2020 FT IB Recruiting Thoughts
Wanted to ask more specifically about full-time recruiting since there aren't too many posts regarding this
A little background on myself, currently a junior at a top target, 3.5 gpa, solid ECs, but due to the ridiculously early process for SA recruiting this year and some personal issues I struck out on a lot of the early processes either because I missed out completely on dates or wasn't prepared and couldn't make it past Superdays (or sometimes didn't even get superdays). Thankfully I was able to catch up and eventually received a SA offer in nyc with a lower tier foreign bank (think Mizuho/Nomura/HSBC)
I don't want to rule them out before even having started the summer internship, but I've been considering going through full time recruiting for banking and didn't want to be stuck in the same position as this year where I wasn't prepared enough and thus couldn't be my best self. I also think there's nothing to lose by trying, and I won't feel bad about having tried if I know I tried my best.
The consensus among the few posts for FT recruiting on the forum seems to be that FT recruiting is a bloodbath and that it's a combination of luck and preparation, and that BBs rarely have spots, though the few spots EBs have are highly competitive, and I totally get that. But I've been thinking through this a while and am willing to dedicate a lot of time and still give it my best shot. I don't necessarily have a huge interest in jumping ship to just a marginally better firm, so am planning on shooting for the stars come FT recruiting season.
Wanted to see if those that have gone through FT recruiting would be willing to share some insights, regarding when I should start reaching out to people again, whether interview process and in what way behavioral/technical questions will be more advanced, aka general tips/advice.
Any and all advice/criticism are welcome, thanks in advance!
PM me
Was in a fairly similar situation. Went through 2019 FT recruiting and landed at a lower BB in my choice city and coverage group. Happy to give you some pointers. Some EB's will reserve slots for FT recruiting (CVP comes to mind, I recruited with them).
Not OP but had a few questions. How many banks did you interview with? What was your success rate? Previous internships? Also, what advice would you have for 2019 FT recruiting? What's a general timeline for this year?
2019 FT recruiting is all but done. Smaller shops and some random openings will pop up here and there, so your prior networking is key to be able to even hear about said openings. Are you asking about the 2020 timeline, or 2019?
Ex: Network with PWP for 2018 SA, don't land a spot. Continue networking with analysts, roll that up into conversations with associates/VP's. Team seems to like you, you come in for coffee and meet in-person. You continue the dialogue from fall 17 through summer 18, and start mentioning how you're interested in learning about the 19 FT process. They tell you they're gonna be interviewing a select group in August/September, but thanks to your networking, even though you weren't at a GS/JPM/MS level shop, you still make it to the super day. At that point, it's up to you to crush it technically. Assuming you do, that + your networking = offer.
This is a hypothetical, but replace PWP with a lower BB and GS/JPM/MS with solid MM shops and you have my experience going through recruiting. I got my offer because of a single coffee chat that I impressed an associate at. He went to bat for me during FT recruiting and spoke with me a couple times a month from June 17 through August 18, and ultimately brought me in for a super day in early October. I landed at my top choice firm/coverage group/city.
I interviewed with ~25 banks, with FT offers from two. The firms ranged from small 20-25 man shops to MM's like RBC, to BB's like baml/DB/MS/Citi. My offers were from one BB and one boutique.
Previous internships were startup sophomore year, boutique IB sophomore summer, ML wealth management junior year, lower MM IB junior summer, and L/S equity HF senior fall. My gpa was a 3.8 going into FT recruiting and I had one club leadership position, as well as a few trading competitions and some volunteer experience. Attended a T100 non-target. Honestly what helped me the most was networking though -- I'm still in touch with a lot of the guys I spoke with. Happy to answer any other questions you have.
Best piece of advice I can give you would be - network as much as possible with the goal of building genuine connections with the people you speak with - practice your technicals and know them cold (DCF/LBO/MM's, multiples, multi-step accounting, etc.) - Know the space the group you're trying to get into operates in COLD; have a few industry trends that you know, some promising startups, a potential M&A deal, and some stats on VC funding activity - Apply to as many firms as possible
It's a numbers game. They have to reject you every time for you to not land an offer, but you only need to get a "yes" once.
I'm also in the same situation but with a MM firm. Can anyone give me some pointers on how to properly lateral from an SA to FT?
Same situation^ also trying to switch from NYC to LA but the MM I have the internship at doesn't have an office there so trying to recruit at other places
Did an SA program at a lower MM firm; went through FT recruiting and got offers at a few BBs and EBs. Happy to discuss further via PM.
It is likely that there will be more FT spots this recruiting cycle than previous due to the accelerated recruitment timeline. From speaking with friends at various banks, there are a good amount of firms that took less than ideal candidates this cycle given the time constraints.
hi can i PM you wanted some advice
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