Job Search Advice [Senior, Non-Target]

UPDATE 1: I was offered a job with Lockheed Martin in a Financial Analyst role. Essentially I would be working closely with engineers to estimate resource needs (time, direct materials, direct labor ETC) to help estimate the total cost of various projects so that Lockheed can bid competitively. The position is in Florida so that's not wonderful for networking purposes but the compensation is pretty fair. My question is, will this be a trap? I do not want to remain stuck in corporate finance and would definitely like to transition into IB. Would it be possible to do this without going back to school for an MBA/MSF? If I will need to go back to school, will working in this role at Lockheed be looked upon as favorable work experience for a top 10-15 school? I am aiming for UChicago but would attend any of the top 15.

Hey guys, I am a senior econ and finance double major at a non-target school in Florida. I am interested in leveraged finance, restructuring, and M&A but have no investment banking internships. However, I have spent one year in an investments program and have conducted fixed income and equity research in this role. With that being said, because it is now January, should I stop applying to IB's for an IB role? If so, what should my next steps be?

Secondly, for some of the positions I have applied for, I have been invited to complete a Hirevue. However, they are for internships and the recruiter who reached out to me said that if I was going to attend graduate school or still be in undergrad to go ahead and complete it. Since I am planning on graduating, should I keep looking in other places or should I find a technical work around such as not applying to graduate this semester and waiting until this fall? Do banks look poorly upon people who use technicalities to secure an internship?

I am not sure where my weak link in the application process is either. Because my career services department is fairly lousy, I have attached a picture of my resume if anyone is willing to provide some feedback on it. Thank you for the help!

 

You're definitely in a tough spot this late in the recruitment season - FT recruitment the past few years have been brutal in general. You seem to have a decent resume and prior experience. My best advice would be to stop wasting time applying online and start networking with bankers local/lesser known boutiques. They are more likely to not have a formalized hiring process and might be more open to taking an intern/FT analyst that doesnt have prior IB experience.

 

Hard to say ... some people advocate for moving to NYC without a job and hustling hard networking every day as if it was a full time job until you get something - i believe there was a similar thread about this recently with some really great advice. Personally, I am not as much of an advocate for that - if i were you, I would try to find something local to ensure you're not graduating unemployed - ideally an internship type thing where you would agree to work at a local shop for 3-6 months, then try to build your NYC network with phone calls/ a weekend trip to get a better FT gig after.

 
Best Response

I was in a similar position, recent grad from a non-target in New England with a lower GPA (under 3.5) and fewer job experiences in finance than you. I can tell you it's tough, and I was passed up for more banking positions, than I can count. In my case, the key was to get some investment banking experience under my belt, doesn't matter if bulge, boutique, or MM. Apply to internships, even if they tell you they're not looking to hire full-time. I happened to land a fall internship at a smaller, but relatively well-known boutique. As soon as you get banking experience on your resume, employers will start treating you differently. The people I networked with were actually eager to connect me with someone in HR, and those LinkedIn apps started turning into interviews. Not saying this will get you into a bulge bracket, but I've been getting interviews at banks that didn't even bother to respond to me a year ago. So don't give up, keep applying, and if you're able to secure something for the spring or summer, your recruiting next season will go much better.

 

Networking has definitely been more fruitful for me so far. Most of the internships I have applied to however have made it a point that you must be enrolled in December 2018 to qualify for the program. Did you encounter the same issue? If so, did you decide to enroll just to accept the internship or are there other ways around this?

 

I never had that happen, but my approach was a bit different. I applied to boutique banks where I had very good connections and asked about full-time positions. Two of them told me they had full analyst classes, but would be open to taking me on as an intern, so I ended up taking one of the offers.

I'd recommend staying away from the bigger banks with formal recruiting programs, unless you have really good contacts. If you can explain your situation and why you want this internship, they might be willing to look past your graduation year (I've heard of people who got past hard GPA cutoffs that way). Ideally, you should look for boutiques that have less formal recruiting or year-round internship programs. With your GPA and experiences, I think getting an internship shouldn't be too hard. Also reach out to boutiques and ask if they would be interested in taking on an intern. Many smaller boutiques don't post their openings, and if you end up talking to someone who understands your case, they might be willing to help.

 

Congrats on the offer! You can use this job as a stepping stone for IB. Though CF and IB are pretty different, you can spend some time at this job and then once you've developed connections, lateral over to an IB after a year.

Resume Tips: As soon as I or anyone especially at an IB sees Financial Modeling on your resume under skills, they are going to start asking you technical questions to see whether you really know what you are talking about. Be prepared. If you don't want to give off the impression that you know a lot about valuation and modeling, then take it off. Make your interests more interesting. Pick a few that you have listed and flesh them out. I would think you should flesh out "sim-racing" because it makes you stand out as I don't know what that is and I would ask you during the interview.

 

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