Full-Time Recruiting as a Summer Analyst

So I'm going to be working as an IB summer analyst at a BB this summer, and would love to get a return offer for full-time. However, I don't want to close off my options and am also thinking about doing a bit of recruiting for full-time positions, both at other banks and on the buy side to see if there's anywhere else I might fit in better.


Obviously, there are several examples of people who have lateraled to other banks between their internship and full time analyst positions. I have also heard stories, though, of people who began networking at Firm B, word somehow got back to Firm A (which they were interning at), and they never got a return offer because it left a bad taste in Firm A's mouth. 


So, I'm wondering what the etiquette usually is for those who have gone through this before. Do you wait until the summer internship is underway before you start courting other firms? Do you not network at all, wait till you get a return offer, then reach out to other firms and see whether they're willing to give you a shot? Or do you just start networking in the spring with other firms because there's no chance word ever gets around?


Let me know. Been thinking about this one for a while.

 
Most Helpful

I’ve gone through this process myself so here’s my word of advice (and caution) for FT recruiting:

1. Know which firms you want to recruit for now. Before you start your internship, you should already know where you want to apply. This will allow you to focus on each of the firm’s recruiting timelines to ensure you don’t miss it when you’re busy working during the summer months.

2. Network with the firms you are interest in before you start your internship. This part couldn’t be more important. By reaching out before the summer, you will come across as far less frantic and predictable. Also, ideally when you reach out you shouldn’t even ask for a referral or when FT recruiting will take place. Instead, you should just ask your contacts general networking questions/anything to build a stronger relationship. By doing this, you will simply come across to your alumni/contacts as more of an open-minded college student interested to learn about their firm/career than a self-seeking intern who would jump ship before even hitting 10 weeks of experience at the firm. Additionally, if you reach out before the internship starts, there is virtually a 0% chance that anyone at your internship firm finds out you were networking with another firm. This will mitigate that off-chance someone finds out and revokes a return-offer — plus networking earlier gives your contacts a longer timespan to follow through with a call. Lastly, always make sure to send a thank you email after the call and write that you’re “looking forward to staying in touch”

3. Do the internship. Minimize your focus on networking. Maximize your focus on the job. Trust me, you are far less attractive of a candidate if you do not perform well during your internship or if you do not secure a return offer — regardless of your connections.

4. Review other firms FT job applications. Perhaps during your free time as a SA, the only thing you need to do for recruiting is to look to see if any firms posted FT 202X analyst positions. Usually a quick Google search or LinkedIn search is sufficient. If you do not see a job application, it’s safe to assume they are not recruiting yet. And if they are, they won’t actually start until the summer ends so don’t freak out.

5. Follow up with contacts when internship ends. Usually, by the last few days of your internship, you will be notified that you have a return-offer. Typically, they give you 2-4 weeks to sign it or else it explodes. The second you receive the offer is when you reach out to the same people you spoke with before your internship and say something along the lines like “Hope you’ve been doing well, etc. I'm currently wrapping up my summer internship with XYZ and am curious to learn more about any full-time opportunities with your firm as I consider my own career after graduation.” If applicable, it’s not a bad move to let them know you have a return offer that explodes in 2 weeks.

6. Hope for the best. After you do these steps, there’s really nothing else you can do. The reality is that firms hire far less FT analysts than interns — and FT recruiting is far more sporadic/unstructured than SA recruiting. You very well may encounter the possibility that your return offer for XYZ explodes before ABC starts interviews. This is probably more likely than not considering each firm assesses how many people are returning before they begin recruiting more candidates. In other words, some intern has to turn down (or not receive) an offer in order for you to receive one from the FT recruiting firm.

Although you might find a lot of opinions on what to do if your offer explodes before you interview with another firm, the best advice is that “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.” I would encourage you to accept the return offer you have. After you accept, I would also encourage you to still interview with the other firms (generally). As long as the MD or HR recruiter at you internship bank doesn’t have a close relationship with the MD/Recruiter at bank ABC, nothing will happen. You’d also be surprised how bank ABC will not even care whether you accepted or not (many times they don’t even ask). You need to remember that you are extremely low on the totem pole to the point where nobody cares what you do, yet starting your career at one place versus another could make a huge difference for you. As long as you are discrete and there are no blatant overlaps, you should at least interview for the position and cross the bridge of reneging when you come to it.

 

What is your advice on FT recruiting within the same firm? 

For example, let's say you want to make the jump from Group A to Group B. Would your strategy on networking early still apply to this scenario when it comes down to getting full time offer from Group A and letting Group B know you have a full-time offer?

Does this impact your FT offer from Group A if they find out you're trying to lateral out into Group B since you would have to be networking early on?

 

Hey man, just following up here to clarify something. Given that the whole point of reaching to network with other firms earlier is to mitigate the chances someone at my firm finds out, do you think I should leave the fact that I'm an incoming intern (at another firm) undisclosed?

 

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