IS JEFFRIES SERIOUS???

I won't touch this one as I'm sure someone else is going to rip on you. I would be mindful of your spelling if you are "venting from a target".

On a more diplomatic note, it sounds like you've already graduated? Probably a bit more difficult if you're recruiting outside the timetable. Many of the MM banks may not have alums from the target schools and thus, do not recruit as heavily.

I might have been harsh in my prior statements. It gets frustrating however when you've worked hard all your life and coming up empty at least for now. Nothing against state school's but the analysts i know had GPA's in the range of 3.1 - 3.4 just exemplifying how relatively lax it was back then compared to now

Life isn't fair.

maybe you aren't getting interviews because you aren't even spelling the bank's name correctly...

People get turned away for a variety of reasons...going to a target doesn't immediately guarantee you a spot in an IB. Not really sure why you think you deserved a spot though--you obviously don't know much about the bank, you seem pretty immature and frankly your grammar is downright horrible.

To herserendipity's point, this market is really tough and banks can afford to be as picky as they like. So maybe your 3.5 at Cornell looks good against someone at a state school, but how does it compare to the 3.7 from Wharton (or Harvard, Yale, Stanford etc.)? Banks can choose the cream of the crop in this market, perhaps you simply don't fall into this category. Looks like you should readjust your expectations if you are going to land a job any time soon.

As someone who left Jefferies recently, I am not sure where you are getting your information about the quality of their analyst class. In recent years recruiting has focused around places like UMich, Columbia, Berkeley, Wharton, UVA, Stanford, NYU, Harvard, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, UT and BC, with a few people from each school. A few more were sprinkled in from random places, but they were accomplished in their own right.

Keep in mind that it is a small bank and does not have an analyst class in the 100s so they cannot afford the risk of bringing on someone with as unpleasant a personality as the original poster. It is surprising how much you can pick up about a person through their resume alone...

great pic...

Agreed, the picture is perfect... what in god's name were you looking to get out of posting a comment like that?

NEVER lose your BlackBerry www.conveniencesoftware.com

coming from a target doesn't necessarily make you more competitive than students from non target

I bet you're a lot like Andy, from The Office.

There's always the paper business, buddy. Check out this firm:

http://www.dundermifflininfinity.com/

You guys are a riot. His target school should refund his money and send him to state school to learn how to spell.

your probably to good 4 them though, i here they take kids from state school's

I can't help but agree with the above posters. Your anger and judgment is all based on the fact that you feel more qualified than others based on where you went to school. Maybe you have a liberal arts degree, and they are looking for someone with a finance or accounting background. Maybe you butchered the spelling of their firm name or the general language in your cover letter, so they laughed and threw out your application. Maybe your cum laude didn't stack up against the summa cum laudes from the state schools who had relevant internships. Heck, maybe you're just not as good as you think you are. At any rate, you didn't make the cut. Better luck next year?

~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker

Why in the hell do you keep applying if you are being "consistently" rejected?

I went to school on an academic scholarship. I played NCAA football for four years and majored in economics with a minor in history. I have one internship with a well known hedge fund that is currently going through problems of their own. My comments were harsh and uncalled but this is also just a forum to vent on. Also read more carefully before you criticize as this was directed to the State School GPA's that were 3.4 and under. Since it is imperative that my literature is perfect on this forum I will make sure to be cognizant of this going forward.

Right here buddy. And yes, I am giving you the finger

Dipset, from the sounds of it, the #1 reason why you are not being considered is because investment banks rarely hire individuals that have already graduated for their analyst programs. They prefer to hire college students into classes upon their graduation.

Also, as a side note, the credentials you listed, while some are impressive, are at most tangentially relevant to the job of an investment banking analyst.

Finally, this is not "just a forum to vent on." This is a site where people come to learn from and help others that wish to obtain and improve their finance career. It is a community, and you've openly insulted a number of its members through your original post.

~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker

You wouldn't be related to John Fitzgerald..?

It's c-o-g-n-i-S-a-n-t, Jim Jones.

dweezy, its spelled cognizant, nice try though

Maybe you should mention this book deal on your resume. And despite the effort that went in to your "literature," your post still would not have been par in freshman English, let alone cum laude.

It is my guess that Jefferies simply felt some cultural differences between you, the great accomplished cum laude ivy league football player, and their meek 3.4 state school personages; thus, they chose to reject you out of hand, lest you steal their manhood over the phone.

Jefferies is a relatively small shop, so fit matters more there. Even if you were given an interview in spite of having already graduated, your bitch-assness would probably have limited the relationship to a first date.

I'm not sure how impressed by your alma mater these guys will be but you should try them out: www.af2.com Make sure you don't drop the soap, I don't think that's covered by TARP yet.

Funny post. Keep them coming. In all honesty, though, it could have been that you just aren't a good fit for that particular bank.

I agree with compbanker here--none of his credentials make dipset stick out. And while school and GPA are used to filter candidates, the truth is that candidates are chosen based on the impressions they leave in their interviews. Your GPA or school may get a foot in the door, but it won't get you hired on the spot. If you interviewed but didn't get an offer, then you need to work on your interviewing skills (or perhaps they just didn't like you).

Seeing as how none of the Ivies offer scholarships of any sort (except maybe Cornell's state school portion), do you mean financial aid?

I also have to reiterate my previous point which is if you're off the recruiting cycle (since you apparently already graduated), it will much more difficult for you to get hired as a lateral especially since laid off, ivy-league-varsity athletes-graduating-cum-laude are a dime a dozen.

While venting is not what this forum is here for, I think dipset's story is really a wake-up call - if needed anymore - how harsh the current climate is in this industry for newbies.

I worked in Sales at a broker years ago that did business with Jefferies (their UK desk), and their people were blue-collarish, some for certain had never seen a university / college from the inside.

To get rejected by Jefferies understandably makes you feel uncomfortable, my first thought was "He is overqualified", because you compare so favourably to the people I had met there.

And since when is Jefferies any force to be taken seriously in i-banking???

Thanks for your comments. As I stated before I was immature with my original post. This is one of the more humbling periods of my life and it can only make me stronger going forward. My main goal right now is to be in a revenue generating role that requires due dilligence and creative thinking. Experience is top priority and im going to have to up the ante, especially in this current climate, and offer my services free of charge.

dipset, I hope you are kidding here as this sounds like a terrible mistake to make! You meant this as a joke, I hope, offering your service for free.

Do you have a strongly quantitative skillset? If not, you should maybe work on this also!

While Jefferies does hire people lower on the academic totem pole, it is usually for geographic/fit reasons. The majority of analyst bios I've seen from there seem pretty bright.

You can always try something further down the "prestige" line.

Dipset, on a sidenote, how many times could you bench press the 225 lbs during your NCAA heyday?

16 on a good day, max was 345 and my 40 was horrendous at 4.7

Don't listen to any of these guys, dipset. You ARE better than every analyst and potential candidate, and I feel that you need to draft a letter for the MD to tell him so. I really think he'll side with you and understand your frustrations. While you're at it, go take some conference calls, visit some clients and tour their facilities. All for free...just buy those plane tickets, hotel and meals. What a great idea.

4.7 isn't horrendous unless you're a DB/WR.

There are guys in the Brooklyn flag football league that run legit 4.4s

I have a 3.41 and go to a state school (not even a well recognized one). 3 things I can tell you "AJ"

1. The reason why you are being rejected is because your basically the definition of a douche. Like one of the above posters said you can tell a lot from someones resume, and if you are lucky to get an interview then they will def see the way you act.

2. All because you, "AJ", went to an Ivey doesn't entitle you to anything, you should be humble and be simply happy people are looking at your resume in this market.

3. AJ, when you learn to use the spell check function it will take you a long way. I am not the best with grammar, but at least I look over what I write and make sure that spell check is used...

Also sir, its "Jefferies"

Sincerely,

A student from a non target state school who has a 3.41! enjoy sir

BTW forgot to mention I have 1 internship lined up at a BB (operations) and an interview at 1 other.

Ew... def should have looked that post over..Guess now I look as bad as he does. :SelfNoose

dipset, thank you so much for this info. 16 reps with 225, that's damn good. Wish I could bench it!

I think commentators here should stop focusing on what was supposedly arrogant attitude - dipset himself said he was a little lost in frustration - and now focus on effective advice.

I believe offering one's service for below market rate's should not be the way to go, as it makes you look exploitable.

And to do this for a very "non bulge-bracket" firm like Jefferies, that's a 2 x No!

Another idea - if you feel you have some selling skills, would starting at a broker trainee program (it would at least give you a Series 7 license) be an idea?

Dipset,

I was rejected many MANY times before I finally received an offer. And receiving that offer was not an easy process. Best to brush it off, drop the attitude and keep at it.

this post needs to be deleted

Let's not turn this into a fighting ground about people's educational background.

Have you, dipset, now an idea about how you'll proceed?

Studying for the GMATS get that out of the way early and going straight to CFA hopefully write the exam in June

That was pretty uncool dipset. Made an attitude adjustment is in order? Just a suggestion.

dipset, with this education + CFA, there's no way you will not find work at a very solid firm!

I cannot understand, to be honest, why being rejected by Jefferies means so much to you. There are enough midmarket firms out there, I'd also try my luck at a prop shop maybe.

Jefferies has a really, really fratty culture...fit is very important. my friends who work there are generally bright and like the shop, but something in your resume must be signaling that you're a more modest/introverted type.

haha

What I was trying to say is that, sometimes, after having worked hard all your life, having always been at the top in sports, academics et al., it may be difficult to hear an institution's negative judgement on yourself.

I believe this discrepancy between your own self-evaluation and the institution's is often caused by an unclear signaling by the applicant or by a wrong reading by the potential employer.

Obviously, that may embitter the rejected person and lead to an angry post interspersed with douchebag-like behaviour.

dip, given that you must be in excellent physical shape - why not try your luck in mixed martial arts?

CompBanker, I would agree with you if we were talking about a post-MBA position. Obviously, pursuing a FT banking position after interning at a consultancy during your MBA sends a strange signal.

I would say the opposite of undergraduates. Doesn't it send a wrong signal that, after having interned at one bank, you look for a position at another one? Didn't you get an offer from your first employer?

I think it is better to have demonstrated value in different contexts, and acquired skills that are general but highly useful (i.e. persistence and no pain no gain mentality as a sportsman, safe hands or teamwork as an analyst), than to have merely tailored your résumé to banking - which is fine but does not convey breadth or adaptability in my opinion.

Otherwise, I don't see why math and engineering major seem so much suited to trading positions even though their curriculum seldom addresses economics. It is their general skills and ease with numbers, along with an ability to learn, that make them valuable.

Finally, it seems to me that, in your view, any first experience outside banking becomes suspect. Where do we start? The snake eats its tail.

Then again, I am not an IB recruiter and I'm just shooting the breeze with you from a signaling point of view.

Potbelly, now I'm having a difficult time telling whether or not you're being sarcastic or overly enthusiastic about the dude.

I played outside linebacker, had trouble keeping up with some RB's when covering the flats and in certain routes, but most of my coverages were with TE's and FB's which faired out pretty well.

I am enthusiastic about dipset's prospects as I find his academic background very intriguing. A smart athlete, who played what must be a very challenging sport (I never touched a football, but the game looks brutal). And show me the smart analyst / IBler who benches 225 lbs for 16 reps. They exist, but rare they are.

I am only sarcastic about him seemingly still trying to get into Jefferies, because I think it's a joke of a firm.

He will complete his CFA soon. I'd then shoot for either bulge-bracket or a strong private equity or venture capital enterprise like Blackstone or Carlyle Group.

Just not Jefferies.

The above poster's sarcasm aside, it is a difficult hiring climate right now for anyone with below a 3.7 from a target school.

I'm not sure why he has such strong disdain for Jefferies' I-bank given his only interaction (mentioned here) was with UK brokers/traders from years ago. I think your information is dated or distorted.