Severe Depression around '27 Recruiting
I don't every post here but just wanted to come on here for some thoughts. I'm currently a sophomore from a semi-target (Brown/Notre Dame/Washu level) recruiting for 2027 Investment Banking roles and recruiting isn't going at all as I had hoped or expected. I had close to 100 chats during 1st semester and was pretty prepared for Behavioral/Technical interviews and had several processes with Top EB/BB/MM firms but have yet to receive an official offer. I come from a lower middle class - middle class background without any family connections into IB and don't match any diversity status which isn't ideal, but regardless the situation is pretty dire. A lot of kids from my school have landed top offers from firms especially in NY, and it's been really discouraging to see everyone around me land offers while I'm still recruiting. I genuinely don't know what levers to pull at this point and am considering taking a break from school and pursuing a completely different path like acting, content creation, etc. not even sure. I was wondering if any current bankers were in this situation and how they were able to pull through.
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How far have you gotten? First rounds or superdays? Do you need a visa? Something isn't working, either on your resume or in your interviews. If you're getting interviews and have done a lot of technical prep, it's probably something on behaviorals that is holding you back.
I think you can take a few week break from recruiting but dropping out of school to pursue some unknown path seems like a significant overreaction. There is life beyond an IB offer and smaller banks, consulting, etc are still recruiting.
I've had 3 superdays but no official offer letter yet and I don't need a visa. It might be the delivery on the behaviorals and I'm going to start recording myself on mac to get a better sense of my intonation and pacing.
I had a very brutal process last cycle. To briefly sum up my advice to you given this post:
1. Erase your victim mentality and understand that this process is extremely competitive and no one cares. You already have a leg up with the school branding, I didn’t even have that and had no preexisting connections. Most people don’t and still succeed. Why are you so special?
2. You have to fix something that’s not perfect that isn’t allowing you to convert. For me it was my story, for you it could be technicals (if you’re vibing and getting dinged in early rounds) behavioral stories, etc. IB interviews are not rocket science, mostly just confirmatory knowledge and vibes.
If you’re going to give up at this point it probably wasn’t meant to be. It’s discouraging as fuck but literally every process is an independent event and you have to get back on the saddle and keep going if you believe in yourself. I had a cold, grey-haired MD at a literal F tier regional MM superday tell me to my face that my background was uninteresting and proceeded to get an offer at a NY BB 2 weeks later. I only succeeded once I took the chip off my shoulder of being the “underprivileged, under connected non-target kid” off completely and went into my interviews trying to build a relationship and not caring about the outcome. Go find your weakness and take ownership
How did you find your weaknesses? What if you get all the techs right (interviewer said it), answered all resume questions, connected well with the interviewer and he was smiling/laughing, etc and still get dinged first round? Also, what’s the fine line between being too polished and not being polished enough with behaviorals/resume questions? I feel like structured answers naturally sound robotic, while unstructured answers are more personable but makes it seem like you’re just rambling. How did you come across this in your interviews after the regional boutique ding? Good advice on prior comment so would love to hear your perspective.
You sound very egotistical and awful to work with. You're not getting a return.
You have to have the gladiator mindset. Ideally you are good enough at techs to answer concisely fast so then you can small talk for 10 minutes after. By being amiable in small talk they will want to work with you and pull hard for you.
The odds are against you, but recruiting isn’t fully over. Remember all you need is one offer. This is the last month or so, leave it all on the floor. Whatever happens, atleast you can say you gave it your all.
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