Wont Receive Return Offer, Strategies for FT Roles?
Hi all,
Currently a rising senior at a small but respected non-target in NYC area in week 8/10 of a summer analyst position at a $20B< VC/growth FoF/Secondaries/co-invest fund. Liking the experience, and know I want to do VC, growth, or tech buyout (secondaries or directs but would also take FoF) after I graduate. But the firm I'm at now is in a shitty tier 3 city, I want to be in NYC/SF/Chicago, and also only returns about 25% of the intern class. I've been doing great work, making minimal mistakes, and I'm a pretty easy guy to get along with, but I'm not confident I'll get a return offer because there are other interns just as proficient and that are from this tier 3 city and love it; so they'll likely offer them and a few other folks from target schools like Harvard, Penn, Michigan, etc.
I'm indifferent about getting a return because I dont love the culture at the firm, want to be in a different city, and comp is well below market. That being said, I'm re-recruiting for FT summer 2025 roles. The issue I've run into is that many postings arent for 2025 grads rather 1-2 years experience out of school. Any tips on where I should start for recruiting? I'm not looking for brand names, I know my place and I'm looking for lesser known shops in the strategies I listed above. I've already been talking to all of my connections about their recruiting cycle and all that jazz, but was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience, where they landed, and if anyone has some firms they could name drop I could look into.
Also any other types of roles I could look into like biz dev at startup/corp dev/consulting/others that could place into VC/growth/LMM/MM tech buyout? I dont think ill be able to land an IB offer unless its capital raises because know much about IB and I'd be miles behind others in the recruiting process, so looking for alternatives that might not be on my radar.
Thanks for the help
FT is basically run through networking alone. Reach out to people who you spoke to during SA recruiting, start hitting up more folks outside those circles, etc.
I would also have lowish expectations in general - sounds like you are casting a wide net, but most people recruiting with no return offer take a serious downgrade. Focus on smaller firms in those big markets... growing teams, etc. Startups are risky as a new grad and skill development is super varied.
I would also spend the most time on NYC, it's a natural story "I didn't want to be in XYZ T3 city and wanted to stay in NYC, so I'm not returning to Big Fund next year" - SF/Chi are going to be wary of you if you have no ties/connections, coming from a NY school it just reads like you didn't land NY and are looking elsewhere. Those profiles tend to bolt the second they get a NY offer at 12-18 months.
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