In a dark place after failing in FT recruitment, need advice.
Hey guys,
The fund that I summer interned at is closing shop so I started the FT recruitment process a few months back for IB. From what I heard from mentors, the best way to get back into HFs is with IB experience; problem is that this FT cycle was absolutely brutal. My internship at a distressed HF did distressed buyouts so I had some experience with modeling and also being able to talk about deals and high level corp finance stuff. I got RX interviews at some EBs and also interviews with a really good TMT bank/group (Q/Allen & Co/GS). Also got some growth equity interviews similar to a (Insight/GA/Summit).
Currently sitting at no offers and FT recruitment is practically done. Now that CS bros are also looking to get out it seems there aren't any seats left; feeling real anxiety and not sure what to do.
For background I'm graduating this fall with a 3.8 GPA from NYU/UVA/USC type school, started my own fund in college (just 1m AUM) and ended up making and saving up ~850k all in (including from PA luck) which I have sitting in cash. Not too worried about paying the bills right now but very worried about my career. My fund manager spun off our HF's venture platform and I am currently working for that to avoid employment gaps; but it doesn't look like he's gonna be hiring anyone else other than a few of the original associates.
Could really use some advice; I'm feeling pretty lost. WSObros gave me some good guidance in the past; I think I just need some clarity and motivation. I want to make it to IB and in finance. I'm too hungry to give up now. I strongly believe in myself and my willingness to succeed.
CS bros standing with you stay strong brah
Start spamming your regional boutiques and asking your former fund manager to connect you with people at other firms. At least you're not hard strapped for cash right now.
You’ve got nearly $1mm in the bank and strong internship experience, I would try to be less hard on yourself, keep hustling/networking and things will work out
You're right, thanks man needed to hear that. Appreciate you.
Got it, thanks for the advice!
They aren’t recruiting
There are still some places recruiting. I've been hit up by two growth equity shops, two MMs, and four boutique banks in the past 7-10 days for FT positions. Recently accepted an offer though. There's still stuff out there that you can get. You didn't have an IB internship junior summer, but it sounds like your total profile with the distressed HF internship/school/GPA passes the sniff test IMO. Keep husting homie, you got this. DM me for the names of the shops, anyone else who is curious can do their own digging.
what are the names of places that reached out to you?
Hey this is OP could you DM me?
And thanks for the advice, I guess I just needed some hope to keep going as it's been brutal recruiting wise so far.
Any luck?
How do you get hit up? Are you a target?
In the same spot. Would you mind DM me with the names? Would really appreciate it
Mind if I DM you
Good luck with FT recruiting. Also, I am curious - how did you amass $1MM AUM at such a young age?
rich parents
.
You may have committed some slight money laundering
You were able to start your own fund in college and made a million bucks and you are short on self confidence?
You're right, I guess I was focusing my self worth on the recruiting process rather than my own abilities. I've got to do some introspection to see where that fear is coming from and how realistic it is.
The well-known "path" to finance/business success (something like target > IB > buyside > H/S MBA > more buyside > baller) is actually not common. Fast forward to the 40-50 y/o age group that you want to be a part of . . i.e. the most successful people 20 years into a career . . and you'll see that very few of them had the standard first few moves that people have.
So why do we believe so much in the path when it's not common? Because it's the mode . . you know, that term from day 1 of stats class that was never mentioned again. If you pick the 100 people 20 yrs out of college who's career you most want to have, you'll see maybe 10 of them followed that standard path. But the other 90 people followed 50 different paths, so we have this false illusion that one path is the right way. Even though only 10% follow it.
This myth of the common path causes people to overlook the fact that your most straightforward move (i.e. getting into IB right out of school) was merely your first available opportunity of many to come.
So what you should do next? Too many right answers here, but if it were me, I'd just grab any role where I can learn something about how a business operates. The goal would be to then leverage that experience to either a buy side role or a lateral move to banking in 1-2 years. But again, there's 50 right answers here.
What's more important is to realize that all you missed was the first on-ramp. There's many more coming.
Thank you, I really appreciate the thought you put into this reply. I guess my stage right now is figuring out the 50 different alternatives like you said; I know I'm a hungry, scrappy guy so I'll have to make use of that quality as much as I can at this point.
It's hard to go wrong because your interests (banking & investing) are very generalist fields. They require you to be good at a lot of things, not necessarily great at any one thing. You have to be good at math, writing, communication, relationship building, critical thinking. So coming out of college, almost any job is going to build your abilities.
But if you think being an investor (either public or private) is what you want long term, I think a corporate role in an industry that interests you is one solution that jumps out to me as appropriate for your situation. It sets you up well in the short and long term. Short term because if any bank wants lateral analysts, this is probably the best experience for it. Long term because the operational experience is something you eventually need anyway to be a good investor.
Probably the best post I’ve seen in this site
Thanks and glad you found it helpful. I haven't been as prolific on the tactical recruiting advice that some folks are able to offer. But I've had the unusual circumstance of moving around careers a lot so it's helped me notice a few things.
This is so on the mark.
Same brother
bump
You made HOW MUCH? On an equities fund? Or was this some crypto shitcoin / meme stock stuff? If the former, then I wouldn’t worry one bit my friend. Don’t sell yourself short.
i recall in senior year lots of pretty reputable hedge funds started recruiting late, or had extra spots - I’d reach out to the recruiting teams at the MMs and also any SMs you’ve seen recruit undergrads.
When you reach out, send them a pitch you have and make it a good one - this will be huge to differentiate yourself, and I’m sure with your experience you can put together a A+ pitch no problem.
Let’s be clear - you’re not some loser who can’t land a boutique banking job for academic or internship-related reasons, you actually seem to be a super impressive potential HF prodigy, so use that to drive your confidence as you pursue opportunities. Just make sure it doesn’t veer into cockiness and you should be all set. Keep your head high and let your merit speak for itself.
Thanks man appreciate the vote of confidence! Going to keep grinding.
Rx would be a great spot for you to look given your distressed experience and where the economy is currently headed - I worked in it for a year and liked it before I went to corp dev (I kind of miss it). It's more meaningful than M&A and is just cool. Just keep applying it will be discouraging but all you need is one to work out. I worked at a really good EB but it was the only offer I got and after a long, long time of striking out after all my friends got offers. I barely got in and was literally about to give up. I also think the fund closing is a very marketable backstory that obviously wasn’t your fault.
Thank you bro, appreciate the heads up. Since reading your comment I've been targeting boutique RX shops!
Apply to literally everything and network at the same time
For background I'm graduating this fall with a 3.8 GPA from NYU/UVA/USC type school, started my own fund in college (just 1m AUM) and ended up making and saving up ~850k all in (including from PA luck) which I have sitting in cash.
nice flex dude. i know that you know that you will be ok, come off it
Thanks you're right, that is something I need to be more cognizant of. I did make money but my passion is to continue being able to invest institutionally, it's a scary thought to imagine that the door may close.
What email did you send asking for the interview? Mind if you DM me?
Will DM you!
Following. Could you please DM me as well? In a similar spot and don't have the cookie-cutter background either so I know I should be just as entrepreneurial and hungry.
IB is crazy difficult to break into. why would you wanna compete there if you only consider it as a stepping stone? just keep looking at HF/trading jobs - you have great experience in this area, you should get more looks here than in IB. there are a ton of shops. apply to every one of them, try to message some people on LinkedIn.
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