Finding a Job After Undergrad - IB and Related

I have a dilemma I haven’t been able to get resolved. I graduated with my bachelors in finance in summer 2023. While I was in school, I didn’t have as many prior connections as some who had been networking and reaching out specifically for IB or S&T since freshman year. I’ve been applying and reaching out along the lines of IB, S&T, and hedge funds before more recently pursuing specifically IB more directly. My additional experience during school included equity valuation/portfolio management/markets although no big names unfortunately and I worked my way through most of school. After graduation I worked a lot on my own personal trading (growing experience in different strategies/products) as initially I thought I would prefer going to a hedge fund. Even without extensive trading, in which I have performed well, my experience should be enough to get into some sort of finance or related role (corporate finance, consulting, investment analyst) even if it’s not competitive enough to get into IB. Despite all this, I’ve received almost no interviews, no offers, and haven’t met anyone else having this much trouble getting an offer for a first decent role out of school. At this point I’m in dire need, am getting no sort of professional growth, and am basically being forced to find side work like you would picking up a weekend job through school. My mind is blown. Has anyone else experienced this?

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