How are you guys holding up? (@ sophomores still recruiting for SA 2022)
Hey guys,
I've been feeling pretty down right now in the middle of recruiting season. It feels like everyone else has secured SA 2022 offers and I'm the only one still left grinding. Like I said, I've had a couple interviews but I have no offers in hand yet, and I'm kicking myself for missing the boat on a couple of solid boutiques. Of course, I'm still networking and sending out emails basically daily, but I'm really not feeling confident about getting offers at BBs or MMs, both because of my track history with getting interviews (despite networking intensively) and performing in them. How do you guys keep your head up through rejection and the uncertainty of landing an offer this year? Would just love to hear some people's thoughts and experiences, either from this cycle or previous ones.
Honestly, it's not the end of the world if you don't land an offer. A while back I chatted with an analyst and he told me one of most humbling stories. The dude went to a semi-target school and said he completely struck out on junior year summer analyst recruiting and then also full-time recruiting. He got to March of his senior year and had no job lined up and didn't have any reputable IB experience on his resume. The dude heard from a friend of a friend that Jefferies was looking for an analyst, so he passed his resume along. The dude ended up getting the job.
You shouldn't feel bad. I'll share some advice that was given to me that I think you may find some value in: everyone's path is going different and it really becomes detrimental when you start comparing yourself to your peers (yes I know easier said than done).
When I was in my sophomore year I didn't even know what I wanted to do after graduating and in addition to that I went to a non-target. When I finally got my shit together in junior year and started to give serious consideration to pursuing some sort of career in finance, I wasn't able to get a single banking interview because I had no relevant experience and hadn't networked at all. In my junior year summer I was able to land an unpaid internship which was interesting, but didn't really add a whole lot of value to bolstering my profile (was better than nothing though).
Fast forward to senior year and full time recruiting - it came as no shock when I ended up empty handed in the fall when banks looked to fill any of the gaps in their analyst class after the summer. Not only that, but I continued to have difficulty securing an offer throughout the year as I was being pretty selective with what opportunities I was applying to. In hindsight this was a good move for me, but you should always have a Plan B, Plan C, etc. Anyways, let me tell you, it was one of the worst feelings sitting at home trying to find a job while most of my friends were travelling the world on exchange. FOMO x1000.
Thankfully I was able to sign an offer in a TAS role at an accounting firm a solid 2 weeks before receiving my university diploma. Obviously this was miles away from where I saw myself under Plan A, but I was relieved more than anything at this point to have had a job lined up. Instead of moping about not breaking into IB, I put my head down and worked hard for a few years and was able to break into a >$2bn PE fund where I've been for the past year. Also worth nothing that most of the other associates in my class came from banking which just further illustrates that your path doesn't have to be linear in that you MUST do banking to get a buyside investing role. Looking at some of my friends who did break into banking, there are a handful who are doing well, but there are also a handful who either burnt out or are doing something completely unrelated.
All that to say, although it might feel like the walls are closing in on you, they're actually not. I think we all know how hyper competitive it is to succeed in this industry where recruiting cycles are continuing to be pushed earlier every year, but it truly isn't the end of the world because you haven't secured an internship in your sophomore year. You are definitely entitled to be concerned and I probably would be too if I was in your shoes - it shows you care. But at the same time, try to take a bigger picture view and remember that if you put your best foot forward, good things will happen. Best of luck in your search and I'm sure everything will work out!