2019 FT Analyst Recruiting Timeline

Mod Note (Andy): 8/16/18 - Updates continue to roll in, make sure to check page two
for the must up to date information.

Haven't seen a thread on this yet. Since Summer Analyst recruiting has gotten underway, I thought it would be helpful to aggregate any and all information regarding full-time recruiting.

So far, being at a major IBD university, I have seen no information. Feel free to pass along info if you have any.

 

As someone who went through FT recruiting last year, I noticed that a lot of banks will have just a couple openings available after intern offers go out, but you have to be "in the loop" to be invited for their FT processes most of the times.

I've also heard that some banks will do some FT recruiting from Jan-April depending on what happens during bonus season and if they just need a larger team because of better deal flow.

 

So would you say it's best to start reaching out to other banks sometime in the middle of summer after already putting in several weeks at your current SA bank? I just feel like trying to make those calls before the summer seems pretty risky.

 

Went through the process last year: started my internship in may (4 month stint) and reached out to a bunch of analysts and associates that were alumni (semi-target, Canada) and had an informational chat. At the end of the call I'd say that I was interested in any processes that may come up and would love to stay in the loop.

 

Entrepreneur Hero,

As someone who will not be interning in IB this summer, but in O&G, how would you approach recruiting if you were in my shoe?

For context, I have previously interned in IB last summer + eng major.

Thanks!

 

Just echoing what someone said above -- what should my timeline be for reaching out to people? I feel like its a bad look to already be calling people and saying that I'm interested in pursuing their firm if I haven't even spent a day in the office at my current firm yet. But, at the same time, I'm worried about waiting too long. What's the move?

 

This does involve some tapestry in my opinion.. Im in a similar spot - trying to reach out for FT before I even begin my 2018 IB SA role - and the way Im going about it is just portraying each outreach as a means of learning more about the industry/inquiring about how i can prep and kill it over the summer.. Obviously Im doing this in concert with ingratiating myself to the banker on the other side + setting a great impression.. Plan is to reach out again in June to officially espouse an interest and hopefully get into their processes.

From my understanding most EBs are going to be running their FT recruitment late July/early August.

Analysts/Associates should be your bread n butter when reaching out.

 

I made the move to IB during FT Associate recruiting after doing something different for my MBA summer internship.

Around early-mid July, I started reaching out to friends/classmates who were doing IB summer internships. This was great for getting information about firm/group culture. I would also ask for referrals to any more seasoned alumni they knew in the groups I was interested in. I had these conversations in late July and August.

It's all about staying on firms'/groups' radars. To echo what people above say, there's not a formal process being run some (most) of the time, so being the person people think of when they need to add an FT hire is crucial.

Be ready when you're talking to anyone at the bank who's not a friend/peer. I had informationals/coffee chats turn into interviews with technicals.

 

Yeah no USA openings.

Although I would not even be slightly surprised if they start looking at FT candidates over the summer when they look at SA candidates. They can reasonably expect to have more than zero openings, and I think keeping a backlog of resumes from which to make offers would be somewhat of a sensible approach.

 

Now that I think about it, I'm sure banks with large analyst classes could do FT recruiting earlier just based on their previous years' stats about how many people don't get offers or leave banking for other reasons. Of course, these would be extremely accelerated processes that would be few and far between before they actually go through FT recruiting. For example, we all know GS's offer rate is less than 100% so theoretically they could have an accelerated process to get new people who can fill in those spots of those interns who will not get an offer merely because not all interns will get return offers.

 

I'm interested in other people's thoughts on this.

I think you're fighting two things here. One is the risk of insulting the people you're working with. I don't think they'd be that sensitive, but it seems possible. The other is coming off as presumptuous. It doesn't seem appropriate to initiate beyond the summer conversations in the first few weeks you're there, for example.

I think the best way to go about this would be to frame your desire to explore NYC opportunities as a primarily (although not exclusively for the sake of truthfulness) personal choice.

Like a "I love working here, but my family are in New York; given the lifestyle of this job, I'll rarely see them if I'm not nearby. I'd love to stay at the firm though, so my preference is first for that office, second for this one, with any other companies trailing behind as undesirable choices." Obviously this would need some tweaking (especially if your family aren't in New York) but you let people's egos have an out.

And I think it would be best to float the possibility before you leave. I've always found its easier to get people on your side if you talk to them in person.

 

You're totally allowed to do this. The problem is that you can't tell the recruiter that you're interested in the firm when you haven't even started your junior internship. It'll look a little weird similar to if someone is networking with analysts at different banks for FT when they haven't started their junior internship. At the same time, if you ask the recruiter about it, you'll be on their radar or at least try to be on their radar as you can ask for their business card and keep in contact with them over the next few months regarding FT positions.

 

What's the best way to go about the recruitment process here in the US if I'm interning at a national IB back home? It'll be my first evert IB internship

 
Best Response

Hey Everyone,

I was in a similar spot last year and was going through FT recruitment without having a major banking internship on Wall Street. I come from a super Non-Target and ended up doing a Masters of Finance this year at a decently known school. By being super diligent and persistent I was able to land a job on the street. My advice If you are coming from a background like mine would be to find an internship whether paid or unpaid that offers some type of transaction experience over this summer. I reached out to small PE firms/ Boutique IB shops and ended up landing an internship at super small shop (banking team was less than 5 people!!) and worked on 1 live deal. However, starting in April 2017 I started networking super hard reaching out to anyone that I had any kind of connection with I.E. hometown/university/ club/ fraternity and flew up to NYC twice over the summer to meet with these guys in person and really showed how committed I was. It is super important to build the network early and followup late July because the process goes by SUPER FAST. In my experience, the top BB's weren't hiring and I didn't fit there background so I targeted a lot of the middle market firms.

From my experience the firms that were hiring that I made contact with were:

SunTrust Piper Mizuho Nomura Moelis BB&T RBC Wells Fargo CIBC Jefferies Oppenheimer KBW Raymond James Lazard MM Lincoln International TD Securities Baird HL Stifel Stephens

I am sure there were some others but those were the main ones off the top of my head. Hopefully this helps some of you monkeys out. Best of luck out there and stay committed!

 

I am about to start my MSF program and reaching out to alum now. One question I found was that ppl r in different coverage/product group. When I say I am interested in their IBD FT position, should I say whichever group they are at or just say im open to any? any input would be great thanks!

 

I personally would mention a specific coverage/product group you are interested in (and why) but go on to say you are open to considering different groups if the opportunity arises. This way you show you have thought about the question (you have a specific area of interest that you have developed overtime) but are still keeping your options open and maximizing your chances of getting an offer somewhere. I am in a similar boat as you; I will be recruiting for FT this summer and have also started reaching out to all the contacts I have. FT IDB recruiting is really tough because for a lot of banks it's not really a formal process. Ideally, banks would want to solidify their FT analyst class entirely via their SA programs (this is what happens at most of the BBs and EBs) so as to minimize risk. At MM banks there tends to be more turnover and hence a FT recruiting process is more relevant. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is FT recruiting seems to be somewhat of a crapshoot (how many SAs will return to x firm?) so it's best to keep as many doors open as possible and not be picky.

 

Hey guys, anybody have any updates on applications?

Only place I know that is open right now is Citi. I think the rest are opening up sometime mid July from reading last year's thread.

 

Last year, BAML did not have any FT applications/openings when I went through the process.

EDIT: MS actually did have applications open last year, but the HR rep I kept in close contact with said that they did not have any openings after the interns accepted their full-time offers. Think they had just opened applications in the event that they had a lower than expected yield on the interns

JPM does their junior analyst FT recruiting process, which I think has roughly 20 spots annually in the US (don't quote me on the exact number, but it's a pretty substantial amount if I recall correctly from a friend who made it far in the process).

 

I can speak on BAML. I'm doing a wholesale credit SA right now, did my mid summer review and it was good. Spoke with IB analyst recruiter, they will have a idea of what roles are open for capital market or IB during the end of Summer internship which is 8/10. Then, spots gets open to SA who expressed that they are looking to transition to other banks. (Obviously, you need to have good review from manager first.) Then, they will try to connect you to the hiring manager for superday. Depending on business needs and how many people gets fill, spot will be open for external. Already started dialogue with other banks, seems like standard process.

 

Did you talk to your manager about wanting to switch to a different role within the bank for ft or did you reach out to the hr person who currently manage your program and express your interest? Interest in knowing how to approach this!

 

That's a great question. I did it with my HR program manager. And, I told him that I didn't want to burn bridges by letting my manager know. There's definitely a little bit of push back on keeping me in wholesale credit. However, I just said that I see some senior management who also make the same move. Therefore, I want to try something different in capital market or coverage to gain some exposure in other parts of the bank. Ended with something like getting interviews at other bank, who have been poaching me and offering interviews in August.

 

I will update in here when a friend in JPM IBD gets back to me. She mentioned that she would reach out when they know how many spots will be open (likely early August)

 

I would say in general, no.

SF - some would say even more comparable given desirability of exit opportunities with what is a sexy tech space.

LA - toss-up but I would say it's about the same when you factor in significantly less spots per firm vs equally qualified candidates / good schools.

Outside of these 2 places, offices get quite regional with their own idea of what is "target" - Houston generally takes Rice & University of Houston kids, Chicago takes Loyala kids, etc. So all in all - NY is where the opportunity is, going somewhere else is arguably harder given less spots & the perception you're trying to use them as a stepping stone (compared to a candidate who grew up there, went to school there, has family there, and conceivably wants to work there).

 

marty.p29 doesn't know what he's talking about. I'm a SA at BAML this year for wholesale credit and my recruiter is going to put in contact with both IB or capital market depending on what I want to do. There's definitely still opening for IB, I have spoken with the head recruiter. However, spots are given to internal SA first. Capital market I will be speaking with them next week. There's still spots open for global industrial at the New York office for sure, I spoke with the one of the VP. Don't give up, just keep applying and grinding.

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I've only gotten "verbal" commitments to interview me for 2019 FT roles at two BB's in my area. That being said, this is only after networking for the past 6-12 months. From what I've heard, Qatalyst is the only firm to have conducted 2019 FT analyst interviews (I went through their process).

 

No, you're going to want to apply for positions that do not list "2019 analyst" in the title. Essentially, FT hire spots looking to bring someone on immediately. Most, if not all, 2019 analyst apps require the applicant to graduate in either December 2018 or Spring 2019.

Edit: how is that inaccurate? If he graduated in December 2017, he doesn't qualify for 2019 Analyst roles. The apps specifically state, graduated dec 18 or spring 19.

 

Hopefully it is not lol. Since it doesn't post the deadline so how are we supposed to know when to submit our application. I think it will be more round afterwards.

 

henri,

Was scanning through JPM FT positions, it appears they have postings for analyst positions, but they all end with (intern conversion). I assume these are for their summers, but it appears they're available to the public? Any clue what's going on there?

Edit: After some quick browsing, it appears the user-face FT program selector on JPM's careers site shows barely any open programs, but if you can find a way to the actual postings, they're open, with (intern conversion) listed beside. It seems it's just a lackadaisical non-employee firewall bug

 

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