This strategy still works, but the biggest issue is that it’s very dependent on the hiring market and the overall state of the economy/financial markets. The problem now is that everything is crashing, banks are firing people, deal activity is way down, etc., so it is more difficult to get in via informal means like this. If deal flow picks up and banks suddenly start needing people again, it will become easier.

If you are really making progress this way, my advice would be to aim for different roles outside of IB for the time being, such as corporate or commercial banking or Big 4 and use one of those to move into IB when the market picks up in the future.

I have a very similar profile to the interviewee here (location, target uni, relevant experience etc.) – is it possible the big banks simply aren’t allowed to hire people via this more casual route any longer?

Do you have any insight as to wether this approach has worked in recent years?

Thanks for the articles btw, all very useful!

No, not really. LinkedIn, news, and the alumni network are your best sources.

Do you have any tips on finding the names of MDs SVPs in London (outside of LinkedIn and the odd namedrop in news articles)?

Thanks!

Thanks!

You could try it, but sometimes it’s tricky to find the right address data and make sure it gets to the right person. Whereas with email, you can usually guess the person’s address if you have the email format.

I’m thinking of using this strategy to land an off-cycle position at a BB / EB in London later on this year

I was thinking of sending a letter by post with a message like the email template directed to the MD’s / Partner with a CV attached instead of emailing tho, thinking it might trigger more of an interest and not be as overlooked as the usual email they would get?

do you think this would be a decent strategy, or something worth trying

Thanks in advance

Cool thanks

And yeah I’ve done an Actuary internship and a Big4 Rx/M&A internship, hopefully it’s good enough to land some decent interviews

I’ll keep you updated

Start maybe 1-2 months in advance. If you do it right now, you won’t even get great responses because hiring is frozen at most firms due to the pandemic. You can always start networking for graduate positions, but you normally need at least 1-2 solid internships first to have a good shot.