If you’re out of the market as a junior banker now, it’s still not easy to get a new job. Deals are picking up, but there’s nothing like the volume of hiring of a few years ago. Finding a new role is a hard slog.
I know because I was out of the market for nearly 18 months until earlier this year. It was hard. I applied for literally hundreds of jobs (I’m an associate in M&A) and had almost no response even though I am literally a plug and play candidate.
Even when banks did respond, and I was interviewed, it seemed that there wasn’t really a role. They were only really interviewing me to extract information. It was a waste of time.
I kept on applying without success until in the end I changed my strategy. I focused on senior bankers in my sector in New York and reached out to them personally. I shared my deal list and I asked my former colleagues to recommend me.
Suddenly, I started to get interviews.
I made maybe 100 of these approaches. It took patience, but it worked. The bank I’m now at made me an offer. Former colleagues validated me, and an MD I worked for previously backed up their recommendations. It took a long time and a lot of hard work on my behalf, but I’m finally back in the market.
I created my own position.
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