Reflecting on the Banking Recruiting Process

"itsyaboi" So friends, I am reflecting on my recruiting process from this fall for IB (I'm currently a junior, non target) and I am kind of having a hard time making sense of it all. I recently got a offered a SA position from a BB, and I am ecstatic about it. It got me to thinking however, what would I have felt if i didn't get offered this position.

I am probably not in the minority when I say that I have known that I have wanted to pursue banking since I was about 16 years old. I was a money hungry little shit then, and not much has changed. This probably stems from the fact that I didn't really grow up with a lot. My family is blue collar for the most part, and no one in close proximity to me has ever worked in finance. I wanted to make a fuckload of money, and I thought banking was the way to do it as it aligned with quite a few of my interests.

Fast forward 4-5 years later to present day, and it is somewhat perplexing to think about this whole situation. Every major life decision since then has been made with the focus of getting a job in banking, and although it feels awesome to have accomplished a major goal on this path, I find it hard to relate to many of my friends on this. Maybe this is because I go to a state school where only a handful of kids are interested in this field, but it seems like this industry caters to only a certain type of person. Every time I try to talk to people about this they think I'm superficial or a materialistic because they know me as the kid who is always busy with networking or interview prep. It seems like the only way to succeed in getting a job in this industry is to become obsessed with getting it. There certainly needs to be a certain level of tenacity and drive to do it, and I have had to sacrifice quite a bit to achieve my goal, this past year especially.

Now, I'm not saying this to complain, or to sound like I have had to sacrifice so much to get here, because this was my choice. I'm not even trying to say that breaking into banking is some monumental feat, because at the end of the day it is just a job. What got me thinking was: "what is the point of all this?" I know getting a great job, and making ludicrous amounts of money compared to your peers is great, but what if I didn't get an offer? I know that up until last week I was pretty distraught that I wasn't going to get a call, and that was a tough pill to swallow considering how much work I, and everyone else on here puts into the recruiting process. So, I would just like to hear all of your thoughts on the recruiting process, and what you may have had to do in order to succeed in finance.

I think should give yourself a gold star every time you wake up. Here's 1000 days worth:

https://www.Amazon.com/Shiny-Gold-Star-Stickers-Dispenser/dp/B00PM3D2WI/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1509322573&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=gold+star&psc=1