Non-target, no summer internship, what do I do with my life?
So I applied for a 100 IB and F500 internships online and didn't get an answer. Now I know networking is very important for somebody like me who goes to a school ranked in the 160's on U.S. News.
Well, it looks like I'm going to get a part-time job at the mall just so I have something to do over the summer. I don't even care about getting into investment banking anymore. I think I need to go out in the real world, make money, then attend a top ranked MBA if I want a "high Finance job."
It looks like summer internships are out of the question. What should I do for full-time recruiting if I want a second chance at any job? By the way, I have a 3.65 GPA and have a Wall Street Prep certification.
inb4 cold call/email
I'm sure there people you can reach out to for advice/networking. Start with alumni first I'd say. They were in the same boat as you are now at some point in their lives.
You should still try and network your way into a more substantial internship as it will position you best for FT recruiting. Get something, even if it is unpaid, like a boutique IB if you are still interested in finance or some operations job at a reputable company. Reaching out to alumni is good and if you made some strong contacts, ask them to refer you. You have a good GPA and interest so keep pushing and building on those credentials!
First question is, are there alumni in banking or F500's from your school?
My college was ranked in the 130s. My longer term advice to you would be to join a fraternity. That network enabled me to reach out to a ton of established and successful bros in important positions and I was able to work from there to cultivate career opportunities. In fact, it was a bro working as head of HR who got me into my first F50 gig
In the shorter term, work a part time job that allows you to work nights and weekends to make some money, and burn up the phones looking for unpaid internships or shadowing opportunities. You want to put down anything that even remotely counts as experience on your resume. I never interned while in school (I had a FT job), but I reached out to a couple of retired alumni doing consulting work on the side, one a former Investment Banker and one a CFO, and picked their brains about everything they knew about Finance-they gave me tons of "on the job" insights that helped me crush interviews. You'd be surprised how accommodating some of these old heads can be when young people want to tap into their extensive knowledge base and years of work history.
It won't be easy, but it can be done! Good luck
Don't want to be a downer but will add that you won't get into a top ranked MBA program without solid pre MBA experience, which sounds like it's not that far away for you...as above, I would hit the pavement hard to try and find something good - lose the work at the mall don't care about ib attitude. You don't need to do ib, but try to find something more relevant than hollister
I attended a university so low US news doesn't even bother ranking it and am now at a BB NY. There are more non-targets on wall st than you'd expect. Keep trying and you'll get in somewhere.
I don't mean to lay out the red carpet here, you know, don't want to be too dramatic. But might you care to explain at all how you did that?
Are you serious? It boggles my mind when people from extreme non-targets apply solely online to some of the most competitive internships in the country and then just give up when they don't get invited to an interview. Seriously, in what world does a non target kid with a 3.65 and no relevant experience get picked for an interview at a BB? You might as well start buying lotto tickets cause you have a better chance of winning the lottery.
You NEED to be networking hard. You want to go into IB? Ok, what are you doing on a day-to-day basis? What do you spend your time doing? Are you studying technicals, involving yourself in relevant ECs and reaching out to professionals? Or are you browsing internet forums, playing video games all day and fantasizing about living in that NYC penthouse and having to beat off all the imaginary pussy with a baseball bat.
Get your shit together and give it your all.
Ya Kman I'd love to hear some background?
Start networking. There are several stories on this forum from people who were in a more disadvantaged position for recruiting than you and broke in. Applying online is not going to get you anywhere.
If you think you'll get picked up as a non target simply submitting applications online, good luck, you're in for a rough one. Non target is all about networking, submitting your profile online is a chance in a million. Your application probably just gets lost in a virtual cloud somewhere to never be seen. Email, reach out via LinkedIn, ask for advice, etc.
And drop that negativity, are you 12? Fight for what you want.
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