Interviews? Can I Still Break In?
Hello everyone, I’m in need of some serious help. For some background I’ve been recruiting for IB since around January - résumé is IB-focused, I have only IB internships.
Here’s the thing: I’m almost sure I would hate my life as a banker. I’m almost sure I would love my life in S&T. I loved being a salesman in previous experience, I have some skills coding and thought it was cool but wasn’t 100% jazzed about it (I’d lean more towards sales, maybe trading, not quant).
When I chat with IB people they sometimes make you feel like an idiot. You never feel good enough - it’s just that kind of type-a personality and I never really fit in there.
I definitely fit in more in the S&T side of everything. I just talked to someone in sales yesterday and I bumbled through the first 5 mins because I need to refine my story but after that we really hit it off and I impressed them by mentioning how much I’ve been following everything - including current unemployment, their bank’s projected unemployment, interest rates, a lot of stuff on a macro level with a solid hypothesis on how it’ll affect the markets. They loved it, and this is the stuff I love following.
That being said, have most banks already started their process? Am I totally screwed in terms of breaking in? Which banks are the best for sales & trading? What’s the life like, what are exits like? Could I exit into hedge funds if I go into sales or is that really only available if you’re in trading? Has anyone ever gone into PE or HF if they wanted, do people even want this, can you get into a top bschool and lateral to these exits if you wanted? What’s the best way to break into S&T
Thank you all in advance - I really think I’d be more happy with a markets-focused job than in IB and I wish I would’ve recruited earlier.
PE or VC* also sorry about random typos this is on my phone and I’m in a hurry.
Also my product aim would be equity derivatives if that makes any difference.
What year are you
Rising junior. Just finished my 3rd year because I switched majors - could extend another semester to recruit 2022 SA but would prefer not to.
From talking with some of my friends still in school, seems like MS (is open but hasn't started), GS will open in US in July, and I believe JPM is also not open yet. I would imagine other BBs have started recruiting or will start soon. Also, if you want to trade, there are always reputable prop shops that recruit throughout the year like Optiver, IMC, etc. You will compensated way more there (prob 1.5x to 2x more), but the interview process is a bit tougher. In addition, exit ops from sell-side trading is not the best because you don't really do prop anymore. Depending on your school and qualifications, places like Citadel/JS recruit later in the fall as well. There are other buyside firms like wellington or fidelity that recruit in the Fall.
It's hard to break into the buyside from S&T but possible (HF possible depending on role and desk, PE practically impossible directly). Moreover, for B-school, just destroy the GMAT and work at a reputable firm. I know plenty of people in my class that got into deferred admissions M7 during their senior year. During your undergrad years, there's no reason to not get a 750+ GMAT if you put in the work and practice tons of problems.
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