Hey everyone, I really need someone to shed some light here...
I dont have any idea why the top 10 BBs have screened me out without giving me the chance of an interview. I live a west European country (FR, GER, IT, SPA, SWITZ...) and I applied to all the BBs for positions in my country and London in December but I haven't got any miserable interview. I´ve done an extensive research and pretty much know how the industry works (at least theoretically). Also, I am graduating from a Degree in Economics from a semi-target uni with strong quantitative knowledge in 2 months and I did an internship in a mid-size hedge fund in Asia this last summer.
I am not complaining about not receiving offers. I don't even get the chance to demonstrate that I could do this job and I am willing to work my ass off! I do all the cover letters (when required) very well, including examples of buy and sell side acquisitions advised by the bank when applying for M&A role, etc.
I have networked to some alumni and I only was successful twice. Once and MD from a Tier 1 bank invited me to coffee and reviewed my CL and CV though he did not get me an interview (and that´s fine, I am really grateful that he wasted his time reviewing my shit). The other time, an associate from a boutique told me he would get me an interview but then he never answered.
So, I don't get what they are looking for (BBs) when reviewing applications, I carefully read all job descriptions and I have everything they seem to be looking for. Thoughts?
doesn't think resume is a problem
>"the problem is that I did not study in a target and I do not have awesome exp."
Hmmmm
Applying in December is probably the issue. Most banks are done hiring by then and only keep the job postings open in case any one reneges and they need to run more interviews.
Let me break this down very plainly: There are thousands of applicants applying for the same positions at all of these BB's. You can apply but unless you are from a target, have incredible experience, or network extensively, you won't get an interview. Even people who apply from targets don't get interviews without some networking.
My advice from there is that unless you continue to send out emails, LinkedIn messages, etc to set up many meetings and build relationships to get you through the door, your odds of getting an interview is the same as making a full court shot in basketball.
Sure! Just to give you a little more direction, the purpose of these networking meetings is to get the other person that agreed to meet with you to feel more comfortable with you as a person so he / she can recommend you.
What I would usually do is once I set up a call / met with them for coffee, I would usually start it off by asking them about their experiences in banking, deals that they've been working on, what they enjoy about the job, and from there just let the conversation naturally progress for 30 or so minutes.
At some point within the conversation (or directly from the start) they are going to ask you a little bit more about yourself and your goals (what I call the intro / elevator pitch) and that's where you give them a brief background description (school, internships, etc.) and why you are interested in banking. This pitch should be at most 3 mins. long and the goal of this pitch is to put this information in the back of their minds' before shifting the conversation back about them.
Towards the end of the conversation, I would usually say something along the lines of: "Thank you for sitting down", "I've really learned a lot", "Its been fun hearing about you're experiences", etc. and then talk about opportunities. This is where experience and social awareness usually kicks in. If they haven't mentioned opportunities within the conversation (which almost 90% of people you network know that's what you want), then I usually say something along the lines of: "I'm currently networking and looking for opportunities to be in this industry, is your bank hiring?" Its pretty direct and depending if you if you had a great conversation with the other person, you should at least get another lead from it and should be able to follow up.