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
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.
A lot of people don't know how to structure their CV, so I'm not sure how you are so certain about this.
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 don’t really have a frame of reference, but there’s a fair few with, but also a considerable number without
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!
How long should you stay at a B4, is 1y really the minimum or could you make it work with less ?
Thanks!
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