cultish mentality are stingy about hiring masters’ students as Associates so they force them into Analyst roles. Doubt these students would entertain Canadian banks if they had access to US market which is tough given Trump’s stance on foreign workers. Some banks are even hesitant on TN visa at this point unless it is a slam dunk.
work in canadian ib and basically lucked into my spot coming from complete non-target + white male.
super broken not worth pursuing for the most part. but then again we're in canada so idk what else is out there that would be better?
Also this post is missing the HUGE advantage women have when recruiting. the difference in DEI between here and the US is massive. if there's 12 summer intern spots at a b5 in toronto you can bet >50% will be women with zero relevant experience. crazy
It is crazy looking at the difference between SA guys and girls past experience. Girls are getting in without any real internships and no finance clubs lmao
BMO loves to do this and then wonder why they’re incompetent and don’t get returns
hint - it's by design. canadian ib is dying, you dont need 100% return rates
Scotia and TD are cesspools of gender DEI
Scotia isn't even a real bank
I'm not generalizing for every female in IB in Canada, since I know some female analysts who are at least as smart and maybe even better than their male peers, but Canada does lower its requirement to match gender quotas. saw resumes of two female analysts with 3.2-3.3gpa, which I think would have been impossible if genders were switched.
Wait till you get in to see how promotions are distributed and gender quotas are enforced. How desperate MDs try to retain female juniors with early promos and lighter work loads.
I see people join at a later age in their mid to late 20s as an analyst in US too, usually working in some relevant role before making the jump to IB. I think where your frustrations comes from is Canada doesn't have that many IB seats, so anyone lateraling into IB via new grad position seems like an opportunity stolen from an actual new grad
Accurate here. I tend to enjoy when I hear of an intern/analyst who is older/has a unique story. That is dei imo
Sure having people from different backgrounds is always better, but I've found that these people (esp MBA associates) have an enormous chip on their shoulder to compensate and treat juniors with disrespect because of this.
BMO winter analyst class has a 2nd yr and a 25 year old both in same group
They realized no other interns return there so needed to pick a super senior who had no other options
And?
One of the benefits of banking is the camaraderie you build with your analyst class and getting people 5 years apart does the exact opposite of that
That's how it should be. I was always puzzled how IB is only an option for people who know about it and know how to prepare for it when they're 18-19. And if you learn about it or prepare for it later, nobody cares about you, and you won't even get a chance to interview, no matter how solid you are.
Exactly. I believe anyone who is somewhat senior and not a my shit doesn’t stink kid generally agrees here.
If you’re Canadian, your best shot at IB is GMAT > T15 > IB associate
Why would you want to work long hours making cents on the dollar alongside DEI beckies that are only there to buy items from sephora
Could we maybe surmise that the reason people are joining IB at a later age is because there’s so few spots and such early recruitment timelines coming out of school? I’d argue you can sort these people into 3 groups:
1. Those who didn’t know about IB in undergrad: Unless someone has family, friends or mentors who introduced them to the industry early on, there’s a chance they didn’t even know that IB existed until it was too late. When people think business school they might imagine marketing, accounting, even asset management roles, but IB’s a fairly niche role that the average person isn’t really familiar with.
2. They weren’t a top student before: If we’re being honest here, the job isn’t rocket science. Yes, it requires you to be intelligent, responsible and have good attention to detail but nobody’s curing cancer here. A lot of people have an interest in the industry but didn’t get in when they were younger. It doesn’t mean they aren’t good enough.
3. People looking to switch careers: Some people graduate and have no idea what they want to do with their lives. They might become an engineer for example but then decide it isn’t for them. There’s a lot of very smart, motivated people in other fields who may turn to IB further down the road.
I don’t think it’s fair to blame those getting hired for this because they may have been in your position when they graduated and this is their way of getting in. Sure, sometimes teams make the wrong hiring decision, but that could easily happen for an intern return or new grad too.
Great points. I’d also be curious what the hit rate for people that stay as career bankers is across the street for older hires vs younger folks likely doing the formulaic 2+ and out
Canada is by far the worst for DEI, 80% of the new women hired are totally incompetent and lack experience when 10% of the analyst class are white men thats when you know it is cooked. IMO they should pay the less experience/competent women and or men less money as a base to even out all the white beckys who want to pursue this career for a money pov.
Often bar is lowered to promote women. Each promotion cycle there are gender quotas and if you bring up merit then you must be a misogynist because women deserve all the free goodies.
Canada just seems like such a massively chalked country in general
ye
Gold
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/off-topic/how-to-spot-dei-becky-in-ib
I wonder if this a symptom and not a cause - Canada can't seem to support really high paying jobs especially at the junior level. With this scarcity undergrads are also competing with MBA grads for Canadian IB roles. Seen a few people from top Canadian MBA programs go into IB or PE as an analyst. I'd rather hire a 28 year old with life experience and more experience than a 22 year old hardo but that being said it's important that college kids have good career pipelines.
Molestias minus aliquid aliquam aliquid distinctio voluptatem inventore. Cum esse velit fugiat sapiente quas vel. Et ratione accusamus qui et iusto natus.
Nihil ut qui odio cumque. Voluptatem reprehenderit omnis atque sed sit. Et et officia eaque et nihil. Atque qui hic voluptas blanditiis autem. Voluptatem numquam labore totam aperiam maxime totam velit. Velit id maxime odio laborum recusandae.
Odio nulla consequatur qui perferendis vel. Unde amet eos unde aut est consequatur qui esse.
Repellendus fugit laudantium eveniet eos placeat accusamus dolor assumenda. Quo distinctio atque at eos id atque eos. Quas vel omnis nisi qui. Adipisci recusandae libero hic. Fuga maiores pariatur ut consectetur.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Consequatur laborum sit itaque nam incidunt sit. Laboriosam ad quis debitis officiis quo. Dolore rerum vero sit repellat et dolorem deserunt. Aut debitis natus impedit sunt animi.