Why tf getting into IB so hard

Do you have good GPA and work experience? If yes, that's surprising then. I feel like you'd def get looks at a decent amount of firms. Have a friend from one of the schools listed who cold applied and got interviews at most top firms. Maybe your resume formatting is bad, or you have typos or some shit? There's a reason why IB is looked highly upon. It's highly competitive, which will make it more sweet once you get an offer. Good luck bro, keep your head up, and keep grinding.

If the hiring manager has two resumes, one from a kid that has talked to 10+ people at the bank that can vouch he's cool, vs some random person blindly applying online, obviously they are going to give interviews to the person they know. Especially with the internet and LinkedIn letting you know the contact info of everyone that works at every firm.

That's not just for IB, that's for life.

Supply and demand

I'll bite on the troll post, but just in case... out of all the things you have read about IB recruiting or spoken with others about it, what in the world gave you the impression networking was not necessary?

Cause other kids from the same schools with the same stats are actually putting in effort

Network and reach out via cold emails. Set up calls. It's more a fucntion of luck and QTY of quality applications post-networking phase (combined with ability to execute during interview of course) that leads to mulitples offers

I know everyone else is mocking this post, but as a target student I think there is a common sentiment that school name will be enough to get your foot in the door anywhere, and then it’s up to you in interviews. That is the case in lots of industries- consulting, software, F500 roles- but it doesn’t cut it in finance. Was certainly a shock for when I realized the importance of networking, especially when I had friends with mediocre resumes cold applying to google and McKinsey and landing interviews easily.