Non-Target to HF - Am I Screwed?

Hey all,


I'm currently working as an intern at a top 10 PMW firm and have been since I graduated college last semester. I come from a non-target school with a 3.5 GPA and some involvement with a finance club on campus—not very impressive to recruiters to say the least. I got into finance a bit late, so my decision was mainly due to having the entirety of my school paid for through an academic scholarship. I'm out of school debt-free now, but I'm struggling to land any type of full-time interview.


After looking into industry jobs through my entire college career, I found HF work to be really attractive. Lurking on WSO forums taught me pretty quickly that I was too late on the draw to get IB internships. I've tried applying to as many BB and MM entry-level analyst jobs in the area that I can think of, regardless of the division. They've all been dead-ends, even when leveraging connections I have with employees at the banks who have put in a good word for me.


My next step was applying to credit risk positions with the intentions to lateral into IBD after a few years (and potentially an MBA). Again, even with some connections with individuals on the inside, I couldn't get an interview. At this point, I'm wondering if there are alternatives or if I'm just screwed. As I said before, HF is my end goal, but I'm struggling to come up with a way to break in if leveraging connections hasn't worked. Would I be better off pursuing another entry-level job to lateral into HF, or should I spend all my evenings cold-emailing until something sticks? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Quia ab ut laudantium voluptatibus qui beatae. Non minus laborum accusantium omnis consequatur quos.

Praesentium ut molestiae ut aperiam fugit. Eius expedita quis dicta labore eligendi. Quia cupiditate fugit cum facilis earum iste est.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Perella Weinberg Partners New 98.9%
  • Lazard Freres 01 98.3%
  • Harris Williams & Co. 24 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 16 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.9%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 97.7%
  • Moelis & Company 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.9%
  • Perella Weinberg Partners 18 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 16 97.7%
  • Moelis & Company 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (21) $373
  • Associates (92) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (68) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (206) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (148) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
numi's picture
numi
98.8
10
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
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...”