Work and Suicide

Shit like this annoys me. Just keep going forward dude my god. I found out what IB was my senior year at a T-100 state school, pivoted to an MSF and broke in. Had countless applications, countless rejections, but now I’m in.

I’m at a MM bank, it’s not EB/BB or you disappointed your bloodline. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and keep moving forward

So did no one else at your bank or in your group get a return offer? If not, you did not “not get a return offer because of headcount”. 

The bar is incredibly low to get a refund offer. If you didn’t get one you need an honest reflection as to why you didn’t and if it’s at a BB or EB, it wasn’t “because of headcount”.

Your life also isn’t over. Grow up. You’re still ahead of 99% of people your age in the US. You may not start in banking but there’s no reason you can’t come back post MBA

Unless you take a massive step back in terms of quality, the number of people in banking willing to consider you if you did not get a return offer, but you’re still a top candidate for consulting, corporate finance, etc

Choose one of those 

I think the measure of a person is not what they have achieved, but how much rejection and failure they can take, and keep moving forward. Keep your head up, and don’t quit.

This post is incredibly offensive and disrespectful to people suffering from depression 

Nothing is ever as good or as it bad as it seems. I would kill to be 21 again. Not breaking into a shitty declining industry is not the end of the world, and in fact for me I deeply regret spending 2 years in IB because of the health issues I ended up with from it and wouldn’t do it over again. 

Brother, you're 21. You said it yourself. You can always lateral back into IB in later years, many paths to getting there. You seem to have the work ethic, just need self reflection. Many people enter to IB later. But is there anything non-career that's bothering you?

What type of bank were you interning at bfr bb/eb/mm? nonetheless, ft recruiting is still very much going so don’t lose all hope

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face"

Get your shit together, kiddo. Your life and career are barely starting.

Hey man know things can be very tough at times and it can feel like nothing could possibly get you out of this. That’s what depression can do. You need to speak to someone and get help to realize how many great things you still have ahead of you and how amazing your life can still be. I’ve been there and the other ppls comments (while rude) are not completely wrong in that it’s hard for you to see all the good things you still have ahead because of the depression but to everyone else they see you’ll be fine. Take it one day at a time and it will all be alright

It’s not important how hard you can punch, but it’s how hard you can get punch, and still getting back up. - Rocky

You are 21 years old , 30% of your life only (even less if you are a healthy guy). I hope you can keep your head up and keep pushing forward man. One year later, when you are better and looking back, this will just be another random Tuesday in your life.

Here's how not behind you are.

I graduated college literally not knowing what IB was. Then compounded my mistake by attending a super expensive law school with zero scholarship, not because I cared about law but because I had no idea what else to do.

So 3 years after college I had a mountain of debt from both college and law school, and a biglaw job that helped make a dent in the debt but gave me zero other fulfillment or path to the future I wanted.

Blah blah blah, years later I'm in MM PE working with the exact same people who didn't make the mistakes I did . . the ones who made the right moves at 21 and started racking up experience in IB while I was racking up debt. We still wound up in the same place years later.

The "path" is a complete myth. Talent and skill continue to sort themselves out over time. It's a 50-lap race and you're a step behind in lap 2. Get some sleep and keep going, you're so far from failing it's not even something to talk about.

Get a grip of reality & start reflecting on yourself... You got the interviews & the SIP, so its on you to improve.

In addition to that, do you know how privileged you are? You are disrespectful to people with depresseion as well as people without that privilege. Winning the admission lottery to get into a good university just to come here and cry, cuz you couldnt get that top 0.1% outcome. Go apply to MM & similar roles.

& if you are "too good" for that, you deserve it all.

Join the military

Hey. Getting to 3-4 superdays at EBs and HFs is not what failing looks like - most people never get past the resume screen, and superday-to-offer conversion is mostly luck and headcount math at the margin. No return because of headcount is also not a verdict on you, that's a spreadsheet decision. You're 21 and FT recruiting is still ahead of you. This is a bad month, not a ruined life. And if it's darker than a bad month, call or text 988 - saying it out loud to an actual person helps more than you'd think.

Hey man, similar boat here. Keep pushing bro, I had some dark thoughts too abt this shit, but I refuse to let what some banks decide affect my life. 

You seem like a weak man. You wouldn't have made it in this industry anyway. If you react like this because of a couple of rejections, you aren't cut for this. Sorry, move on son.

I’m sorry you are in a bad spot and feel like there’s no way out, which is leading you to feel like the only way to make the suffering end is to do something drastic.

Please don’t do this though.

Pm me, here to help and happy to chat

read some books, travel, get some perspective. the world is massive and there are a million things you can do with your life. especially in the AI age you are going to need to think more outside the box rather than chasing a prescribed "path"

There are a trillion things to care about in this world and your only choice in IB? Off yourself, the human race will thank you

Perhaps the banks could sense that you are the type of person who would cry when things don't go your way? Can you blame them for having the ability to see that part of you, and pick someone more stable?

Offering some perspective here (ignore title). I'm at a top target, interned at an EB and didn't get the return offer. Sr. Analyst straight up found me in the lobby as I walked out and told me that the lack of return was highly political and that it wasn't a reflection on my abilities. Hearing that fucking sucked. Having dumb DEI beckies on my team sucked. And it still stings like a bitch. But committing suicide over office politics or headcount is NOT the solution bro. 

Think of it this way. Assuming what you're saying is true, you'd be killing yourself over an HR decision. That's bitch shit. We're men. This shit fucking sucks. But we get off our asses, and do our fucking jobs. There's plenty of small shops out there on both the buy and sell-side that'll be happy to chat. 

Put on some heavy metal or some Eminem, figure out where you made mistakes, and move forward. I'm in the same boat as you. We can either end up as jam smears on the fucking highway or we can work hard and achieve outcomes that make that oh-so-prestigious EB summer look like a blip on the fucking radar. Choose the latter.

Go hug your parents and spend time with your friends. Life is short and this career is not worth your life. You only lose when you give up, keep pushing and if it takes a year to land something then that's not the biggest deal in the grand scheme of things. Comparison is the thief of joy and your time will come

OP, I was T25 MBA, got no return offer, was devastated.. Worked my absolute ass off the rest of MBA.. graduated having had 4 internships in IB/PE and FT ended up at a small 8 person IB boutique for shit pay, but I stayed in!! Then they laid me off a year in because they've fired most kids historically.. another setback but I kept grinding and grinding until the next bank. Now I'm 3 years in IB FT and now interviewing for a BB VP role next week (interviewing with the head of IB)

Had a friend/mentor tell me something that stuck: REGRESSION TO THE MEAN. When you fail, you will work that much harder than your peers to get back in.. You ultimately end up in the same place, because your aggregate slope is the same!

Life goes on bro, seriously take some time to think and realize how much more is out there. Get a fkn grip

you need to take a step back and take yourself less serious

your life is objectively so good. even if you don’t get your glamorous offer, really zoom out. you could be the average citizen in 90% of the world and your life would suck.

Entitled POS brat you are. Skill issue. 

Dude not getting a return offer is a horrific feeling. I’ve been there and was in the absolute dumps. At the end of the day, you got to have positive self-talk. Everyday when I was FT recruiting, I would just tell myself "I WILL get a full time job, and it WILL be good". You have to believe in your abilities. If you were able to get to a BB/EB then that determination will take your around the world if you apply yourself. The only way this ends badly is if you give up. Now it may take 3 months it may take a year, but as long as you keep pushing you will eventually be exactly where you want to be. Change the mentality - talk yourself up!

Doing IB in 2026 is a fool’s goal. No future employer will be impressed by knowing that you lose sleep editing logos on PowerPoints.

There are too many people competing for too few white collar jobs in the United States. I suggest moving to a different country. Much less competition in Papua New Guinea.