Hey guys,
So I've just began the process of applying to 2015 IBD summer internships in London and was wondering how much tailoring is required with regards to the motivation letters.
In the case of bulge brackets, most of them allow you to apply to 3 different positions, so 3 different areas in the bank. This, multiplied by the number of BB equals 27. Now this means that I should essentially create 27 different motivation letters... and this is without taking the boutiques, Tier 2 banks into account.
Now I realize that a good part of the motivation letter is the same in every case ("why me?", "what can I bring to the table?", etc...)
In the past, I've always used the same template for all my letters and would just change the title of the internship in the text and that's it - it seemed to have worked as I already completed 2 offcycle internships in 2 different BBs, both in Switzerland. I have no idea if they read my letters but it worked. I don't know how different the process is in London for summer internships compared to Switzerland and offcycle internships.
Now I know a good motivation letter cannot get you an interview whereas a really bad one can prevent you from getting one - that's the saying - but for the sake of arguing, would they really not take someone if they notice his/her motivation letter is just a template that he/she is using for all applications, whether it's IBD, S&T, IT, Ops, whatever...
If specific tailoring is indeed required, do people typically mention general trends/areas that the bank is following/strong at or is it better to mention for example specific deals (in the case of IBD). If the latter is true, doesn't this take for ever to do?
As I am new to this process, it would be awesome if you guys had a few pointers/advice.
Thanks
First of, why not focus on the one area that you are interested in and apply to that? In my opinion you are much better off spending your time applying to more banks/boutiques in the area that you are interested in rather than applying to a bunch of areas that you are not interested in.
Secondly, I would group it in to BBs, 'elite' boutiques and MM banks and use the same template for all 3 groups. Unless the EB/MM has a specific sector focus, you should be fine with this approach in my opinion. Exception of course if you have spoken to people at the bank, in which case you should always tailor to reflect that.
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