Thank you, WSO - IBD position at second-tier bank

First off, I have really really wanted to write this post for almost two years now and to be able to finally write it is fucking awesome.

Secondly, I know that there have been a few posts like this recently, but still I wanted to say thanks to all on this board who gave me help... WSO has been fucking awesome and I definitely could not have made it here without perusing through millions of random threads and. Extra props to guys like captaink, anthony, gekko, comp, etc... invaluable advice.

I had no summer IBD experience and a relatively poor GPA but I managed to get a IBD position in a second-tier bank in NY.

I wanted to mention a few quick things that I picked up as a result of going through this process:

• Be confident in interviews... that's 80% of the battle. Once you realize this you're going to start beasting through interviews.

• Network your heart out. I don't mean email a few guys and half-heartedly respond with a few stupid questions. I mean go out, meet the guys in person, ask for additional contacts, ask for interviews. Be aggressive. I cold emailed over 200 people... and heard back from only a few. The few that I heard back from ended up being great resources and some even helped me land interviews.

• Don't ever give up. I had some of the worst luck ever, but the best thing I did was keep on moving forward and keeping my head up. When I was looking for summer IBD positions, I actually had 4 offers from boutiques. One of them actually rescinded an offer because they lost out on a deal, and I couldn't take the other 3 because they were unpaid and I couldn't afford it and I ended up at a hedge fund instead. Just remember that it's not about where you're at right now, it's about where you end up in the end.

• Buy the interview guides. There's no excuse not to know your shit forward and backward.

• Don't limit yourself. You're not too good for any place. You're not too good for Piper Jaffray or Jeffries regardless of where they are in the league tables, and you bet your ass you better apply to that local boutique you've never heard of. I had to send out hundreds of applications to land a single offer.

Thanks again to everyone on WSO!