Help - Consistently Failing to get IB SA Interviews and Running out of Time
I attend a target school: HYP. I started recruiting back in early Spring and have not had much success. I have received 4 BB Hirevues but struck out at all of them. I received first round phone calls at three mm banks as well. One of them I thought went really well, and the interviewer told me to email him if I had not received anything by the following week. I did email him and he responded telling me he would make sure I moved on; I did not end up moving on.
I have applied to over 70 BB, EB, and MM banks with no offer yet. I have networked and gained contacts for about my top 20 or so top choices. And yes, I did prepare for interviews. Where am I going wrong?
I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my failures. My verbal communication skills have always been a weak point for me, but I thought the work I put it in had brought it to a high enough level - maybe not. Any other suggestions? I have attached my resume too.
Sounds like the issue isn't anything on paper, considering your school and first rounds. I can think of two possible problems off the top of my head.
1. Is your networking producing results? Are these calls actually going well and leading to positive feedback (e.g., giving you names of others to speak with or enthusiastically telling you to stay in touch and let them know when you apply), or do the people you speak with just forget about you after the call? This is more an issue of getting a first round than advancing past one, but I'm surprised that you only got seven first rounds from 70 banks with your HYP background.
The vast majority of my networking calls led nowhere, but the few people (<10 bankers) who I really had a fantastic connection with were the ones who mattered. They went the extra mile to offer to do mock interviews, push me hard in recruiting, etc. After my superday, they were proactively checking with HR regularly to see if I got the offer.
2. Are you getting quality feedback? I know I'm being captain obvious here, but something is clearly going wrong for you to not get one superday with seven first rounds. Are you doing mock interviews with your friends and getting feedback that's brutally honest? Two seniors at my school destroyed my Tell Me About Yourself response and had me start from scratch several times before I landed on something we were all satisfied with.
Usually the interviewer lets you know if you botched a technical question, so I imagine your issues are with behaviorals.
This late in the IB SA recruiting season, I imagine you'll have to broaden your internship search to PE/VC/AM/HF as well. Not saying that's a walk in the park, but with so few banks still recruiting, that's pretty much the hand you've been dealt.
Edit: Reading your post again, I just realized you didn't get EB first rounds. EBs value quality over quantity for networking to my knowledge, so that's another sign you have problems there
Thank you for your response. I thought I was connecting with well with people. I reached out back in the Fall to get a head start then reached out again in the Spring. I seemed to connect well with some people. For example, like two weeks ago, I reconnected with one of my connections and they told me they would give me a referral. Yet, it has been several weeks and no first round invite. It was a IBAB too and they were not my only contact at the bank. I also am a diversity applicant, so I have attended some of those events and gone through these pathways to boost my networking
I probably have not received enough critical feedback; none of my interviewers gave me any feedback. I have not missed a technical question, but I also have not been asked that many questions in general. I don't have any friends in college, so I have not been able to do mock interviews with anyone. I normally just practice using my laptop camera.
This is all so tough to accept, but I will just keep trying I guess
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