Summer internships on Wall Street are coming to a close, which means college students who toiled late at the desk for weeks trying to impress the boss will soon know whether it worked.
The number of investment banking interns who are invited to return after graduation to work full-time varies by year, by bank, and by group. This summer, many factors stand to shake up the return-offer rate: M&A has come soaring back after a slow start to 2025. At the same time, more banks are rolling out artificial intelligence tools that stand to impact junior banker jobs.
“At this point it’s too early to tell,” said Steve Sibley, a business school professor whose undergrads intern on Wall Street each year. “I haven’t heard from a lot of students, which is usually a sign they’re not worried.”
With return offers right around the corner (summer analysts from two different banks told Business Insider that they expect to get the news as soon as next week), we decided to find out how to proceed if you don’t get invited back.
We asked Sibley, who has taught hundreds of students who have successfully broken into Wall Street over his 10 years of teaching at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, along with Wall Street banking recruiter Meredith Dennes. They said that while a return offer is the surest path to a career in finance, not getting one doesn’t necessarily mean your Wall Street dreams are over. You just have to act quickly and decisively. Here is their advice:
Be honest with yourself
The first step is to think about your strengths and weaknesses, and what others might have done to get an offer that you didn’t.
“Before making your next move, you need diagnostic clarity,” said Dennes, founder of recruitment firm Prospect Rock Partners. “Your comeback strategy depends entirely on accurate self-assessment.”
Sibley said there tend to be three main reasons someone didn’t get an offer:
Your work product was off. “A lot of times interns will overextend themselves and try to be everything to everybody,” he said, adding: “If someone asks you to do something and you don’t have bandwidth but you say yes and your work is late as a result, that’s problematic.”
The bank didn’t see you as a cultural fit. If your bank has a “work hard, play hard” vibe and you prefer to spend what little free time you have relaxing in front of the TV, not getting the return offer at that firm is probably for the better, said Sibley.
The bank may need fewer analysts than expected. Banks tend to hire interns two years in advance, which can lead to overhiring. Different divisions have different activity levels in any given year. M&A activity in your coverage group or at the bank generally may be lower than anticipated.
Not getting a return offer can be a blessing in disguise, said Sibley.
“It may feel like a rejection, but maybe it’s an indication that investment banking isn’t for you, so be open with yourself about that.”
Start networking, fast
If you still want to pursue investment banking, you have options. The first is to find a spot at another firm as quickly as possible. Interns usually have about two weeks to accept or decline their offers, opening the door to job opportunities at firms that underhired or got more declines than planned.
But you have to act fast. “Any additional seats come available very quickly and get filled quickly,” said Sibley.
To do that means reconnecting with the contacts you made when you were recruiting for your internship.
“These relationships, properly maintained, often become your strongest advocates for future opportunities,” Dennes said.
This is key because when only one or two spots open, the bank will often try to fill them without an official job posting. The only way to know is through connections.
Don’t be picky, Sibley said — casting too narrow a net might leave you with nothing.
“You probably aren’t moving up the league table for your full time position,” he said, adding: “So look down, maybe middle market, maybe it’s less elite boutique banks — anything where you’re learning skills for the job.”
Take responsibility
When networking and talking with other potential employers, you will have to address why it didn’t work out at the other firm. Dennes and Sibley said to own it — blaming anything other than yourself is a big red flag to other potential employers.
“When addressing the no-offer in future interviews, lead with accountability and growth,” said Dennes. “Show them you extracted value from the experience and applied those lessons systematically.”
Maybe you said yes to everybody, and your work suffered. Here’s how Sibley suggested you might explain what happened and what you learned from it:
I tried to accept every work stream that was sent my way, and as an intern, didn’t have the courage to say I had enough on my plate and couldn’t take on anything else. I learned there are things that are important and things that are urgent. I learned the importance of prioritizing certain things over others, and pushing back if my plate is overflowing.
Pursue deal-adjacent jobs
If you want to do M&A but don’t get an investment banking job, there are adjacent careers where you can gain similar skills and make the move to banking down the line. You just want “anything where you are touching deals or deal advisory,” said Sibley.
Consider roles in corporate development at Fortune 500 companies, which will offer deals and modeling experience.
Large consulting firms like Deloitte and KPMG also tend to have corporate finance teams that operate as investment banking arms of their firm. There are also business management consulting firms that specialize in things like restructuring and turnarounds.
You should also consider valuation advisory teams or businesses. Some banks, for example, have valuation advisory practices that are separate from their investment bank but that work with the investment banking coverage groups.
Consider a master’s degree
You could also buy yourself another year of recruiting by enrolling in a master’s finance program (different from an MBA, which you could still do later).
“It’s a way to extend the runway,” said Sibley, who is associate chair of IU’s master of science in finance program.
He said he has had students go this route at IU and land a job before. There are a lot of these one-year specialized programs at various universities today.
Going to a different school than where you did undergrad is probably better, he said, so you can take advantage of a second alumni network.
“It’s easier to find a job from school than from your parents’ basement,” said Sibley.
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