May 2024 grad - hopeless and depressed
There's literally nothing on the line for me right now so might as well just be as transparent as I can. I have literally exhausted every possible lead I had at landing at FT role, every solid connection I've made over the past 4 years has the same "sorry we're not hiring right now" story. I went to a non-target in the midwest with an avg GPA (sort of? a diversity candidate). Last summer I interned with CS, worked really hard all summer to be recognized for my work and made some genuine connections w several people on my floor thinking I'll have a decent shot at a FT role at UBS. This did not end up happening, of around 20 interns, only 3 got a "return" offer at UBS.
I spent my entire college career networking, studying for interviews and being involved with clubs to build up my resume and I've had an internship every summer of college (VC, corp fin and IB) but now it just feels like all those efforts and late nights I put into this were useless. This turned even worse senior year looking for FT roles, my social life was basically hanging by a thread my senior year bc I was really depressed and ended up having to get on meds as I did not have the motivation to do anything but apply for jobs all day. It doesn't help that I'm an international student too so the odds were already rigged against me and my offer chances were slim compared to US citizens.
Seeing all of my friends in the IB-club land offers and some of whom have already started working has been such a humiliating thing to witness, it just feels like a slap in the face to be in such a situation because of factors which I have no control over (tough market and visa sponsorship). This has been so frustrating, anytime I think there was hope to move forward in a process, I'm hit with sorry we're not sponsoring right now. One of my mentors who is a MD at a MM bank pulled many strings for me for a FT role at her firm but HR said the firm simply did not sponsor for new grads. I started casting a wide net the last few months as I wanted to be realistic with my options, ended up receiving an offer for an operations role and took it to keep my visa intact.
Am I being naively optimistic to still think I have a shot at IB? I just feel so lost and feel like my life has no purpose right now
How are jobs in your home country?
not great, barely any front office roles
Its a tough market and bad timing for international students. You seem like a bright guy with awesome financial experience and a great network. I've heard of people starting in a operations/middle office position and successfully moving to front office when market conditions get better (usually getting CFA charter in the meantime). You're still young. I didn't know what IB was until I was 24. When I realized I was late to the party and wanted to break into the industry, I decided to get my masters. At 26 I landed a full time offer (front office) in structured finance. You have youth on your side. You can make the best of it or the worst of it. Smart move accepting the job to extend your visa. Take care of your self, mentally and physically. Your mind will take you to dark places if you don't. Just keep going. You don't have to worry about paying rent or your visa for now. That's a good spot to be in. You're on the right trajectory. You just to go a little further than you initially thought.
Thank you dude. It's inspiring to see people break into finance in a non-traditional manner, so congrats! I'm thinking of getting a CFA so will start studying for that. If that doesn't end up working, I might get a masters a couple years down the line.
Hey man. It’s a tough pill to swallow but you gotta look outside IB, right now the international job market is so messed up. One of my mentees had a stacked resume but literally couldn’t buy an internship for shit until he landed a middle office role at a MMHF. It really isn’t where you start but where you end. Funny story that will maybe resonate with you, I networked with someone once who started out in HR and is now the head of AM at a top BB. Cast a wide net and you will be fine, employers know it’s a tough job market for international hires too so they won’t be too hard on you!
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