Frustrated over summer internship search

yup its been pretty bad at my school as well. Almost 300 ppl applying for 20-30 interview spots.

Competitive as hell, many of them already have BB IBD experience, and its hard to beat their resumes!!

Just keep trying and good luck

My sentiments exactly.

I've been trying to get a summer position for going on four months now. No luck so far, but you just have to keep applying and interviewing, and something will work out.

In these times, even doing everything right -- going to a target, getting a 3.5+ GPA, having previous finance internships, being involved on campus, etc. -- is not enough to get you even an INTERVIEW, much less an offer. I've been declined interviews at a BB at which I worked the previous summer, even with good references from my supervisors. I think the game just is that tough this year. You can't have half your potential employers making multi-billion dollar losses and expect everything to go on as usual.

Wall Street usually works in cycles. We seem to be in a bad part now. With hope, things will get better by full-time recruiting.

As for the summer, if things don't work out, I plan on driving Route 66, walking the Appalachian Trail, or undertaking some other epic endeavor.

When it comes down to it, since you do go to an Ivy, it depends on who's reading your resume (they know you from something and can make a case for you, they did the same activities as you but maybe 10 years ago, etc.)

hey. I'm a sophomore at a nontarget, how do you think I feel?  Everyone's really frustrated right now, but seriously, just keep applying to stuff.  I'm applying to a ton of finance internship just to have something good to start with my sophomore summer and hopefully if I can't do banking this summer, I'll be in a better position for next.  Just keep applying.

it's definitely true that a small number of people are getting almost all the interviews. i go to a target, and our on campus recruiting software lets us see everybody who's signed up for an interview with every firm...and you really just keep seeing the same names over and over again (although each firm def has exceptions). obviously it kinda sucks for everybody else because those ppl obviously can only go to one job each...but that's life i guess. and they're clearly not trying to fuck everybody else, but have to apply to everything they have until they get an offer esp in these markets...

i'd advise applying to programs that also don't recruit at your school, since i would guess that you'd have a stronger chance of getting there (esp if youre at a strong tgt and they recruit at lower ones). and as someone i really trusted pointed out while i was freaking out about not getting interviews, there's more than one way to be successful in this world...you might want to think about what other possibilities are out there, and what your actual dream job would be. in these mkts, it's also def a good idea to apply to ibd, st, and consulting--it's just too uncertain to say that "this is what i want, this is what i'm going for" (imo).

one final note, even if it's really hard to get an interview now, if you get some solid summer experience, you'll be in really good shape to get an interview senior fall. i don't mean this just in the standard "oh you'll be more impressive" bs, although this is true to some extent. really though, all the ultra competitive candidates from last summer already have offers in hand, and so they either: 1) don't apply to anything else, or 2) only apply to things that are considered more prestigious (ie lehman ppl app'ing to ms and gs only). but there are still a lot of interview spots (albeit lower offers to be had), but you should be able to score an interview at least, and after that point it's obviously up to you.

good luck, hang in there.

thank you all for the encouragements. i will keep trying and maybe start looking into other career options. i do like trading and portfolio construction alot (fairly successful with my own personal account). but maybe there is certain thing such as fate.

yesterday and a month ago, i spent alot time applying to all the banks and some prop trading shops online. i dont know if i am just wasting my time with those online things. my past experience tells me that online applications are all blackholes and nothing ever come out of them.

in my school there were so many people applying for S&T for some reason

keep plugging... and you'll always have full time

today;s a bad day. no interview from GS (S&T + IBD), Lehman (S&T + IBD), jefferies (S&T+ IBD), merrill (S&T+IBD+ER), and other shit. not even fucking alternates. if this shit continues, doubt i'll have a chance at MS or JPM. my last chance of getting US internship in S&T lies in Barclays, BoA securities and Wachovia

lots of kids still batting ZERO.

friend suggested that i applied for more boutiques/MMs thru their own online forms and stay competitive........

What the hell is wrong with this year, are they just not hiring or hiring very very few? Just got rejected by BNP Paribas.

If you guys have successful friends, can you share what kind of stats do they have?

The trend I noticed @ my school was -

-They are definitely interviewing more ppl for S&T (as in there are more interview slots than say IBD or Research)

-Some super stars are applying to ALL divisions and getting interviews for all of them.

-Its the same facking names over and over again

-No finance background= no shot

My successful friends - 1500 SAT, 3.5+, Finance experience in the summer (mostly outside US).

I was targeting smaller trading firms @ my school and wrote pretty good cover letters for them and got interviews @ Jane Street and DRW. I have pretty crappy stats and no finance background, so I would think this time around cover letters are making all the difference in who gets those interviews.

oh and also what I noticed was -

MANY SENIORS are applying for summer internships this year. FT recruiting was BAD, so MANY of them are extending their study by one semester in order to have a shot at some BB's. So IMO SA positions are definitely much harder to get this year.

the ppl getting interviews at my target are mostly those with prior financial experience (Merill PWM - go figure). i've got a 3.5+ in a highly quantitative field and am getting dinged at most places for first rounds.

i think it's kind of annoying how much they want even juniors applying for SA to already have financial experience.

It's not necessarily the finance experience. In my opinion, someone with prior experience on his resume better understands what the bank is looking for. He has likely been interested in finance for a long time and obtained previous experience because he realized early on that it would be a huge advantage during recruiting season. Further, as he better understands the recruiting process, he is better able to tailor his application materials towards the banks needs.

Half the people whining here sound as if they have no idea what banks desire and simply got interested in finance 2 months ago. Many people interviewing for these positions have been interested in banking since freshman or sophomore year and have been working since that time to bolster their candidacies. The made sure that, when recruiting season started, they would have the entire package - GPA, experience, and industry knowledge. They deserve the interview spots because they worked hard for them.

No, I'm talking about first rounds. I do agree with your statement that prior experience helps in knowing what the banks are looking for, but this quality would only be apparent at the interview. People without the financial experience at my target are by and large getting dinged right after submitting a resume. just my observations

I'm also talking about first rounds. Many people dellusionally believe they are well-informed when they are actually quite ignorant. It's very possible that you have overt blunders in your resume/cl, etc w/o realizing it. It's possible that you don't follow proper ettiquitte when contacting/being contacted by firms. It's possible that, as other students have been interested in the industry for years, they already have well- and self-established contacts through previous networking. I've seen each one of these scenarios played out in the past... some arrogant idiot thinks he's a hotshot with a super-tight resume. I look at his/her resume (I'm pretty well informed about what a banking resume should look like) and I can immediately spot numerous blunders.

There are a billion reasons why you'd get passed on a first round.

People who post w/ a sense of entitlement and then complain when they are dinged are by and far the most annoying of the bunch. Instead of complaining about your competition, it's much more useful to reflect on ways to rebound from the disappointment. Everyone has been rejected in the past and it's a very useful learning process. I'm sure that many of these students getting first rounds do so because they've learned from past mistakes, when they first started job-searching years in advance.

chill out dude. I'm not "complaining". Of course, there are a billion reasons anybody would get passed on a first round. They look at a resume for 5 seconds and make a decision. Nobody's disputing what you've said - though I wonder why you said it.

My main point was to emphasize the importance of financial experience, even for SA positions where at least at my target, they emphasized that such experience was by no means necessary (one of the guys even said it wasn't even helpful).

I've got my fair share of interviews at some great firms and I'm grateful for them. I don't feel any sense of entitlement to an interview or a job, and if this weren't an online forum I'd be offended by how over judgmental you are

I think firms and schools tend to promote "no prior finance experience", because you don't really need it to do banking, hence you see history and comp sci majors doing fine. I think given this market, the hiring for those non-econ/finance majors probably takes a hit, since they may feel that some prior experience is a safer bet. Just like non-targets are definitley getting some slots taken away due to some programs being cut back (senior alum told this to me, and I would trust him).

the above is heresay, as a non-target finance major who is currently going through the process, but has made it pretty far with some BBs and boutiques. I think this year is just tough all around, and if senior are applying due to a bad FT hiring year, that certainly makes it harder for everyone else

i think it's important to cast a wide net. if you go to a target (ie. ivy league), you can still get a good experience at  MM bank in NYC - may not have the prestigue of GS or LEH, but hopefully that's not your entire focus. your chances at a mm are still tough, but still better than a BB.

untitled, what do u mean no GS? are u talking about the domestic offices?

i got rejected from deutsche... i have a 3.6+ gpa with tons of experience and tons of EC's... i agree with someone above that mentioned that many seniors are applying for SA because the FT recruiting was shit.

keep trying and good luck to all of us.

I'm a sophomore (econ major, 3.5+) at a non-tagert school. I worked at a BB (IBD) last summer and was offered employment this summer "pending market conditions." Thankfully, said BB is not Citi or Bear, but I'm still a bit worried. Should I be applying to other banks to cover my bases? If I do, will my "finance experience" prove useful (especially since all of my competition seems to be 1500+/3.5+/Ivy)? Please advise.

lol @ red bull ... don't ya just hate birds?

You should worry about more important things, like whether or not to order alcohol a superday dinner.

Impress your MD, get milk and cookies. Double points if you drink it with a straw.

0 for 9 here. Put me on the bench.

At my firm: 2000 applications for summer, 350 first round interviews, 20 spots.

Mind you, of the 2000, greater than 50% are from top target schools. So already, we have 1000+ students who are highly qualified. Narrowing this to 350 or so, you can see why we have no other measure but gpa and prior experience to dwindle the field.

I feel your pain. I'm amazed at the accomplishments of some of the candidates I interview. Hell, most of them have credentials that put mine to shame when I was coming out of school. Unfortunately, standards keep rising and what was good enough a few years ago is no longer enough.

batting 0 for 8, ivy, quant major, decent gpa, no experience, no connections

my friend at a target said a MS recruiter told him they received 800+ apps just for IB SA

It's really tough this year. I was told by a recruiter that wanted me to interview this Monday after I already chose to miss their superday for another bank that they had 3000 apps, 500 with referrals from employees, which was dwindled down to 35 final round interviews for 19 spots. While it was humbling to be invited to the final rounds, I have already made a decision, so it would have been a waste of time and resources.

is this a large bank? a summer class of 19 people sounds really low...or maybe i'm still in denial...

the perspective of someone who reviews resumes, here's what I can tell you. At my alma mater, there were 180 resumes dropped , and we chose 12 people to interview with 3-4 alternates. This is for first round. You don't have to have a ridiculous gpa...we looked for well-rounded candidates with some sort of interest in finance. Although, I have to say when we came across kids in our greek houses and someone could speak to their personalities, they were put into the highly consider list. it's a crap shoot, but hang in there.

I was just wondering how BB view the Naval Academy, or West Point? I have a 3.6 from the Naval Academy and I havent heard anything expect for a phone interview from GS for the spring program.

I attend a non-core school and I secured a few first round IB interviews with BB's and MM's. I got the opptunity through networking with as many bankers as I could find. Since most of you are at core schools just reach out to the alumni and connect with them. I wish you all the best of luck.

i can't believe this---i actually was invited to phone interview for equities in dallas

guess that's better than nothing