Do you think "Extra-Curricular Activities" is Important in Hiring?
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Just put youtube creator as an experience section
Really? So I can post youtube videos and make it seem like I am special?
I participated in zero on campus activities and zero "extra-curriculars" and found a role in IB. However, it's worth noting that I've been working since I was 16 and have had 3 internships totaling about 25 months of work experience throughout my undergraduate career.
So it's not required but is highly recommended.
How do you land internship when you're just 16? Like what did you do? where did you apply?
Lmao well that obviously wasn't an internship. Like part-time work. But those roles helped me land my first internship, and the next, and so on.
I think it is important. I mean, they won't dinge you because you have no activities, but having one is a plus. One of my friend got interviewed in the first place just because he was played fencing during the London Olympics. Besides, some of the activities sometimes gives an idea of the type of person you are.
Get involved in your local League of Legends / DOTA community.
LOLOLJK. Being a likable person is the most important thing. But its about who you are overall. Some have good grades, some don't. Some have extracurriculars, some don't. But everyone who breaks in has at least one highlight on their resume that is not shared by everyone.
IMO varsity sports is huge.
not much of an opinion, kind of obvious
At the DI level yes, but don't underestimate how much people give credit for even DIII sports (and how easily it is to draw on those experiences in interviews)
It's certainly a plus if you have them. Basically, having looked at many LinkedIn profiles of newly hired analysts at GS and MS (London), most of them have been involved in interesting ECs since high school. If you are still in HS, like I am, you will be best off following their example.
Nice. I see that you use linked in. is it useful?
Yes, it really is useful. That being said, you need to know some people in the industry in order to use it effectively.
What the fuck is wrong with you people? How the fuck does GS get mentioned in literally every fucking thread?
Overrated
It only helps rather than hurts. Although I have no real experience in IB (yet) I feel like it serves as a good talking point during an interview if the interviewer participated in the same activity. If you do multiple extracurriculars and have a high GPA that may show the person that is interviewing you that you have good time management skills and can succeed at the highest level even when busy.
thanks.
and also, that GS head of HR should work in marketing instead of investment banking. dont listen to her.
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Divine
"Esports Industry Expert"
Unless you've won some legit competitions and/or prize money, then no. Becoming an "expert" by playing against 12yos while in your mom's basement will only make you look like a goon.
I've profited low 5-figures in daily fantasy, mid 5-figures back when online poker was technically legal, and I still play live poker for decent stakes and track all of my sessions. In my one interview I spoke to all these things and the guy was impressed. Even if it's not their cup of tea, people tend to respect activities like this when you have real skin in the game. E-gaming with nothing on the line and nothing to show for your time input will simply look sad to most people.
ECs are like the icing on the cake. They are also good topics of conversation in the interview.
With that being said, if you have low stats, ECs seldom provide the boost needed to get there.
But, there are exceptions. If you meet an interviewer who is big into football and you're the captain at a major school, you could be sitting in a good place even with a 3.0 GPA.
My friend played soccer for Columbia U, had a 2.8 GPA, and met an interviewer in London for Deutsche Bank. Interviewer was soccer FANATIC, and he was hired on the spot for a position in Hong Kong, then Singapore. He's a VP there now.
Extra-curriculars (Originally Posted: 01/20/2011)
So I finally have a little extra time not taken by personal projects and self-serving activities. I've thought about using that time to do something to give back (and maybe beef up my extra-curriculars in the process), but I am largely drawing blank on what to do. Would greatly appreciate suggestions! I got about 5-10 hours a week, could try to make time for more, if needed, and I would like something leadership/mentoring-oriented, although I'm really up for whatever. Thanks a lot
do something different unique and not so cookie cutter tthat will set u apart from everyone else seeking to do the same.
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/volunteering-useful-to-get-in
Argonaut -- See the above thread from a week or two ago.
Comp banker, thanks. Do you know more about your friend's story? (and are you comfortable sharing)
I volunteer at a Women's Shelter. A little awkward at times considering I'm a man. I feel it does the kids I work with good to have a decent man in their life.
Wait until your parents leave on vacation. When they're gone, hire a prostitute. Over the course of the next week, develop a relationship with her, culminating in a party to help all your high school friends lose their virginity for a small fee. Outsmart said prostitute's pimp. Invite admissions reps from Princeton, they'll love it and appreciate your go-get-'em attitude and offer you admission to their school. I have faith in you, Argonaut
Why would I wait for my parents to leave? If I'm going to be getting a hooker for my HS friends, the least I could do for my parents is get them one too. After all they raised me.
Risky Business is a solid movie. Pretty funny that Booger from Revenge of the Nerds is the smart cool friend giving Tom Cruise advice...
That's a very good point, I don't know your parents, but I'll leave that up to your good judgment ;)
Besides, your example would be good for undergrad or something. I'm planning to apply for MBA, I would probably need to do something like mastermind a hostile takeover of pimps business and build my pimping empire in the area. Ripping off a hooker - you are thinking too small lol
OR, go one step further and throw in an illegal weapons smuggling business in eastern Europe
No, SE Asia so you can achieve cost synergies on your drug sourcing.
Global expansion - now you are thinking. Also a good area to export hookers from - human trafficking FTW!
can extra curriculars outweigh gpa (Originally Posted: 05/26/2011)
Im a rising junior at an ivy league, looking to apply for s&t or ib internships at bb next year
although a 3.1gpa is horrible, how do recruiters view this when coupled with pretty interesting and diverse ec's that show great leadership and commitment such as,
d1 athlete in a nationally competitive program and conference champ team (possibly cpt) president of a frat with a 250k+ budget private equity internship over sophomore summer directly involved in fundraising for a charity that raises >1m
Yes. Networking.
Networking is overrated. Yes, extracurriculars can outweigh GPA easily. Work experience matters more than GPA as well. I'm just speaking from personal experience based on the # of interviews I got despite my high GPA (a lot of people got more interviews with a lower GPA since I had weak experiences on my resume at the time).
A 3.1, however, is really low and may be under the cutoff GPA of many banks.
3.1 is shit unless you're at Princeton in which case it's not quite shit, just terrible. Your extracurriculars are great... it's going to be a crap shoot.
You're going to need good work experience to get a FT offer.
It can, if your resume isn't sent to the recycling bin during the initial screen.
Most banks have an explicit (or sometimes implicit) cut-off of at least 3.20 or 3.25. You should try to get a couple of A's to at least beat that bar...
If 3.25 isn't possible to attain, network your ass off to ensure you have some big-hitters at the bank really going to bat for you (i.e. literally e-mailing HR directly to put your name on the closed-lists for interviews at your Target school).
Leverage your frat and sports connections if you have to. If you play for the Yale's hockey team, make you sure find Yale alumni who used to play hockey and are now MDs at BBs.
Yeah you're going to have to take easy classes and kill them next semester to get your GPA at a level where it won't be taken out by a cutoff of 3.2 or 3.3. I remember even 3.5 being the cutoff for some internships...
Def try to position yourself for S&T because I-Banking is nerd central and you will need a high GPA to meet cutoff, while S&T is more "jocky."
hopefully you can network your way around this. Sports is a great topic of conversation in interviews/cold calls (and business in general) and sports alumni love helping out ambitious kids on the team. You can also spin it in interviews to say you have learned so much about teamwork, leadership, hard work (except in class i guess), failure, challenges, etc.
recruiters love athletes, espc for S&T, however I suspect that lots of athletes at Ivy's have pretty good grades.
you apply before you get you gpa updated from first semester marks, do you suggest putting in a projected gpa if you are confident
I had a similar GPA and my past work experience + ECs were enough to get me plenty of interviews. Once I was at the interviews, my GPA didn't matter and I had no problems getting a SA or FT position. The place I chose for full-time had a GPA cutoff of 3.4...I wasn't near that.
Polish your resume, network (athlete network at a top school should be great), and work on your interviewing skills. Being an athlete is going to be a huge differentiating factor. You will do great come recruiting.
If you know the right people there is no GPA cutoff. I think in general its bullshit because of grade inflation at some schools. At my school the average GPA was 2.85-2.90. If you had a 3.6 you were absolutely kicking ass where at some places that would be very average.
personally i didnt have the strongest GPA either but had really strong internship experiences throughout my 4 years of school. What I did was just not list my GPA on my resume period. Obviously in doing this you run the risk of people just assuming you don't have a strong GPA but many times if you have really strong work experience they might just give you a shot. This honestly worked great for me and I ended up landing 20+ interviews during on campus recruiting which culminated in 4 offers. During the interviews they get to see how eloquent and smart you are and half the time they didn't even ask me for my GPA. In some of the interviews they asked me why I didn't list my GPA and what my GPA was, in these cases I spun it in the following way...I would say that first of all I would want to work for a company that evaluated their candidates holistically and not just based on a single number as other characteristics are more indicate of future success and then I would tell them my GPA. Again in a lot of these cases they would ask why it was low and I would tell them the truth that I spent most of my freshman year partying, etc. but then caveated it by saying that even if I did have a strong GPA (which i had a good major GPA and great junior year one) that I would still not list it given the first point I brought up...it was hit or miss sometimes they saw right through the bullshit other times they moved me to final rounds based on how well the interview went, etc. 2 of the offers I had came from situations like this while 2 offers came from situations where they never even asked for my GPA.
So to answer your question I think it's definitely possible to overcome a bad GPA with great work experience & ECs...that said I personally would suggest going with my approach as it may allow you to get some interviews with firms that have stricter cut offs just based on what you've done for work experience and ECs. It can be risky but like I said in my case it worked out...I may be an exception but it may not hurt to try this approach.
Alumni association as an extracurricular? (Originally Posted: 05/02/2012)
I am probably about 2-3 years away from applying to MBA programs, and have begun thinking about what extracurriculars I should get involved in. One that I have thought of that I really think that I will be passionate about is the alumni association of my undergrad university. They have a program where I can interview prospective students, help convince admitted students to attend, and help curent students with professional development. I think after a couple of years, it might even lead to a more serious role within the alumni association.
While I would not be saving the world, I feel that giving back in a real way to an organization that has aided me has to count for something. Or will they totally discount it because it is not super "prestigious" or related to my career aims? Although I plan on pursuing other (as yet undecided) extracurriculars, I am curious what adcoms might think about this one. Any thoughts?
from what i've noticed, alumni association from MBA profiles, alumni association involvement is looked upon very favorably by adcoms, especially if you have a leadership role.
The importance of extra curricular activities (Originally Posted: 07/30/2012)
Hi guys, just a quick question and hopefully some advice from this seasoned community! I'm beginning applications to 2013 IBD/Capital Market off cycle internships and I am currently interning at a BB in a Middle Office. I wanted to know the importance of demonstrating solid extra curricular activities on your cv. I have read many things about the importance they hold in applying for MBA programmes but I wanted to know the emphasis banks place on them for intern positions.
To put into perspective I have NO solid extra curricular apart from stuff like freelance writing and mentoring. Advice? Join a university society with the goal to usurp the presidents throne before October?
Thanks.
No, you need to rebuild your understanding of the role extra curricular activities plays on your cv and job application. It is not about the president title, it is about the work you have done in school beside the academic ones to show your other strength. Being a president does not hurt, but that's not too important. Join some club in the area which is not much related to your major, courses, to make yourself a more all-around candidate.
Good or No good-extra curriculars( RA,TA, Tutor)..... (Originally Posted: 08/05/2007)
Hey i just wanted to know how helpful/ good it looks if you do a research or teaching assistantship for a Professor for a finance course... And one more thing will being a student athlete tutor for like accounting and finance look good at all... Please let me know cause ive got to make some decisions with regard to the above two before fall'07 starts....
If you can tell a story about it, it's a good EC. If they're going to look at your resume and ask you about it, and all you can come up with is "I figured it would look good on paper," then don't do it.
no no thats not what i meant.. i know that doing research will help me a lot cause i will learn a lot...I was wondering which one which look better for getting a job next year..
RA = TA > Tutor
Importance of Leadership Component in Extra-Curricular Activities (Originally Posted: 03/10/2009)
Can a good GPA (3.8+) from a target school, multiple internships, and research in economics/finance be enough to receive offers from BB's for SA positions and subsequent employment?
OR, does one have to have a leadership component to their resume by holding senior positions in clubs/organizations in college to receive BB offers? Is leadership stressed that much?
yeah its stressed, this is why you have your bs skills and can talk about all the things you do as a leader without having held the titled position right?
if your past internships/work experience show some leadership, and you can answer the leadership question, you're fine
great question, i do leadership work in h.s, and look to continue in college, i def. think it helps for every employment opportunity.
GeneralThade, are you really in high school?
I have zero extra-curricular activities and had no problems getting interviews (and ultimately a FT offer). That said, I had (in my opinion) better work experience than most of the competition at my school. In my case, I think my work experience helped fill the extra-curricular void.
2 GeneralThade, wtf are you doing here? Go bang a cheerleader or something...
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