How hard is full time recruiting with a solid SA beforehand?
Due to some extenuating circumstances combined with an exploding offer, I accepted a 2020 SA position at a top MM bank (Baird/Blair/HL). I'm at a target with a good GPA and decent extracurriculars, and I can't help but feeling like I settled a little bit. To make matters worse, I recently got a super day invite to a BB (bottom tier BB) but declined due to already having signed my offer (and I am not ok with reneging) and got a first round invitation from a top tier EB (again, declined).
Considering exit ops down the road, I've decided I'm going to do this internship, kick ass, get a return offer, and go through FT recruiting. How hard is it to go through FT recruiting with a solid SA experience, a return offer (hopefully), and a strong resume? How does it compare to SA recruiting?
I've heard that just having a banking internship will set me apart from most of the pack, especially with a return offer, as you are competing against kids without return offers or without banking experience. Is this the case? I understand there are a lot fewer spots available, so what are my chances at a top tier BB (GS, JPM, MS) or a top EB (Evercore, PJT, etc)? What can I do over the next year to best prepare myself?
There are fewer spots but also there is less people recruiting for those jobs as well. You will be fine as long as you get the return and do some networking. I have seen guys go from SA at a no-name boutique to EBs/BBs so it can definitely be done from an MM.
Should I be more focused with my networking vs SA recruiting? I admittedly did a pretty mediocre job networking this recruiting cycle, but is it worth targeting a few banks that I really want to work at instead of just going for a wide range? I feel like this makes more sense because I probably want to make sure these banks know I'm super interested in them, but on the other hand my fear is that they might not need any FT hires so it would be a total waste of my time.
Networking was a major reason I got my offer/interviews during FT recruitment. I did not have the best experience but the firms knew me and the interest I had. It is a great way to separate yourself from the rest of the crowd.
Networking is not a waste of time just because some of the firms may not end up hiring. If you run a good process then you'll be bound to make good connections with firms that will be hiring and that will make it worth the time and effort. I reached out to 30+ firms and only got an offer from one at the end of the day, nonetheless I consider my efforts a success. With respect to the firms that were not hiring or did not give me a look, I still made valuable connections there that you never know where they may lead.
it's generally harder, but i feel that being at a target school and having IB SA under your belt helps a ton. from what i understand most firms that recruit FT do so through target schools career portals/resume drops
It will be a numbers game. Reach out to everyone in the second half of July during your internship. Many banks will recruit full time without posting a job opening on the careers page. We typically just go back to our super-day pool from the previous year, and add recommendations from existing analysts. Most EB will have less than a handful of spots, as most try to convert as many interns as possible. Just going on this year's crop, we screened around 50 candidates for 2 spots. All had banking / investing internships this summer. I'll reiterate: it's a numbers game.
Appreciate the helpful response. How do applicants go about recruiting while working at their current bank (I imagine most SA are still working until early August)? On top of the hours, I presume you don't want your summer bank to find out you are applying around as it could impact your return offer chances.
People are further behind the curve than you would expect and just don't have the hustle to check in. We will likely have a full-time recruiting slot and thus far very few people have reached out to me to network or check in (versus the dozens of informational interviews I did when these students were recruiting for the summer internships in the first place).
Hey, curious what your thoughts are on FT recruiting given the current environment. Would you recommend juniors to just focus on getting a FT offer where they're interning and then try FT in August before the offer expires? Or is reaching out to contacts/alums right now still a good idea?
FT recruiting probably harder than ever given can't be in person. Would definitely focus on getting a FT offer wherever you're doing a summer internship, that is the pipeline for 90%+ of people. If you must shop it, you'll have a limited window as usual. No harm in staying connected right now on a friendly basis.
In literally the exact same boat. With Corona around this is going to be super rough lol.
I feel like your competition will be stronger than you think. There are many bulge bracket SA (yes, even at top BBs) who want to go to EBs for the boutique culture, higher comp, more technical experience and thus (sometimes) a better chance at top exits.
There is also people at top boutiques who would prefer the BB platform and brand name outside of the IB community.
BBs are notoriously difficult for laterals because they give preference to internal recruits, so competitive candidates across DCM, ECM, S&T, corporate banking, public finance, securitization, etc. will all be interested in IB as well.
That said, your best bet is probably boutiques but this may be extremely hard given covid, the possibility of automatic return offers, and downsizing of headcount for 2021.
do we really think that people will be this choosy given corona though? I feel like a lot of BB and EB candidates will just not bother given that internships are turning remote and they're just happy to go FT. Not too sure about this.
Yeah who knows. I don’t see why it would change peoples plans but could also see it making some people more complacent.
I was in a similar position to you and ended up successfully recruiting for full time. Like previously mentioned, I suggest reaching out to all your contacts / alumni half way through your internship to express your interest in moving. While there are less spots, the amount of competitive candidates recruiting is also substantially less. Through networking and luck I was able to land ~4 interviews or so and accepted an offer. Also be sure to update resume ASAP through out your internship whenever you have some substantial items to add.
Edit: Forgot to add with some banks doing auto FT offers this year and corona, may be a tough year to recruit for FT
For FT recruiting this year, as you said it will be inevitably more difficult because of covid and auto returns. I would still have to assume some spots will open due to summers not accepting and other reasons. Given some internships are virtual and not starting until July, when do you think is a good time to start reaching out to potential lateral contacts? Seems smart to get on top of it now to connect with as many people as possible, but also without starting your internship already, it's like you're just climbing the prestige ladder...
Basically just wondering your thoughts on how to approach lateraling FT to an EB given lack of deal experience / condensed time frame.
Bump!
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My interviews did ask me about deal experience (I had two IB internships) because I had it listed on my resume. I would assume based on current conditions that the interviews would be more technical because of the lack of exposure to deals via virtual, shortened internships. My 1st round interviews were a bit more technical than my SA interviews presumably so they can check the box that you know your stuff. Surprisingly my in person interviews were a lot more fit based for the specific group. I assume this is because they assume your competent enough for the job but want to see if you would be a good fit.
I personally had no modeling tests but wouldn't be surprised if some firms did especially during these times. I hope this helps.
Bump
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