Advice for targets

As someone at a semi-target who has many friends at targets, the advice would apply for both. I can say that the process for banks where my school (Midd/Amh/Will) was considered a target is very competitive because people could go to the info sessions, meet contacts and subsequently network with those contacts. For banks where my school was not considered a target, the process was almost easier because most people were too lazy to go outside the normal recruiting channels, i.e. just looking up a contact on the alumni network and getting in touch with them. Whenever I got in touch with anyone at one of these places, whether MD or analyst, they seemed to be under the impression that the mere effort I put into sending that e-mail was a demonstration of legitimate interest, and were therefore very willing to push my resume along. I did have all of the prerequisites going for me, so it wasn't as if they had to put in too much effort for me to secure an interview. To sum it up, the advice that I would give to semi-targets is to follow any normal advice when it comes to networking, but at the places where your school is considered a target you are going to have to work harder to foster relationships with people to the point where they are willing to push you for an interview. At places where your school is not considered a target, you can generally just reach out to someone, have a normal conversation and proceed from there.

For targets, the process is going to be competitive because literally everyone has access to the same resources you do as far as alumni go. If you don't have the necessary prerequisites of a typical applicant who those at the bank would consider for an interview, then you are going to have to work that much harder to foster a relationship with as many people as possible within each bank. If it makes any sense for you, lighten the workload as needed and try to target specific places that you know you really want to work for. A 3.8+ is not necessarily required - I had a buddy at a target with a mere 3.5 in economics and he was able to secure an interview at pretty much any place he wanted because he was able to network effectively. And I mean he literally contacted every person he could at those banks.

In short, network extensively at those places where you are considered a target. If not considered a target by that bank, the process might be easier. Of course, this is all given that you have a good enough resume. If not, network more.