No summer offers. Now what?

I'm a 2nd year student at a top UK school (think Oxbridge, LSE). I missed the spring week recruiting cycle last year due to personal reasons and got no SA offers this year. The extent of my finance experience is a few insight weeks pre-undergrad and uni societies.

I'm still waiting to hear from a few places (excluding soft rejections) and have started cold calling, with limited luck.

I'm a bit lost now and am not entirely sure on what to do. Any advice?

Would also appreciate if anyone could have a look at my CV and Cover Letter to see if Im making any silly errors

7 Comments
 
Most Helpful

No one cares about your cover letter, and I'm sure you know how to structure your CV. Sometimes it's just bad luck. What I would say to you is that you shouldn't feel bad about yourself because it's almost certainly not a reflection on you being a bad or even uncompetitive candidate. Most places have slashed their classes so there are fewer spaces available. Not only that, but most of them are filled by SW classes, which leaves what, like 4 or 5 spaces for external candidates? I know that's how it was at my bank at least. 

Know what's worse? I was going to re-recruit this year after doing an internship at a BB within investment banking this summer. Guess how many assessment centres I've had? Zero! Guess how many first rounds? Surely more, right? No! I've had one at a bank that pays way below street, and didn't even progress. 

Good news for you is that most places allow final year students to apply. Citi is especially receptive (like every other person there is some final year/Masters student). Take this time to focus on polishing up your profile. Get on committees for relevant societies, do some volunteering, that sort of stuff.

Best of luck.

 

No one cares about your cover letter, and I'm sure you know how to structure your CV.

A lot of people don't know how to structure their CV, so I'm not sure how you are so certain about this. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Do you know what the picture is like with summer internships at your university? Have many people managed to secure them?

I wish you all the best and good luck.

 

I have some advice - it might not seem appetising but I think a very viable option (dependent on where you get to with other options e.g. postgraduate courses, smaller IB roles, etc.).

Join one of the big 4 in their audit divisions. Work like crazy and finish in the top buckets (this tends to be easier in non-London offices but of course this isn't a rule). Get the ACA. You'll now either be (A) immediately employable with a MM bank, or (B) be transferable to FDD or another role at a big 4, from where you can move to a MM bank or PE fund. I've seen multiple precedents of this - the ACA is actually very highly-regarded and frankly offers much more long-term job security than IBD or PE (as well as lucrative options like Finance Director at a PE-backed corporate where you'll benefit from sweet equity).
Bottom line is to not get too tunnel-visioned on IBD - there's a huge universe of pathways to explore!

 

Est amet adipisci qui voluptate minus et facilis. Perspiciatis voluptatem voluptas accusamus vitae omnis et. Sunt commodi et minus quis.

Aperiam ut et quis placeat aut esse delectus accusamus. Officiis possimus deleniti molestiae harum sed. Totam ipsum suscipit ratione velit minima.

Totam dolorem in accusamus et omnis rerum omnis. Et recusandae iste quia veritatis quas molestias fugiat unde. Doloremque aut illum est. Placeat in soluta sed quas nostrum.

Aspernatur debitis fuga consequatur qui aperiam nesciunt nulla. Autem eum explicabo quia quo illum. Voluptatum neque quasi rerum doloremque. Omnis veniam quis modi.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”