(London) So you didn’t get any spring weeks, here’s what you need to do:

A large portion of BB summer analyst positions (sometimes 80%+) go to people who converted the spring. In Lazard, this has been 100% for the past two years with them not even opening up SA applications as the spring filled it entirely. At places like Jeffries, I heard only 2 spots in the SA weren’t filled by spring week interns. Also, a large portion of the spots that didn’t go to springs end up going to European masters students with 1-2 off-cycle IB internships, which makes it even more competitive.

However, there are many MM and smaller boutique banks that don’t didn’t run spring weeks, meaning that all the spots on the SA are still there. These pay similarly to the BBs, sometimes have better hours, and I think everyone would agree that doing a year at one of them and looking to lateral (if you really want to be at a BB) would be a better alternative than doing a masters. This is because you both gain experience, get paid, and avoid having to pay for a masters.

Here is what you need to do:

1. Make two CVs: one with a graduation date of 2025 and one with 2024. You can easily do this by adding “with a year abroad” at the end of your degree. Reapply for Spring Weeks at BBs next year with the 2025 CV and then apply for SA at the banks that didn’t do springs (there are many) with the 2024 CV. Decide your graduation date based on what offers you end up getting.

2. Try your absolute hardest to do an internship this summer. Any experience is better than none, and you need any help you can get. If you don’t have family/friend connections to get you an internship, you should cold email 50+ smaller firms or startups and ask them if they’re willing to take you on as an intern. Do this around March. I personally did an internship at a startup by reaching out to the founder on LinkedIn and it greatly helped my interviews as it was a unique experience.

3. Do NOT repeat the same mistakes you made this year. Spend the summer polishing your CV & cover letter, practicing tests & interviews, and making a big list of all the companies you will apply to. Reach out to current analysts to review your CV, once you get a good mentor, they will be the best source of advice. It’s a numbers game and you need to apply early and everywhere.

4. Keep your spirits high! It’s going to be annoying seeing all your peers post their spring week LinkedIn posts but keep working and you should be fine. Best of luck!

(At the time of writing this I believe there are a few springs that haven’t even opened applications yet, so definitely apply to those as the game isn’t over yet - Don’t lose momentum)