Declined for all ibank positions. Any advice?

I'm a student at a large university in Canada with ~4/4.33 GPA. I applied for summer positions at the big banks but was declined for all of them.

So I've currently got nothing lined up in terms of a summer internship. Any advice on what to do if I want to work in capital markets for the summer?

I'm trying to look for boutique firms but I'm only searching using Google and the database on WSO. Any advice for looking into boutique firms?

10 Comments
 

If you're at a big school, I'm sure they have a pretty decent alumni network out there, and your school may have good database. Use that. Or, just look up on Google: "(Your school) + investment bank" or whatever other industry you are interested in. That should give you some good linkedin leads or profiles of potential connections.

 

1) Re-evaluate why you want to do investment banking (this is where the "fun" non-target cold-calling hustling scramble begins, so you want to make sure you're not wasting your time).

2) Re-evaluate why you weren't selected for those positions. Be brutally honest with yourself. Did you not even make first rounds, or were you dinged at all of the superdays? I have a firm belief that anyone that wants this job will ultimately get it, and that's not because I believe in fate, or luck, or any of that jazz, but because I think that anyone that truly wants to do this job will do ANYTHING to get there (and that includes working in a tangentially related job/industry for another year and trying to break in that entire time).

 

Where you at Queens/Ivey? Or more Schulich/UofT/McGill? Or something lower? This could explain your performance, regardless of marks. Do you have past experience or extra curriculars or anything like that?

 

I wish I had some financial experience but I'm at a university in Western Canada and financial firms are almost nonexistant here, which puts me at a disadvantage. I'm completely open to moving to the East Coast for the summer though, and in fact, I'd like it a lot.

 

Nihil dolores fugiat voluptatem rerum odit dolores. Omnis quisquam maiores animi aut in. Temporibus libero nisi omnis non. Veniam molestiae doloremque corporis iste voluptas eaque.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”