A target student's observations from the 2022 IB Recruitment Cycle
IB recruitment is extremely intense and stressful. We all know this. Everyone says network, be flawless in your psychometrics tests (numericals, verbals etc.) but as the majority of IB recruitment for 2022 is now done, I wish to reflect on it. It is mainly based on mine and my friends' experiences.
1. Diversity has REALLY taken over
- no need to discuss this but it's ridiculous how much diversity matters nowadays. Diversity candidates have it extremely easy and I've heard of numerous stories where they get put into a different process for the same bank or they get put back in the process even if they were rejected after the psychometrics tests. I would assume that at least 70% of the spots are for Diversity (LGBT, Black, and Women).
2. Technicals don't even matter!
- 90% of the banks DON'T even ask technicals. It's all behaviourals. There are only a few banks that ask technicals. Consulting type of questions are probably more common. This is actually worrying because you'd think smart, knowledgeable people would work on huge deals but in reality it doesn't exactly work this way.
3. Networking does help
- Plenty of people here say networking in the UK doesn't help. That's clearly false. It definitely definitely helps. The person you networked might interview you, or they can refer you if they are senior enough and you can pass screening, which is the major hurdle as the actual interview process is easy (see point number 2).
4. The people who get into IB mostly don't know what they want and they just want the optionality.
- Most people in the cohort gunning for IB just follow the crowd and can't think for themselves. They want IB/PE because everyone else wants IB/PE not because of a genuine interest. They don't find IB nor PE investing interesting. They are driven by money and this just seems like a safe way to achieve it.
This is my truth. Am I wrong about something?
Every bank I interviewed at had at least one technical round. Though behaviorals comprise 90% of the interview process.
OP here
It is extremely rare to hear that someone had tough technicals. I know people who got into the top banks without being asked a single technical. Perhaps times have changed since you interviewed.
If someone gets asked a technical, it's more about general understanding (what are the 3 financial statements) instead of advanced stuff (paper LBO, details of M&A, PIK accounting etc.)
Might be a UK thing, but here in the US only EBs ask what you note as advanced material
Honestly for me (in the States) I probably had technicals for 70% of the banks I interviewed at (disregarding the super easy basic ones). The ‘ranking/prestige’ of the bank didn’t really play a huge role in the difficulty of the technicals, though. I had some decently regarded banks with no technicals, some top banks with very easy technicals, and some ‘low tier’ banks with surprisingly tough technicals. Consulting type questions were very big though.
OP here
A few people shared their US experience. In the UK it's very different. For you networking is crucial and you didn't even have psychometrics testing until recently. It's a lot less meritocratic and more about connections.
The key thing is that in the UK getting the interview is the extremely hard part. Once you have a first round interview, if you aren't stupid you probably have a 30% chance of getting an offer.
Echoing the other comment. I recruited this past summer and got asked technicals from every single bank in both rounds. Even GS asked me technicals. Some were simple, but I had IB experience on my resume and was pretty much always asked more advanced accounting or LBO questions.
Ya got to massively disagree on the technicals point lol. All the top shops I interviewed at (CVP, HL RX, Barclays, etc) had multiple technical rounds.
UK?
Deleted
lmao. idk what qualifies as a top shop anymore but in the UK I wouldn't put any of those 3 up there.
clearly have little understanding of the restructuring space
Nah US
OP here
Yes, CVP & HL probably have technicals. But a lot of others don't. Rothschild, JPM, MS depends, Bank of America depends, and so on.
It also depends on your profile. I'm basing my opinion based on what I've heard from everyone's experiences (15+ people).
Totally agree with first point although this is nothing new.
Interviewed and had friends who interviewed at multiple banks (GS, PWP, BOA, Barclays, UBS, CS, PJT etc.) seemed to be harder and more in depth technicals at EBs. Had a few friends that were not asked a single technical. Semi target all Finance majors.
Target school student here got 2 EB and 2 BB offers this cycle so far. Wasn't asked a single technical question and study a completely irrelevant degree. Agree with last point completely too.
Curious if this is for SA or FT recruitment as well.
I went through FT this cycle in London and all the banks I interviewed with were majority technical (only interviewed at EBs). Worth noting I come from a very odd background so might’ve been more specific to me.
OP here
I only know about SA.
In the UK FT recruitment is mainly for people with previous internships. It is quite rare to see people without experience getting FT role. Since at that point people have experience, maybe they ask more technicals.
I think it's important to specify that this is for the UK. I'm guessing the experience regarding diversity and technicals is different in the US.
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