From a target university and did not end up securing an internship this season in IB. What are my odds of getting a FT role in IB from a target without an internship? FYI, no background in finance. I’m an engineer. Do you think taking the CFA would bolster my case or not worth the time and simply should focus on networking for jobs? Also, this question doesn’t apply to BB/EB recruiting. Just curious about my odds of getting into smaller boutiques.
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No, CFA will not help with IB. Definitely focus on networking. What are you doing instead this summer? Have seen people land things like corp banking and be able to lateral.
Chances aren't great but make sure you spend some time figuring out what went wrong instead of just continuing with the same approach. If you're at a target, this should be a pretty easy thing to land so something is going wrong here. Where did you strike out - mostly after first rounds?
Yes. Based on what I saw during recruiting, it felt like people with some kind of a finance background made it and ended up receiving multiple offers whereas the ones without any exp. have not received any. BBs/EBs are typically the ones that are accepting enough of students from diverse backgrounds but turns out, it did not work quite as much this time on. Still working through some coffee chats and 1st round interviews of smaller banks but doesn't seem too bright. Planning to divert my focus to consulting for some time but underprepared with it too given that I was focused on getting into banking. Might end up getting something this summer but if not necessarily banking or consulting, what do you think my approach should be for smaller banks. By smaller, I would start looking at banks with under 50 employees as well. 1 more caveat, I am an international.
Do you think I have chances to work for banks having lesser than 50 or even 20 employees for a FT role if summer internships do not work out? Do you think I could take up or ask for an analyst gig instead? Or do you think I should ask for internship role in my final year of MBA? Would that work out internship being the pipeline?
No to analyst or internships. But yeah you should be targeting those really small shops with networking. Should also be applying/interviewing to postings that aren't in IB but are actively hiring just to hedge your bets. Hopefully the target brand helps you out with the smaller firms
I’m confused—are you in your first year of a FT target MBA program? If so, recruiting isn’t finished everywhere. If you’re from a non-target with nothing in the pipeline, where were you targeting and what feedback did you receive? Very unusual to be totally out of the running already unless you had some big failures during the recruiting process.
All that said, it’s incredibly difficult to recruit for FT post-MBA roles with zero IB (let alone zero finance) experience in this market.
Do you think I have chances to work for banks having lesser than 50 or even 20 employees for a FT role if summer internships do not work out? Do you think I could take up or ask for an analyst gig instead? Or do you think I should ask for internship role in my final year of MBA? Would that work out internship being the pipeline?
You didn’t answer the direct questions I asked, which is an indication to me that you have not learned whatever lessons you needed to from your failed IB recruitment. Best of luck to you.
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