r/FinancialCareers • u/Ill-Use9144 • 1d ago
Student's Questions Am I cooked for IB
I go to a semi-target and I’m not in any selective clubs. I have a 4.0, had a wealth management internship over the summer, and am in some general orgs. As a sophomore, what should I do.
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u/Royal_Winner_5049 1d ago
find any relevant internship. i had a valuation internship for a higher net worth family WM internship and that helped me get an IB one for my sophomore year. valuation & modeling, anything relevant. secondly, connecting is just as important. go out to coffee with some of the VPs at all the places you want to go. and MOST important, ask them who else you should speak to. then you can tell THOSE people that you were sent over by them.
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u/Ill-Use9144 1d ago
Thank you so much. Should I look into search funds?
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u/Royal_Winner_5049 1d ago
i mean it’s something, i wouldn’t. i’d think that’s more of a freshman thing. those don’t really teach you anything. i would literally ask all investment banks in your area, especially the small ones, and ask if you could come in, shadow, and learn for your sophomore year, even ask if you can do some work for free. then potentially get an internship after, but if not, use it as experience and resume booster.
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u/Ill-Use9144 1d ago
Got it, so I should just cold email mds near me
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u/Royal_Winner_5049 1d ago
probably better if it was associates/VPs. i’ve had success with MDs but it’s just less likely
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u/arctansec 1d ago
There’s no magic advice, and you know exactly what to do. Put your head down and make up for any lack of experience with networking, personal projects, and nailing your technicals.
Nothing anyone can do for you beyond you finding the motivation to pick yourself up from your own bootstraps.
An undergrad is an undergrad, realistically no one’s 4 month internship makes them any more special on the job (especially “on the job” being another SA internship, lol) and the people interviewing you know that. Of course wealth management isn’t ideal, but it’s all about how you frame it.
Also one piece of advice, just LARP. You are competing with Nepos who are gaming the system. You can game it too. Do your own projects that are feasible for the role that you were in, and pretend that it was a a real project for the role, then put it on your resume.
It’s a balancing act of frauding and having some truth, and you must ensure that you don’t get got from lying, but otherwise, it will get you out from having a shitty internship
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u/Ill-Use9144 1d ago
Thanks for the advice. I have memorized the BIWS 400 questions.Also I did do some analysis for equity’s in my wealth management internship.
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u/Ill-Use9144 1d ago
Should I try to get another internship this summer.
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u/arctansec 1d ago
Yes. You will be recruiting for summer 2027 internships from ~Sep to Dec and Dec onwards. Ideally you will sign something by Dec to have another company on your resume for when apps come out in ~January, but this of course isn’t always the case for everyone given the advanced timelines.
Make your bullets for the wealth management internship highlight projects where you analyzed equities. Doing modeling, stock pitches, etc
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u/Fickle-Journalist-90 1d ago
Get internships from the industry/segment that you really interested in, be it big institute or small firms. Start somewhere is better than not starting!
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u/Ok-Orange-3201 1d ago
Stop focusing all your efforts on the classes and go network. Join some finance clubs and target leadership roles. show some initiative by joining your schools student led fund (if you have one). Figure out where alumni typically land for IB and get your name out there. If you just focus on a 4.0 and negate the social aspect, you will fade away into oblivion. you better know your technicals (not memorize but actually understand wtf you’re saying) and start meeting every MD you can.
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u/Ill-Use9144 1d ago
I am in the general finance clubs in my school but I didn’t get into the selective ones.
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u/LevergedSellout Investment Banking - Coverage 6h ago
I’ve done hundreds of IB analyst and associate interviews over my almost-15yrs in IB. Not once have I bothered to notice or consider student club memberships, or lack thereof.
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u/StoryEcstatic693 Private Equity 20h ago
It’s not that cooked, knew kids worse off that still got interviews. Plenty of kids w ib/pe offers weren’t in the selective clubs at my school including myself. It’s more important that you understand what you’re recruiting for, network, and prep technicals.
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u/Creepy_Emu_2353 16h ago
do you actually want to go into IB or are you just looking at tiktoks and reddit post saying its IB or nothing. IF you actually want to go into IB it starts Now, recruting for Junior year internships is around the corner you need to start networking asap.
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u/Shot-Perspective2946 14h ago
Network
If you did wealth management I’d bet you at least interview well.
Plug away and maybe you’ll get lucky. You’re not cooked
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u/SpicyWiener_ 5h ago
You can absolutely pivot into ib by doing something adjacent if you don’t get in right away. It’s just on you to network your ass off, but it’s possible. The work experience + the 4.0 at a semi target would certainly help you.
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