This article is meant for the UK context, for undergraduates who are already seeking that sweet career path after university. These will mostly apply to jobs with a structured graduate scheme, such as in investment banking, consulting, and technology.
Always seek out a full time job as soon as possible. You can convert from Springs to Summers, and then Summers to Full-time. Because of this, the rough timelines are:
- Matriculation – Easter of Year 1: Apply for Spring Weeks and Y1 summer internships
- Easter of Year 1 – Summer of Year 1: Apply for Y1 summer internship if you haven’t gotten any
- Summer of Y1 – Easter of Year 2: Apply for Y2 summer internships if you did not convert a Spring Week to a Summer
- Rest of the time: Apply for a full-time job if you did not convert a summer internship
Here are my top tips for applications:
Fire and forget
This refers to sending out many applications, and then not thinking about them after they have been sent out unless there is progress. Part of the stress of applications is the stress in whether you get rejected at each stage, and the key to success is not letting that stress stop you from making more applications or living your life.
Apply for many companies
When you are applying, seek to cast a wide net because, like it or not, most of applications are luck-based, given how quickly applications are skimmed or the use of AI is a black box. Because of how competitive finance and consulting roles are, these act as a funnel, where most applicants are eliminated at the CV screening and test-taking stage. There is no barrier to entry to submitting an application, while online tests charge the company a small sum (or even zero marginal cost) per candidate. Of course, these are not perfect systems: Perfectly good candidates are eliminated for no reason other than the bad luck of having a recruiter not liking the font you used or the AI system picking up false signals.
For interviews, the initial stages are usually done by junior employees, before the final rounds where senior employees take over. The time of employees is immensely valuable, so companies would narrow down the funnel quite significantly to prevent too much resources from being expended on recruiting. As such, be very focused for every interview you get and prepare hard.
Some people advise against applying to too many firms, on the basis that this reduces the quality per application. I do agree, with a caveat. Identify which firms you really like, and then spend time on those. As for the other companies, feel free to send in ChatGPT generated cover letters, or even not attach a cover letter at all.
Timebox your applications – set a time limit on how long you want to spend writing your cover letters and research on the firm. Of course, invest more time in the firms you want but don’t forget to enjoy university as well! Most of the words you write in your cover letters will probably not be read anyway – so don’t waste too much time when applying for the Spring Week of some firm you don’t really care about.
Applications benefit from economies of scale – one CV can be used to apply to multiple roles, while cover letters can mostly be copied over. Furthermore, most companies within the same industry will have the same technical questions, so the only thing you have to focus on is the “Why Company”.
Apply early
By applying early, you can take higher risks that decrease the cost to you in time. When applying for full-time jobs, you get higher pressure than when applying for summers. When you have lower pressure, it also means you can focus on the industry you want instead of scrambling to apply for safety nets.
Furthermore, applying earlier ensures you get in with a higher chance for rolling-basis apps, as well as avoid missing critical deadlines and giving you time to react if there is an administrative mistake. I personally missed many bank deadlines because I was busy with Year 1 internship and applications were over before I realized it.
Keep an eye out on forums (The Student Room, WSO), which will usually come alive when a bank’s application opens. Share about application season with your friends and keep each other notified when each company opens their application.
Leave a Reply