What now ?

So just to give some background I'm currently a sophomore at a non-target looking to break into banking next summer. For my freshman summer, I was fortunate enough to land a TAS role abroad using connections. However, despite this experience, I have been unable to find any meaningful work for this summer. I have tried cold emailing (sent over 400 emails this school year) everyone from wealth management firms to boutique asset managers but I still haven't been able to land any offers yet. My biggest worry at the moment is that not only will I not have a job for the summer, but my previous work experience will be rendered useless because of the gap in my work history. Additionally, due to financial reasons, it is not possible for me to go back to the TAS internship.

I'm sorry if this post comes off as me whining and crying about my problems but I feel absolutely hopeless at this point. Not only do I feel like my freshman internship has gone to waste because of the questionable gap on my resume, but the cold email/call process has been demoralizing. After looking at my Excel doc this week and seeing I passed the 400 email mark, I've lost my will to do basic things like going out with friends, working out, attending class, etc.

My question is where do I go from here? School is about to end soon and I'm about to be unemployed. As disheartening as this experience is, I still want to pursue a career in banking out of school and ultimately work in asset management. Cold emailing and job postings haven't been working so I really don't have many options left. With that being said, I want to keep on fighting but this seems like something that I can't win. I would love to hear any opinions and advice into my current situation.

1 Comments
 

Architecto ducimus dolor eum incidunt sed maiores. Velit autem ducimus iste.

Ut atque inventore voluptates quisquam optio officia. Atque ut ut consequatur voluptatibus. Qui dolore facilis minima voluptatum numquam minus repellendus. Ea et qui rem et perspiciatis reprehenderit molestiae. Facilis temporibus dolore nulla omnis rerum.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

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 (47) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (24) $180
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (82) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
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...”