All My Internship Leads Fell Through - Need Advice / Gameplan

I'm a junior Econ major at a non-target liberal arts college with a sub 3.5 GPA and my only relevant work experience was at a really small lower MM PE firm last summer. I've got a few interesting abroad / volunteer experiences mostly in South America.

I want to do IBD and realize that to even have a slight chance for FT, I've got to do IBD this summer. Not surprisingly I struggled to get interviews at BBs and major MMs/boutiques. I interviewed at a boutique in Boston back in January that I networked pretty extensively at. I was told I had a pretty good shot but it took 2 months for them to finally tell me I was rejected ( I did follow up with HR multiple times). I also interviewed at a few consulting firms and for some wealth management roles at a BB. Those didn't pan out either.

I'm past the woe is me stage at this point and need some advice on how to go about securing a SA position at a (no-name) boutique. I've compiled a list of 45 boutique investment banks and need some advice on how to go about approaching them. I feel like I can craft a decent story for Lat Am focused boutiques but I'm having trouble finding any. Pay is not a consideration.

- Has anyone had success getting an SA spot this late and how did you go about it?
- What strategies work best? Should I be cold calling at this point? If so, should I target HR or Partners/MDs?
- Are there any specific firms you've heard of that have taken on an intern this late?
- Are there any other types of opportunities I should be pursuing if I want to give myself a shot at IB for fulltime? (Realistically, I don't think anybody with my academic background is getting a F500 corp fin role, especially this late)

Honestly, I'm considering suiting up and taking a day or two to go into the city and physically knock on some doors. Is this even a feasible option given that my background is not necessarily the strongest? Are my balls big enough? I don't even know.

Any advice at all is greatly appreciated.

 

I'm in similar situation mate. I go to a non-target liberal arts college as well. Sent a bunch of cold e-mails in the last 2 months, resulted in around 50 information interviews and 3 actual interviews. Made it to second round in 2 out of those 3, but I just found I did not end up getting an offer.

Any advice would be helpful.

I've been thinking of: - Cold calling boutique firms. - Cold emailing pe firms/ hedge funds asking for unpaid internships. - Knocking on doors as you mentioned probably won't work at the town where I'm at right now.

Up until this point, I would never ask for an internship in the e-mails (I would just ask for advice/information interviews). Would I have a better chance if I change my strategy?

 
Best Response

I would start off with some emails. Most boutiques will have contact info listed out, and you should just pick whomever it is that you think you could hit it off best with. If there's no reply in a few days, follow up. If nothing after that, move on to the next guy at the firm or the next firm entirely. Start sending out 5-10 of these per day. It should only take an hour or so. Your goal should be to try to set up informational interviews (in person is best, if not, phone should be fine too).

I wouldn't recommend going to a firm unannounced and asking to speak with someone. I'm not saying it couldn't work; I just have never heard of anyone doing it before and being successful. For one thing, I don't know which city you're targeting, but 99% of banks aren't in offices where you could just walk up to them (i.e. you have to swipe a keycard to get into an elevator bank, then maybe another swipe to enter your floor, then maybe another swipe to get into the actual office once you're on the right floor).

The best advice anyone can give you is to get out there and (metaphorically) knock on some doors, and see what happens.

Also, don't give up on on campus recruiting - you never know when someone promising might pop up, and when it does, you should be doing your best to network at that firm.

 

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