Question about How Fucked I am

I'm a first semester junior right now at a non-target college and as the title mentioned I kinda fucked up. I was super lazy over this summer and got depressed with stuck at home bitch syndrome and ended up doing almost no networking or applying.

I have had two semesters of investment banking internships and currently doing another investment banking internship at boutique this fall. I also think I'm getting another investment banking boutique internship for the coming spring semester. 

This is good and all, I guess, but I still did hardly any networking or applying this summer, is there any chance I can get any BB,Top MM, or EB junior SA 2021 positions?

Should I take a gap year or something so I can reset myself for 2022 recruiting. I'm honestly extremely lost with recruiting.

18 Comments
 

if you really haven't done any networking/applying, it might be too late for 2021 SA. but, since it seems like you have a lot of experience working at boutiques, you might be in a fine position for FT. unsure of what people generally think about gap years, but i personally wouldn't take one. 

 

Whatever the case, FT is always a second chance to line up a solid IB job. I was in a similar spot, only landed an internship at a pretty small shop in January of my junior year because of personal issues/grades at the time. When FT recruiting came around I made a huge effort to network and perfect my story and landed an IB analyst spot at a BB I’m very happy with. Make the most of the hand you’ve been dealt for now and then make a huge push when the opportunity presents itself. You’ll be fine :)

 

Sure. Nothing too out of the ordinary except that I went to a target school, which was very helpful. At the start of senior year I had a 3.50 exactly, so applying to banks where I didn't already have an "in" was finally an option. I contacted all of my alumni friends in banking, and none of them had any FT openings at their banks, so I had to start reaching out to friends of friends. That's where I finally got some traction. I had no clue what I was doing, but the more reps I got with networking calls, the less stressful they became. The two biggest things that yielded interviews were ironing out my story (esp. connecting my junior internship experience with why I wanted to do banking + tailoring that to every specific bank) and reaching out to people who were similar to myself. I started off with boutiques I really liked, where the analysts I spoke to definitely had a lot more pull in the recruiting process than at larger banks, and only really made an effort to network with ~3 bulge brackets (under the false assumption they wouldn't want me anyway). I got 3 offers from the boutiques I interviewed with, and of the BBs, 2 gave me Hirevues, one of which went straight to a superday and an offer. Constant mock interviewing from banker friends was by far the biggest help in getting me to that offer.

 

gonna be hard this late from a non target with no network. sounds like you've worked hard for the opportunity, delaying graduation 1 semester for 2022 is fine but you definitely need to network starting now.

if you can't afford the extra semester of tuition, gap semester is totally acceptable given circumstances right now. just need to be 100% ready and ON when recruiting starts in Feb, don't let yourself get lazy

 

I agree and dont agree. CS spots are extremely limited and UBS and DB have been in waves/rolling. Limited spot across the board and there is certainly risk. Play your options intelligently

path less traveled
 

If you're really committed to finance over the long term, you should also be applying at boutiques, Big 4 accounting firms (CF, FAS, etc.), Fortune 500 FLDP and Corp Fin, etc. I wouldn't take a gap or delay graduation if you can get a real job in the above firms instead. Can always do banking later.

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

You might have to focus on middle market for now since they do a lot of fall recruiting and then do FT recruiting after leveraging your summer. See if Jefferies/Blair/Baird are open. All good shops.

 

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