Recruiting Events

theparadox:

timatom90:

3.5+ GPA is enough to get you investment banking interviews, but above that, the marginal benefit of higher and higher GPA's is minimal at best.

From personal experience, this is incorrect. A 3.5 GPA will barely get you any interviews. You will need solid internship experience to get first rounds with a 3.5. If you're at a target, then you better believe there any plenty of kids doing Applied Math + Econ with 3.8 GPAs and boutique IB internships already under their belt.

Should have been more clear; what I meant was that once you have a 3.5+ GPA, then it's time to start concentrating on other things such as networking or relevant experience rather than getting your GPA to the next .1 up.

pleasehelpmewithmylife:

timatom90:

3.5+ GPA is enough to get you investment banking interviews, but above that, the marginal benefit of higher and higher GPA's is minimal at best. It's usually just used as a preliminary screen to get rid of some resumes in the stack (ones that wouldn't have cut it anyway in most cases).

Instead, start networking. Hit up your alumni network and ask for informational interviews (which can be either in person or over the phone). If you strike a rapport, then once interview season for SA rolls around, follow up and see if they can help position you for an interview.

Best of luck.

Thank you for your thoughts! I'm trying the whole networking thing-- going to a few events every week, etc. but I think I'm pretty bad at it. Getting better though! How exactly does one ask, come interview season, if someone can "position you for an interview." Sorry for the dumb questions-- so much easier to ask them anonymously online!

Hit up your alumni network. There should be some sort of alumni database. Ask your career center for help. Those networking events with 200 kids and 5 bankers aren't the best place to make an impression, but it can be done (it's just that it's much easier to make a good impression in a one on one convo).

pleasehelpmewithmylife:

This is kind of what I'm afraid of, and I really appreciate the honesty. For reference, I am studying Applied Math + Econ at a target school (so I see the people you are referring to all too often), but I thought for a while that I was heading more in the academic economics direction, so I have no relevant internship experience. Would you keep pursuing IB, or start looking into some second choice fields? What might be less competitive, but still a good fit for someone quantitative.

Another quick question: do you put your in-major gpa on your resume? would that help if it was higher than my overall?

Definitely put your major GPA, anything that makes you look good. Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, you should also know that I am just a student at a target like you, and I am trying to break into IB myself. The only reason I'm even offering advice is because I've learned some things the hard way, and I think you don't have to go through that.

With that said, given your lack of experience, and GPA that barely makes the cutoff, I think you can rule out BBs. You can aim for boutiques that are recruiting at your school and even then, you'll probably need an alumni to really pull for you. I would say focus on something like equity research, or anything that you would be able to incorporate into your story when you're recruiting full time. Regardless of what you do over the summer, think about school year internships as well. I think at this point, the best thing you can do is start building towards full time recruiting. Hope this helps.