Dealing with depression and insomnia after unsuccessful IB recruitment
This past year, I had the chance to interview for 8 BBs and 3 EBs. I made it to 5 super days but got zero offers. I recently accepted a lower MM offer, but i literally can't sleep at night thinking of all the interviews that I botched months and months ago. I'm convinced that I will never get over my recruiting process, and I'm always gonna be less respected by my friends who all have way better offers lined up.
When I began my journey toward investment banking, I didn't have family connections or an Ivy League resume. Networking was my main strategy to break in. Top banks have acceptance rates around 3%, and I figured that around 25% of networking calls would lead to real interviews. So if I did 120 networking calls, I'd get 40 interviews (25% of 120), and perhaps an offer given the acceptance rate. This was impressive math I put together, and I used LinkedIn, my university alumni database, and RecruiterBase to network, and did over 100 informational chats before recruitment began. This led to 27 formal interview opportunities across various banks, mostly with top firms. But here’s where it all fell apart.
Despite all the hard work, I blew those interviews. Here are some of the mistakes I made:
- Rambling About Unrelated Experiences: In one interview, I talked about my college's camping club for 15 minutes, missing the opportunity to discuss relevant internships.
- Mispronouncing the Bank’s Name: I botched the pronunciation of Moelis (I thought it was mo-ee-lis) instantly killing the impression I made.
- Awkward Silences: I froze up when asked technical questions, leading to long, uncomfortable pauses.
- Overconfidence: In a bid to seem confident, I came off as arrogant (I got this feedback directly on multiple occasians), which didn’t sit well with the interviewers, especially because I was really weak during technical sessions
- Mixing Up Firms: I once started talking enthusiastically about a deal done by Goldman Sachs, only to realize halfway through that I was interviewing with Morgan Stanley
- Inappropriate Humor: I was asked to tell a joke, and tried to lighten the mood with a joke that was too sexual and completely out of place and ended up making everyone uncomfortable.
- Technical Blunder: During one interview, I confidently explained a financial model, only to have the interviewer point out that my calculations didn’t add up.
In the end, I didn’t land a position at any of the top banks, and took a back office role with a middle-market firm. I was happy at first, but now I can’t help but feel immense regret and anxiety over not landing a better offer. The weight of my missed opportunities is a constant burden, leaving me depressed and questioning my worth in such a competitive field. Has anyone had similar thoughts or feelings after recruiting unsuccessfully?
I'm pretty sure 25% of 120 is 30, not 40...speaking of technical blunders
You’re just not seeing the “impressive math” he conducted here.
To me it seems like you were unfit, both personally and technically.
Yeah, maybe it's just not meant to be for me...
Can you shed light on what you mean by ‘unfit’?
This sounds too autistic to be satire
This is not satire. You're just jealous at how many interviews I got...
Tell us the joke you said
If this gets 5 bananas I'll consider haha, it was pretty dumb haha. I got way too comfortable at the time.
No sleep only eat
Sounds like you were too lazy or dumb or awkward to figure it all out. 5 superdays with no offers is quite the achievement. Gotta know when it’s time to hang em up and move on. If you couldn’t hack the technicals at this level then sorry dude it wasn’t meant to be. There are great careers to be had in corporate life. Hope you find your fit
I'm definitely smart enough to figure it out. I just got super unlucky.
Going 0/11 is a bit worse than being unlucky my guy, from what you described you literally reflected on the specifics on how the interviews you fucked up were because of things you did (opposite of luck)
You didn’t get unlucky. You were getting interviews, many. This career is probably not for you and you shouldn’t torture yourself doing something that isn’t for you. From what I understand, this sounds like a fit issue. You’re trying way too hard to fit into these environments through cracking jokes that are awkward. This is way more important than technicals because they decide who gets hired based on fit.
I would look at doing what you’re good at.
Bollocks mate. Absolutely bollocks. Being unlucky is such a weak excuse.
go get laid jfc
Laid down on the big bed! Big bed!!!! Bed
So just to confirm, you made a sexual joke during a job interview??
This shit is your fault my boy😭😭😭
Seems like you have more excitement to network than actually put in the work to do well in these processes
Had a final round at an EB where the interviewer asked me a question I had gotten at a previous interview at Centerview. I got the answer wrong during the centerview interview and they were super nice and corrected me, and i even searched up the answer on this forum to better understand it and confirmed they were correct so lesson learned. Fast forward to this superday i had a couple weeks ago and i get the same question and i answer it confidently only to be told that I was wrong and that it was an "easy" question. Nailed all the other interviews but was flustered after the question. I feel it man i felt like it was my final shot and blew it cuz i couldnt explain my thinking. it is what it is. Just gotta keep ur head up
what was the question?
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/tricky-enterpr…
Just become a seal, do that for 5 years then apply as an associate. I don’t see any other viable path for you to break in to be honest. You seem weak, not even sure you’ll pass day 1 of seal training so preparing for that is also indeed a gamble
Assuming you are not a troll which doesn't seem like it, I think one of the replies made a very good point, you are definitely good at networking to land all these interviews but maybe not fit for ibd. I think you should consider careers that require you to be less technical/ formal like maybe pb or sales, you may do well.
If this isn't a troll post, I genuinely feel bad for you man. I have a buddy who had 7 different banks he interviewed at and didn't get to Superdays for any of them, so at least you were able to pass first rounds. I would try to focus on what you can do in the short to medium term to best set yourself up for success.
Think about how you can possibly delay graduation for another shot at the summer recruiting cycle or to access off-cycle opportunities. Otherwise, look at adjacent roles that you can lateral into IB later on, like Big 4 Transaction Services, S&T, Corporate Banking, etc.
As well, dial in on mock interviews and really make sure that you have peers that can give you honest feedback as that's much lower stakes than actual Superdays and whatnot. Best of luck man!
The only thing impressive about the math you put together is that it’s incorrect
The fact that this is satire and nobody’s noticed is killing me lmfao
Check all of OP's posts. Don't think it's satire sadly
is it?
No offense but if you got 11 interviews in banking and got nothing, you really need to work on your personality. Even then, I am confused on how you managed to get 11 interviews because most friends I know at a target school got about 4-5 interview invites. This seems like a troll post.
if this isn't bait then it's amazing you can have the networking skill to get that many interviews while still lacking the personality to pass any of them
I think the real issue here is past trauma and a lack of self-esteem. What has conditioned you to believe your sense of worth is tied to your career success? This is something you really have to look into if you want to get better.
You say you can't sleep at night and that you're "always going to be less respected by your friends who all have way better offers lined up." I don't think the issue here is that you are dumb or awkward or whatever. You have certainly done dumb and awkward things and fucked up a lot, but the real issue here is a sense of insecurity. Look within yourself and heal man. Do not try to brute force this and go interview after interview
Hard to believe you’re actually an intern with such good advice props
I know a lot of people are shitting on this guy and I feel bad because he already put a lot of work in and didn’t get the outcome he wanted. I wish him the best.
Seems like a troll post but I’ll bite. No one cares about what bank you got into. Things change, you could end up hating it so don’t put too much stock into “what could have been”. I know it’s tough to see this at your age but it’s just a job. This MM firm could have a better lifestyle than BB firms and it could end up being a great fit. You can always move up market into IB.
I do think you should get out, relax, and make some friends. The way you wrote this post initially made me laugh because I thought this was legit troll post but I’m realizing it’s not. You came into these interviews being unauthentic and people can see through that. Shake hands, smile, and listen. Focused and present, you would’ve gotten through.
im sorry man but those mistakes are fucking brutal lol
I just wanna know what the joke you told was?
I just wanna know what the joke you told was
I just wanna know what the joke you told was
I just wanna know what the joke you told was
I just wanna know what the joke you told was
I just wanna know what the joke you told was
I just wanna know what the joke you told was
I just wanna know what the joke you told was
guys I think he wants to know what the joke you told was
I told it already...
Lol congrats on a semi-viral WSO post plugging your “RecuiterBase” startup judging by your post history
Not my startup...don't know why I keep mentioning it it's not even worth paying for
shees, those banks def dodged a bullet
keep pushing and never give up!
let me share a success story.
a mentor of mine came from a rural town, was a special needs student, had abusive parents, came from poverty, and a broken family life. with no money and lackluster HS grades, he went to community college, worked hard, and transferred to a t20 target school, where he was able to graduate with 0 loans bc of need based finaid. worked hard there and placed well, but then he hit roadblocks. for example, coming from the background he did, he knew nothing about finance before going to college, so his early IBD/PE interviews were massive disasters, with a GS VP even going as far as to discourage him from going into finance.
brushing off those failures, he worked hard to place SA at a EB/BB, but did not get the FT offer from his junior yr SA IB firm, and had to start elsewhere after college, a complete no-name LMM boutique, before lateralling to an EB.
going from IB --> PE, he did not place where he wanted and took some time off to reflect, before trying again and placing at a UMM PE firm. he's now looking to go to a SM HF (Tiger Cub/Baupost/Farallon/Activist/etc.), and the man's resilience and character are absolutely admirable and god level traits. honestly, I think it's people like him who will go on to do great things in life and be there to help others in need when they face similar struggles. have an insane amount of respect for said person.
ik for a fact that he suffers from severe ptsd (to be real, no one walks away from that kind of shitty ass upbringing and becomes a "normal person" by wall street standards), but he counters it by getting involved in and donating to NYC organizations that try to solve child abuse and poverty issues. even with his demanding work schedule and many roadblocks he faced, he still powers through them like the terminator and makes time to get involved in things that matter to him. this guy is my superhero and i seriously hope he runs wall street one day.
none of the above would have been possible if he didn't work as hard as he did, pushing through his early career failures, and even when he did not get the FT offer from his junior yr IB shop, he still persevered to start elsewhere and lateral somewhere better. he does often joke that at his junior yr EB/BB, he was a bottom bucket intern who made many careless mistakes, but never let any of it get to his head or heart.
ps. he’s getting married soon, and IMO, anyone would truly be lucky to call him “dad”.
I love this!! Thanks so much
Based on some of your outline, have you considered running for president?
Well one, it sounds like you effed up every interview. 2 you’d be experiencing the same insomnia and depression as an analyst. Don’t forget this isn’t the only way to make wealth. It’s arguably not even a good one
Well one, it sounds like you effed up every interview. 2 you’d be experiencing the same insomnia and depression as an analyst. Don’t forget this isn’t the only way to make wealth. It’s arguably not even a good one
Well one, it sounds like you effed up every interview. 2 you’d be experiencing the same insomnia and depression as an analyst. Don’t forget this isn’t the only way to make wealth. It’s arguably not even a good one
Well one, it sounds like you effed up every interview. 2 you’d be experiencing the same insomnia and depression as an analyst. Don’t forget this isn’t the only way to make wealth. It’s arguably not even a good one
Et blanditiis dolor enim aut. Possimus ab autem ut.
Harum sit cumque omnis consequatur ut. Fugit qui repellendus qui voluptatem. Corporis vel sunt reprehenderit sit tenetur molestias perferendis. Nihil laudantium soluta quia expedita odio et repellendus. Qui asperiores eveniet dignissimos consequatur molestiae. Quis soluta accusantium hic eligendi facilis. Veritatis asperiores aperiam natus blanditiis et consequatur nihil.
Repudiandae dolor ut delectus qui et voluptas illo doloribus. Rerum molestiae dolorum aliquid ut.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Culpa deserunt est modi illum et nihil. Ab corporis facilis dolorem mollitia modi. Quisquam ut nobis sit. Et voluptatibus expedita earum sapiente sint distinctio aut. Similique porro animi ipsam. Culpa accusantium similique vel voluptatem iure distinctio.
Quasi enim distinctio rem facere. Qui excepturi voluptas sunt est eos. Cumque commodi et et quasi et ipsa aut. Laborum voluptas ut molestias rerum ad.
Laborum nulla ex ut voluptates nihil consequatur rerum. Exercitationem optio adipisci tenetur dolore iste velit ea.
Facilis odio nam quod consequuntur maiores exercitationem dignissimos et. Pariatur eveniet atque facilis. Doloribus omnis beatae ipsum nesciunt praesentium. Voluptatem dolores quia nobis vel mollitia cum consequuntur.