Done123123
Sorry had to take this away.
Trending Content - Job Search Advice Forum
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
June 30, 2026
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
High Finance Applications
Guaranteed
Get at least one offer GUARANTEED
- 1:1 support
- 92% success rate
- 2,000+ mentor network
- Unlimited Live bootcamps
- AI for resume + LinkedIn
- Networking automation tools
- HireVue simulation tool
- Full course library
- Private Slack community
- 20hrs of mocks
- + much more...
Well done and congrats! You definitely deserve the job. And you're completely right about being "normal" -- everyone and their mother sends out the usual Tesco/Iceland emails. Best of luck at BB; I'm sure you'll be great.
thanks for sharing your story!
Nice job! Eerily similar to my story in some ways....I also made friends through networking that really went to bat for me, used Linkedin Premium for a month to get an introduction to my dream group (at GS/MS) and when I got an interview made it very clear I really wanted the job. Was over the moon when I got the offer.
Although you clearly had a large network by the end of it, it sounds like you also tried to make friends with the bankers and were not at all like the hordes of people who talk to a banker 1-2 times and then hope they push their resume, and never speak again. What worked for me was building a very small network (fewer than 10 people outside the firm I interned at) of bankers that actually turned into friends and who I get drinks with regularly etc. Makes a world of difference when some other banker is half-heartedly pushing someone else's resume, and a friend is really, repeatedly, going to bat for you to get you in the door.
[]
Thanks for sharing your advice! But when you network with those bankers, how do you become "friends" with them? Also for people from non-target schools who are very far from, say, NYC, wouldn't the distance make "making friends with bankers" even more difficult? It'd be great if you can share more of your insights here!
Become friends by finding at talking about common interests and staying in touch rather than having an informational interview and barely talking again. Yes, definitely easier if you love nearby - if you don't, I would personally recommend setting up a bunch of meetings and making 1-2 trips to NYC at your expense to meet bankers in person.
[]
Good read
Nice job!
But if you had all these networking conversations and only 1 bank offered even a first round interview, did this strategy really work? Not being facetious, generally wondering why you think this might have been the case.
I was wondering the same
Have friends doing an exchange in the US and they tell me it's all about networking there
[]
[]
Always great to see someone making it and giving back to the community. Well done and congrats!
Thanks for sharing your story; it's been inspiring. Could you give some tips on how you tweaked your email when you sent follow-up emails to people who didn't respond?
Hi [],
I just wanted to follow up on my previous email. I imagine you have many other better things to do but I only ask for 15 min of your time.
Let me know if there was a good time for me to call you.
Thanks much, []
And then just vary this. The key here is not to send the same email over and over again - makes it boring! So in streak (the app I mentioned above) I would have F-email1, F-email2, F-email3, F-email4, F-email5,F-email6, F-email7 etc. Just write them all at once and leave the [] for name.
For timing I found following up between 3 days and 1 week to be most effective.
Thanks man! Your feedback is very helpful. I still think it's hard to rephrase to the 5th email with the one single content that you want to have 15 minutes of the banker's time. Do you think it's OK to add more content in the subsequent emails?
Hey @"Banananker" when you were networking with the bankers, did you just network with the Analysts? Or you also went for Associates/VPs? Thanks for sharing!
SB'd. Great Advice. Thanks!
Hey would you be willing to PM a sketch of your "story" to me?
Hey,
Very great post! I'm very curious how it was helpful to have conversations with the bankers if, from what I understand, you got an interview by simply applying? Wouldn't it be better to cold email saying directly you are interested in working at BB xyz and you are emailing to know how you could best position yourself?
Thanks!
[]
This is brilliant stuff. Anyone aspiring to be a banker should read this.
This is fantastic, really great information!
Thanks for sharing your experience. But i don't understand what you have reply when ask you "What are your strengths" Thanks
Thanks. Really helpful for me as I try to network my way up the ladder, myself. Congrats on the success thus far.
Solid advice. Did you find that a lot a bankers asked how you found their contact information since you didn't explain in your e-mail? Cheers
Pretty much yes, that's my advice. I see no harm in this type of lying - no one died, everyone enjoyed themselves, I got the job. Where's the downside?
Harmless lying includes telling the Mom of an ugly baby that her kid is cute. Making up a back story to fake your way into banking is just fucking sleazy.
But, it's not all bad news, you might actually make it as a career banker. Morals mean nothing to you and that's important.
@flake @ssits @"Dingdong08" @"going Concern"
This reminds me of a quote that someone once said: “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”
You know who said that? Adolph Hitler.
Congrats OP...your path to psychopathy should be a smooth one.
Correct me if I'm wrong but Addie did pretty well for himself all things considered (non-target, art major).
Good job on getting the offer but with all due respect I would delete your email in a heartbeat. "Invite you for a chat"? No thanks. "Aspiring banker"? No one talks this way. So while I agree your emails should be biased towards being more casual and "human", I find your example irritating and like it's trying too hard without actually...trying too hard.
Also, agree with @DickFuld here. Maybe that advice worked for you but don't seriously suggest that to anybody else. While you got lucky bullshitting your way in, others may get burned.
[]
So what would make you more likely to respond? Would just swapping out "invite you for a chat" and "aspiring banker" with "speaking for a few minutes for some advice" do the trick? I imagine one would receive dozens of these, so I'm curious as to what makes one email more likely to get a response over another. (Not including timing/personal referrals, of course)
17 follow-ups are likely to get you a response over any other email.
Great and real post. Lots of good info and insight. I also read the lean startup book in my lean management class in my MBA program... great book indeed.
To all those worried about lying - I think you are overcomplicating things too much. I never said you need to bullshit throughout your career left and right, I also never said lying per se is good. All I'm saying is that sometimes that's your only choice!
An interesting fact - when I joined for an internship no one on the team gave a darn or could even remember why I was hired. They were a lot more concerned with how quickly I can turnaround markups.
Which leads to the only logical conclusion (which everyone sort of knows already): your career is what you do not what you say. "When I say I'm going to do something I will only allow hell and high water keep me from doing that." @Dingdong08 this sentence is about delivering on promises, in other words "doing".
Bank-ifying your resume and emphasizing parts of your life story that position you in the best light is one thing. Mapping out an elaborate lie and memorizing it is another.
As a banker, your client needs to know they can trust you in the smallest things, hence the incredible attention to detail emphasized in banking. One wrong number or grammatical error in your deck, and the entire valuation might be called into question. In the same way, one small lie can call into question the bigger issues. If you lie for a simple interview, wouldn't you lie for much more important things? I don't want to make a character judgment, but you're rationalizing an unethical misstep... It's a slippery slope.
You have some good points in your OP, but that advice on lying taints the whole thread. Congrats on the offer, but I caution others reading this thread to think twice before following your advice.
"One wrong number or grammatical error in your deck, and the entire valuation might be called into question" - OK.
Thanks for your advice. Do you know anything about the equity research space in London? Any major differences between the US and the UK? I'm going to be qualifying soon as an ACA so any info would be appreciated!
Thanks for your advice. Do you know anything about the equity research space in London? Any major differences between the US and the UK? I'm going to be qualifying soon as an ACA so any info would be appreciated!
Great success story Bananker! It's really heartwarming to see people that used to be in the same situation as I am now and breaking into BB. I was hoping if you could answer some questions I haven't been able to find the answers to. 1. I started to coldcall a lot after reading your post and then I finally got an answer from someone. What do you actually do then? When he picked up the phone I didn't know what to say because I never prepared for this moment, so I asked him to have coffee with me. 2. What do you actually talk about during coffee, are you ultimately trying to pitch your sale and get him to hire you or should I expect a lot of followup coffee dates before he actually hires me? 3. When you research for cold calls, who do you look for? HR managers, CEO, senior management, etc. Could a simple say Financial analyst in a boutique firm be able to help me get hired?
We really appreciate your story and I hope to one day share mine!
Congrats! Great story... the email format is awesome btw.
Congrats man. One thing thats bugging me is that I'am not an EU citizen. How often do BB IBs sponsor work permits or Visa for non EU citizens?
Sorry not something I can help with. My guess is that if it's BB it shouldn't be a problem - for smaller guys it probably is.
How did you get through the actual interviews though? Did you buy the WSO guide, Some other guide etc?
1)I wouldn't want to make up my story. Then I would no I am a fake and I am not a truly successful, I'd just be a very good con man.
2) If I did make up my past, who I am then I am not me. People would be going up to bat for the persona I created not me. Why can't they just go up to bat for me?
4)Knowing I did all of that, I would suspect my coworkers of the same, because we are all known to be like this anyways right? I would like to throw them all under the bus to make myself succeed. I would be the weak cornerstone that can't be trusted, because I am not in it for my company, which pays me my salary and the salary of my co-workers with whom I will be working with for hours on end.
3) Yes you could do all of the above, but then that will take away the challenge. Part of the reason I want in on IB is because of the challenge.
Anyways, each person does what they want. Lie or not lie. Just now why you do what you do, and be able to justify it to yourself. If/When your views and justifications are questioned, and you question them, you have lost.
@"Banananker" @"MBA_Junkie"
[]
Award winning post right there mate. Congratulations on your achievements.
If you make up an INNOCENT lie (and I do have to say in this case I would qualify it as innocent) it doesn't harm anyone, no one will ever remember it, it might change the entire course your life takes, and chances are the person interviewing you has pulled some tricks in the past to get where he/she is. If you do not make it up, you're only harming yourself. The end.
Inspiring!
Arguably, it may be a better idea to lie than to say what got you interested in banking was the movie,"Wall Street".
Let's stick with this example. Let's say you wanted to lie about what got you into banking. Well, maybe instead of saying you watched a movie, say that you went to an info session --->http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/a-clueless-freshmans-first-networki…
Unsure of what IB even was and fell in love with it somehow. But the truth is that you went to the info session AFTER you fell in love with Gordon Gekko. But who on earth is going to be able to disprove this? I think the key is cutting things out, then twisting it ever so slightly till your story is perfect and can't be disproved.
With that said, if you NEED to, you probably should, just be aware of the consequences. I personally won't be lying on my interview so I can stay safe.
its because of this thread that i bought the Rosenbaum book. it's quickly becoming my bible...
Aut hic totam unde sed id in. Quaerat consequuntur id ab dolores earum.
Debitis voluptatem iste voluptas facilis iste et. Accusamus consequatur et eum inventore dolore nobis. Pariatur sit sequi enim deleniti ea odio. Distinctio ut nulla qui quis sed et.
Qui architecto culpa pariatur. Accusantium vel quas fugit impedit est quia minima.
Eligendi earum qui in repellat autem voluptatem. Accusantium ratione expedita tenetur alias quis nulla occaecati. Qui a maxime temporibus beatae et.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Beatae officiis quo voluptates delectus facere. Et velit et ipsam natus sed ab. Sed deserunt et suscipit ut nesciunt. Expedita cupiditate mollitia ex sunt est veritatis.
Officia beatae repellendus corporis vitae. Ut nihil mollitia modi doloremque et iure aliquam. Atque blanditiis laborum autem et a ipsa.
Dolorum ea est esse totam provident qui non. Quaerat sunt nostrum nulla saepe est explicabo corrupti. Asperiores ut impedit exercitationem ut pariatur. Perferendis quia voluptatibus fugiat iusto dolorem. Sequi optio hic dicta quia est ex.
Nesciunt aut ut aliquid repellendus. Ratione quibusdam ipsum velit magnam quia.
Quia iste ut sint. Voluptatem hic ea magnam magnam.
Culpa sit necessitatibus sunt veniam. Sed explicabo cupiditate asperiores. Voluptatibus non in occaecati quibusdam. Commodi accusamus repellendus sed facilis quia. Repudiandae corporis provident adipisci explicabo molestias pariatur.
Totam voluptatem vel sint vitae. Autem voluptas quidem dignissimos exercitationem. Repellat officiis et voluptas doloremque veniam earum.
Rerum accusamus aut repellat qui. Laboriosam velit assumenda aperiam.