any breaking in advice?
hi everyone!
although this post may seem a little silly (and i might get clowned), i thought i'd come onto this form for some advice, as some of the people i've seen on here seem helpful! i am also the type of person that loves getting advice from as many perspectives as possible :)
for some context: i am a canadian incoming sophomore at western (ivey aeo), and i've only pretty recently decided that i wanted to pursue a career in banking post-grad. because of this, i'm only interning at a search fund for this summer. despite knowing the advanced recruiting timeline for IB, i thought i wasn't too far behind, however after doing a lot of linkedin doomscrolling and going down rabbitholes, i feel more behind and overwhelmed than ever. i have an okay (?) gpa (3.9/4 although final grades for a few classes have yet to be announced).
would just like to know how to advance further from where i am right now / what you would do if you were in my position! i would really appreciate any and all advice. thank you!
First of all, stop listening to lana del ray and start listening to some Metallica and Megadeth.
damn i didn't know lana del rey was hated in the finance community :(
.
bump ....
Congrats on search fund
thank u!!
Options:
1. Delay graduation to recruit for internships next winter/spring
2. Recruit right now for middle-office roles to make an internal transfer to IB after a couple of years
3. Work a non-banking job for 2 years post-grad and then do an MBA to enter as an associate
interesting... i appreciate your perspective! just a little confused, is it already too late lol, i wasn't expecting all of my options to be "wait after grad"
There are probably a few things still open but considering you recently decided you want to do IB you should be honest with yourself about whether you would be able to get an offer if you were given an interview opportunity. If you haven't done much technical prep I would wager your odds aren't great.
All of the top firms are done recruiting at this point. Probably some small banks are still recruiting for SA 25.
is it that vital for me to land sa 2025 at a big bank if i'm an incoming sophomore? most people i know from my school work at boutique firms and land great positions their junior summor
oh my bad, I missed the 'incoming'. You're fine then lol. Do your internship this summer and start practicing technicals, then network in the fall to be ready to start applying next winter. Freshman internship doesn't matter at all, it's just something to have on your resume to BS about in interviews.
haha no worries, you had me scared there for a second.
probably a dumb question but by practicing technicals do you mean reading the BiWS guides?
also another probably dumb question but what have you found to be the most effective method of networking when you're chatting someone (something you've used / something someone's used on you). i'd love to know!
and also by "be ready to start applying next winter" you mean this for sa 2026 right? what do i do about my sophomore summer?
+ does this differ if i decide to go through diversity programs?
thank you soso much for your input! by 'ready to go' do you mean 'start applying'? if so, how does this differentiate from the standard timeline?
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