How to get into BB Sell Side

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mba2ka

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Is it possible to get into BB Sell side by applying to job posting on the internet sites like monster.com, efinancialcareer.com etc. or even company's job posting on their own career site?

I have contacted few firms through their job postings on the internet /their career section, but no response, a big silence. I have been doing this for last one month. It looks like it is a one massive black hole. It just pulls all the resumes using its gravitational force once they have fallen past the "event horizon".

Has this clicked for any of you? Any experience/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
 
Yes, but a lot of them do the bulk of their recruiting during certain times of the year, so you're submitting your resume to the same job as thousands of others.
 
Thanks for the reply. At what time of the year does the recruiting typically takes place? And also typically how long does it take the recruiter to get back to you once you have submitted your resume?
 
mba2ka Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is it possible to get into BB Sell side by
> applying to job posting on the internet sites like
> monster.com, efinancialcareer.com etc. or even
> company's job posting on their own career site?
>
> I have contacted few firms through their job
> postings on the internet /their career section,
> but no response, a big silence. I have been doing
> this for last one month. It looks like it is a one
> massive black hole. It just pulls all the resumes
> using its gravitational force once they have
> fallen past the "event horizon".
>
> Has this clicked for any of you? Any
> experience/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


I think your characterization of the online resume submission process using physics terms is quite accurate.
 
I used a bunch of finance websites and even the websites of the firms to post resume and never heard anything back. The chances of your resume getting picked up by the HR Resume book through websites is super slim. You need to either go through your school's career center or know someone in the industry who can forward your resume directly to the HR rep. I applied for a job at the firm where I currently work through their website but never heard a thing. A month later, I applied for a similar position, this time having my sister, who works at the same firm, forward my resume to the HR person (who is usually only visible to internal candidates) and got an interview 3 days later. As kkent said, there are thousands of people applying for the same jobs so chances of getting noticed in a huge crowd is very hard.
 
Unfortunately, the general answer to your question for any position that you would really want is no. I'm sure in the history of high finance someone has been hired for a great front office job at a bulge bracket bank through their public resume submission website (well at least I'm fairly sure it's happened at least once), but in general it is highly unlikely. The reality is these positions are filled via campus recruiting from target undergrad and MBA programs for new hires, and via professional contacts and a select group of recruiters for experienced hires.
 
Best way to get access to those jobs, the very same ones, is headhunters (if you have no internal / school recruiting team / alumni contacts). Headhunters do weeding out for the banks so they have more weight than a resume.
 
What is a typical season when the sell side equity research associate posts are filled in? I heard that there is usually a huge turnover in Feb-Mar right after the associates collect their bonus. Can someone clarify this?
 
It has been my experience that equities research turnover occurs immediately after bonus season. Associates work hard for that bonus and don't want to lose out such a big portion of their total comp. Bonus time also includes an evaluative period at most firms (that's how they determine bonus levels), which usually includes raises following bonus season, as well as the distinct possibility of promotions. When most associates realize that their next year's comp won't be any different that the previous years (i.e., COL raise only and no near-term promotion opportunities), then they jump ship to leverage their experience into a raise at another firm. This also ensures that they will be able to get nearly a full year in before the next bonus season rolls around at their new firm. Most shops pay out bonuses in Feb/Mar, though some do it differently.

This is also the same time that senior level analysts jump ship, as their bonuses are often much larger than their base, and leaving without their bonus is simply not an option.
 
mcthorp is right on the money. You'll see a mass shuffle anywhere from Feb-May. I landed my gig during this time, and while I was looking for over a year, I noticed that the other parts of the year were pretty much dry with a few jobs spread out throughout the year.
 
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