Need Job Search Advice

Background: I've been a lurker on here for some time now and have learned a lot through WSO, but figured this would be a good time to post. I went to what some might consider a semi-target (small, but well-regarded liberal arts college on the West Coast, and thus more well known on the West Coast) and am really looking for a better role in NYC. Seems like not going to an East Coast school has made it more difficult, especially for NYC roles. I graduated in the Spring of 2023 and majored in Econ and Govt but got into banking late, since I had strong interest in going to law school until I took some upper level finance courses later in my Junior year. Never went through the SA recruiting cycle because of that, and that hurt my full-time recruiting chances as I got to superdays but never got an offer. Ended up in muni banking at one of the larger banks for consumer and commercial lending, but for IB would be considered MM at best.

Muni banking (think Public Finance but with bank debt instead of underwriting/marketing munis) is not the direction I want my career to go in. It's a lot less analytically engaging than PF, but I don't think I would consider PF other than Infrastructure (pretty different underwriting/structure, I know). There's a limited quantitative component and I work with fund accounting, not GAAP accounting, and occasionally public utilities or transportation entities. Most of what I know about general IB and finance is from my coursework, which was pretty comprehensive, and WSP courses. I've worked on transactions, but it's really slow and I'd like to learn as much as I can early on, preferably in a front-office IB role.

The lateral options at my current bank are limited at best, so I've been emailing and cold messaging on LinkedIn as much as I can to try and see what other options are out there. I've gotten to final rounds but no offers yet, and I naturally have been getting a lot of technical questions given my current role, but I prepare the best I can. My biggest fear is that the longer I wait, the less relevant experience and exposure I'll have since I'm in a niche vertical. I'd like to make a switch as soon as possible since I likely will exit the banking industry when I move back home in several years (banking options are small and limited). MSF and B-school aren't really something I'd like to pursue either unless I really have to. I've been looking at a lot of different product groups like LevFin or almost all of the industry verticals just to get an opportunity, but wanted to see if there's anything I haven't been doing that I should be doing. I've also been looking at Corporate Banking verticals. It's been pretty tough and I'm trying to stay as patient as possible, but I'm really just looking for a shot. I don't really care about prestige and comp is not an end all; I really would just like to gain more experience.

If you got this far, thanks for reading.