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Thank you for this. I'd like to know a bit more about how you obtained the summer internship you got into during your placement.I'm currently undertaking a 12 month placement in Treasury at a retail bank, not my first choice but glad to have gotten it, reading what you said it seems I had a similar path to you in terms of not doing spring weeks etc, but still aspiring to get into Investment Banking- I'm thinking more DCM/Structured Finance. My problem is my placement finishes mid July, by which time most summer internships at IBs will already be underway. Obviously I will keep my eyes peeled for any possibilities, but I'm finding networking much harder since I am working from home. In the case that I'm not able to find anything suitable for this summer my plan b is to go travelling - do you think this would be a good use of time? Or am I better off going back to my pre-uni call centre job, whilst simultaneously undertaking an online course on IB such as on Udemy or Breaking into Wall Street? Many thanks for your time

Similarly to you, my placement finished in mid-July. I applied to internships knowing this, thinking that I would cross that bridge when I get to it, either by ending placement early or trying to negotiate with HR (the latter being the more unlikely scenario). You're a bit late on the summer train now so this isn't really an option for you anymore. And by that I mean, for structured programs. My summer was completely unstructured. I don't want to dox myself too hard but I met the company I interned with while I was at work, and to be honest by accident. But I seized the opportunity by being curious and passionate, and they responded to that. If that hadn't happened to me, I already had a plan for what I was going to do, which was to go out and find places like the firm I interned at and contact anyone I could find and hope I got a job out of it.

I find it interesting you say networking is harder during COVID. On the contrary, networking is MUCH easier. Physical networking is harder, but if you were, say, in Edinburgh, you wouldn't be physically networking with someone in London anyway. You'd be on LinkedIn or sourcing emails, having calls or video chats if you prefer. Be proactive.

When thinking about job applications and types of things you can do to boost your chances, the hierarchy in my head is: relevant experience > certifications/courses > irrelevant experience. Depending on the rest of your background, a course or some irrelevant part-time job and especially going travelling are not really going to help your cause. Out of all the options the course is best but tbh you could do that during placement and still get a relevant internship for next year at a small firm.

Wow I didn't realise summer internships also needed to be sorted this early, my plan for my last year of uni was apply for grad roles August-Decemeber then if no success summers after my Jan exams. Thanks for the heads up!

Yeah I guess you're right regarding networking, reason I say that is because I don't have much experience with it, but I am quite an amiable guy so presumed through informal conversations in the office I could build relationships and build my network. But its true that via Teams I can speak to people all over the country at my business, and I've got plenty of time left here to continue doing so.

I'll take your advice and do the course during my placement, and hopefully stumble into some sort of relevant experience for summer.

Regarding grad roles, is it completely pointless to apply during my final year with 0 IB experience? Am I better off focusing on summer internships, then doing a gap year (cant afford a Masters) and possibly off cycle internship? Does this still apply to even the less prestigious roles like Corporate/commercial banking?

Many thanks