Can’t get offer past Super Day

Hi everyone, I am currently doing off cycle recruiting for PE associate class of 2026. I’m a 1st year analyst at a BB, came from a top target school, and have strong resume, so I get most 1st rounds. However, I have made it to 2-3 super days and then get rejected because my technicals aren’t strong enough. I’m feeling so demoralized and I have now blown my chances with ~10 strong UMM firms (what I’m targeting).

I never took accounting in college and my day to day job is not technical at all so I’m not learning anything everyday. Does anyone know what I can do and how I can get better? I just feel at such a loss and don’t know how to improve / what it really takes to get better

8 Comments
 

Have a friend or co-worker teach you accounting and any other technicals you'll need. It's easier to just adopt someone else's framework and takes only a few sessions. Model test would take 3x as long to learn than technicals.

 
Most Helpful

Just sit down and study. You clearly have the intelligence. 
 

What are the kinds of questions you’re failing?

Go through all of the question guides and make sure you understand the concepts - have an intuitive sense of the concepts. You should be doing modeling work on the job which should help as well. Don’t feel you need to rush it: there will be off cycle opps over the next few years, I have friends that got really good roles  in spring of the 3rd years. 

 

 

Analytical roles like PE or more intense banking groups require a bare minimum 90 IQ which a lot of people, surprisingly in banking and even from top target schools, lack. You might just not meet that bar. I went to HYPS and I'm still shocked at the number of cognitively inhibited people I met in college and still run into through work from these schools. There are resources out there like Peak Frameworks, your network of former upperclassmen in PE from your undergrad school, your 2nd year analysts who have buyside jobs lined up, etc. If you have exhausted these resources and still fell short, an analytical role like a PE job as a junior might just not be for you. I did MF PE for 2 years, its not what it's made out to be anyways.

 

I don't disagree but what role would you think makes sense for folks like this then? Workhorses who are slower than the top of the pack -- stay in banking? go to sales? Legit question

 

Curious why you thought MF PE wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be from your perspective

 

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