No IB Offer - What to do now?

I'm currently a Junior at a target school on the east coast (Ivy League, not HYPW) interested in banking but did not receive any offers. If my goal is to end up full time at a BB/EB, what type of internship would be my best alternative for this summer? Any suggestions for specific firms would be highly appreciated.

 
Wall St. Thinker:
I'm a junior at a US new Top 15 Non-target school. I interviewed with about 15 companies fall 2017 for banking. Got 6 super days but NO IB offer. My only summer intern offer now is an investment analyst position at my university's endowment fund with 6 billion under management. (very far from IB) I get discouraged and don't know what to do. I'm sure that I want IB but not sure what's my best strategy to break into IB? Thanks in advance!

What is your major/GPA?

Is there a deadline to accept for the university?

You could contact regional IB shops and beg for an unpaid internship or table scraps. Some smaller shops have less regimented pipelines/intake.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
Best Response

Just my two cents, but the endowment fund opportunity sounds like it could be interesting (depending on type of work and comp), and it's always nice that it could convert to a full-time offer (if for no other reason than it gives you a decent back up plan). Plus you never know, you might end up liking it

That being said, if you're as set on IB as it sounds like you may be, then by all means reach out to boutiques in the area, but it's hard to say if that experience will be materially better than the endowment fund for FT recruiting. Just keep in mind that FT recruiting gets ever more difficult each year, so make sure to stay on top of networking and all your interview prep. More importantly, try to figure out exactly where those superdays went wrong. You're doing enough right that you're getting those opportunities, but it sounds like there could be something off (it could also be luck frankly)

 

You are absolutely right that there's should be something off for my superdays. I think I will accept the endowment offer but still keeping networking with banks. If it is necessary I think I can graduate one semester late to let me apply one more time for the summer intern.

 

I second orangemarker. You can always find a job, but it's much easier to find a job if you already have a job. Plus, regardless of whether you're getting IB experience directly, you're getting experience around big money at the endowment, and you are getting remuneration.

Interning can be great, and with GPA and the fact that you're in STEM programs, you will find your path. I might suggest looking into events around your area that pertain to your professional interests. There are myriad societies out there for nearly every job or profession. Try Eventbrite.com and/or meetup.com. These two sites give you ideas for events in your area and you can drill down to your specific interests as well.

 
devansonjr:
I have had several interviews for various IB internships, but haven't gotten any offers. I have interviewed at JPM, Deutsche, BAML, and Morgan Stanley. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong/need to improve upon. Does anyone have any advice?

I have a 3.4 from a non-target and several past internships at prestigious companies, and am involved in a lot of clubs. I am getting the interviews, but just can't seem to perform well in them.

I seem to fail the behavioral parts of the interview: my walk me through your resume answer isn't super interesting and I have had trouble coming up with good leadership stories, etc.

Thanks guys.

BE MORE CONFIDENT. That's all it takes. I was in the same position as you, and found that interviewing for back office positions helped me gain confidence in my story. Behavioral interviews aren't the best, but they're a necessary hurdle.
 
fishoil:
devansonjr:
I have had several interviews for various IB internships, but haven't gotten any offers. I have interviewed at JPM, Deutsche, BAML, and Morgan Stanley. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong/need to improve upon. Does anyone have any advice?

I have a 3.4 from a non-target and several past internships at prestigious companies, and am involved in a lot of clubs. I am getting the interviews, but just can't seem to perform well in them.

I seem to fail the behavioral parts of the interview: my walk me through your resume answer isn't super interesting and I have had trouble coming up with good leadership stories, etc.

Thanks guys.

BE MORE CONFIDENT. That's all it takes. I was in the same position as you, and found that interviewing for back office positions helped me gain confidence in my story. Behavioral interviews aren't the best, but they're a necessary hurdle.

show that you are humble first

after that, show confidence

that was what i wasnt doing..

 

I agree with the above advice ... you're a non-target with a 3.4 GPA so if you have an average interview with generic/canned responses then you're giving your interviewers a free pass to think "he isn't anything special on paper and he wasn't anything special in person ... ding."

That could be the furthest thing from the truth, but it doesn't matter. You could be the Dos Equis guy but your interviewers wouldn't know how interesting you were unless you let your personality, confidence, and drive shine through and have a well-crafted story about yourself and past experiences.

 

You kind of answer your own question. If your story is not super interesting and you can't answer leadership stores (despite being " involved in a lot of clubs"), then you're going to have problems. Your story is very important. It doesn't have to the most amazingly interesting story, but it needs to hook them and explain why you are there. Further, if you are really involved with these clubs, you should be able to come up with some leadership examples. They don't expect anything insane, just explain an instance of leadership, even if it is small.

Finally, you need to consider how incredibly competitive the process is. At the end of the day, you can know your technicals and behavorals as well as have a good story and it won't necessarily mean crap if you're competing with 20 other students for 2 spots. Especially coming from a Non-target with a non-stellar GPA.

At the end of the day, there are so many qualified students in the process, you have to really shine (or be damn lucky) to land something (and plenty of students who shine are still left in the cold).

 

I wouldn't recommend it, unless you could get into one of the top schools, which is extremely difficult (avg gpas are near 4.0 with near perfect LSAT).

You just need to be persistent in your job search - don't limit yourself to restructuring firms as this is a very niche area and will make your search much more difficult. If you are interested in this later down the line you can switch over.

 

Dolores modi quo quo mollitia quod nam. Repellendus architecto atque velit ratione dolorem qui. Et consectetur a ducimus.

Delectus tempore dolorum vel. Omnis eum mollitia et maxime consequatur possimus. Nihil laboriosam rem tempora ex. Expedita temporibus rerum voluptas illum dolor. Natus accusantium cum labore dolorem natus tempora ipsa. Commodi culpa voluptas et consectetur. Soluta culpa velit officia harum fuga deserunt.

Placeat aut sed ab doloremque. Nostrum error est reprehenderit suscipit officiis quaerat.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”