Hearing about others who get offers, but contacts telling me they're not interviewing until August? Advice

I recently had another round of coffee chats with contacts at BB's. Almost all of them told me the recruitment process for non-targets at their bank won't begin until near the end of July, one mentioning as late as September.

Yet, I know others with offers and constantly hear about people on here getting offers from these firms. A few weeks back I had someone at an EB telling me something similar, and he connected me to others in his firm. Then all of a sudden they got back to me and told me that they just finished up the recruiting process.

My question: Should I be worried about all of the BB spots filling up through the accelerated process/from people with exploding offers? I'm being told to wait until their regular interviewing timeline and that I have a good shot, but my experience last month tells me that I should be worried that they will fill up all of their spots without even making it to the the planned recruitment schedule.

Its felt like I've been in a good position for interviews at 8ish places for the last month. But its now July and I don't have any currently. My contacts are still connecting me to more people, but I no longer have the advantage of being early (the people I got connected with from my round of coffee chats were telling me I am late to the process at this point), while I am also struggling to afford a 3rd trip to NYC to network.

Lastly, I've been aiming to continue networking, and I understand how busy everybody is, and I hate following up if I didn't give them at least a week to answer, but I'm struggling to continue to network in a timely manner. I'll meet someone for a coffee chat and they will mention connecting me to someone. I send them the follow up, wait a week, send another follow up, then they get back to that a week later and connect me with someone, who then responds to my email a 3-4 days later to set up a time to have a call a week in advance. Its extremely frustrating. Maybe I email at bad times of the day for them? (Usually Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays between 9am-3pm)

The result of this, is that I've had coffee chats with 1-3 analysts/associates at over 12 places, with only 3 places where I've spoken with over 5 people or VPs. Most of the coffee chats they mention that they will offer to connect me with other people, but almost every time its not followed through on. Either that or they tell me they say they'd love to help, but have no pull and that I need to talk to VP's or alumni (and that they wouldn't be able to get a VP to talk to me).

Does anyone have any advice for me? My university has less than 10 alumni in the IB, and all of them are at the analyst/associate level. I've tried to cold email MD's, but have never received any sort of response. People have offered to connect me with MD's and told me that they are who I need to speak with, but when I follow about it they no longer answer me.

Edit: I also have senior contacts in other areas of finance/people who could connect me with MDs. However, they are nowhere near as familiar with the IB recruitment process. Generally the feedback from them is that I should do 2-3 years+ as a credit risk analyst, get an MBA, and thats how I get into banking. It seemed completely foreign to them that you can get in from undergrad (and that I even have an IBD summer internship as an undergrad). They've all told me they're not comfortable connecting someone without years of experience to someone at that level. I've received this feedback from the 6 best contacts I have outside of banking.

 
Most Helpful

Short answer: yes, you should be worried, and should start to widen your search to include firms other than BBs.

The recruiting process has been crazy this year. Some firms (JP Morgan) started in freaking APRIL, while some aren't starting until July/August (Centerview, Credit Suisse, BAML). Even then, the firms that are opening up their online applications so late have already filled spots from targets (I think BAML has filled a quarter to a half of their class already...).

I would definitely start hustling. Most firms are either done (i.e. most EBs except for Centerview) or close to being done (MS, GS). Very few have not started.

If I'm being honest, I'd recommend (as a safety measure) reaching out to middle market banks too -- Piper, Jefferies, BMO, etc. Diversify your opportunities unless you can't land an EB or BB. Also, MM gigs are becoming increasingly sought after for the quality of deal experience you get there imo.

With regards to emails, I always send emails in the later afternoon (between 3-5pm) or late evening (after 8pm). I've found that I get fewer responses in the morning, during lunch time (12-2) or during dinnertime (6-8ish). Just my opinion, someone else on this forum may be able to better speak to when the best time to email is.

PM me if you want to ask any specific questions. There are definitely still spots left at MOST BBs, but not as many as one might hope...best of luck.

 

Agree with everything @DavidoffCoolWater" said above.

It is worth noting that Associates, VPs etc. aren't always as completely in touch with the current recruiting process as HR - they have better things to be thinking about, and bankers may be speaking from their own experience from a few years past, while the timeline has now sped up.

I had similar experiences as you where I would speak to associates/VPs at BBs etc. who would tell me the recruiting process wasn't planned to start until summer, but then I started getting interviews and applications started opening far earlier. While it is obviously still worth networking as they will often be the ones making the final decisions in terms of who to hire, or are the ones interviewing candidates, you should also reach out to HR periodically to check in on how timelines are progressing at different banks. Good luck.

 

Voluptatum nisi est omnis perferendis sint exercitationem. Officiis minus vel accusantium quas consequatur voluptas et. Repudiandae est error qui perferendis repellat inventore. Quam aliquam accusamus laboriosam veniam pariatur.

Facere similique iusto soluta laboriosam illum non voluptatem et. Dolorem ut est id excepturi molestiae earum. Sit eos suscipit alias.

Eaque aspernatur pariatur incidunt sit minima numquam tenetur. Sunt dolores voluptas distinctio laudantium. Sit et dignissimos sed velit tempora. Iure et molestias sunt porro eos exercitationem rerum.

Et fugit possimus qui iusto perferendis. Est suscipit rerum tempore aut consequatur dolor autem cupiditate. Possimus voluptatibus alias vitae nihil qui sit architecto.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”