Have you ever imagined traveling to New York City four times in one month? Well, that was me during recruiting season for investment banking! Now, you may think, “But how could she manage?” Let me walk you through my experience from a year ago when I was in my first year of the Daytime MBA at Fuqua.

Fall 1: Recruitment Season Begins

The first week of the first fall term at Fuqua means the start of recruitment season for investment banking. The Duke MBA Finance Club supported us first-years from day one, showing us the roadmap of company presentations that will take place on campus during the term. As an international student, this helped me A LOT in preparing for future events and coffee chats with bankers.

The Career Management Center (CMC) also shares many tips with us, especially on personal branding and how to showcase our strengths right from the beginning of an interview by preparing a great “tell me about yourself” answer. I attended around 15 events on campus, where I spoke with bankers from some of the most prestigious banks and independent advisors, learning from their experiences along the way.

Fall Break: My First Stop in New York

When the fall break kicks off, all the investment banking recruits travel to New York City for the “Week on Wall Street” trek! That week, we visited around 12 banks for networking events, presentations, and coffee chats. This was an amazing opportunity to discover more about New York City and a preview of what life looks like when working there full-time. We also could interact and meet with new bankers. Overall, the trip was amazing.

Fall 2: Catching Multiple Flights a Week

Once back from fall break and with the second fall term underway, I received some exciting news! I got an email on the first day of classes mentioning that I was selected by an independent advisor to continue my application process for an internship. I was invited to in-person coffee chats later that same week in New York City. I accepted the invitation immediately and booked my same-day round-trip ticket for those coffee chats.

The next day, I received another invitation from another bank to attend an in-person event at their offices in New York just three days after my first invitation. For this, I had to book another set of flights. The good thing about this is that banks usually reimburse your expenses if you attend these events. Thankfully, the Raleigh-Durham International Airport is just a 25-minute drive from Fuqua, so it’s easy to get to and from the airport under a tight timeline.

That week was very rewarding. I met so many people and more MBA students from other business schools. Little by little, I started feeling more confident in those events and knew I was on the right track on my IB application journey.

The next week, I received another invitation to attend a symposium in NYC! If you’re counting, this was my fourth trip to the city so far. I couldn’t be any happier with all the opportunities I had and how I expanded my network during those events.

Spring 1: Hitting the Road Again

Many weeks passed, and after the winter break in December, I received the official invitations for Super Day Interviews! I was very happy and excited, so I prepared extensively, practicing behavioral and technical questions with my second-year mentors and classmates. I flew to NYC one more time in early January for these interviews and successfully secured an internship offer at Morgan Stanley for the summer.

Looking back, I feel that those intense weeks of travel and networking helped me become a better investment banking candidate. I felt more confident speaking with people from the field and learned a lot from each bank’s culture and values.

Fuqua supported me a lot along the way. Second-year MBA students from the Duke MBA Finance Club staged mock interviews, shared helpful tips, and offered wise advice. The CMC gave us access to company presentations where I met all these amazing companies. Finally, my classmates were an excellent example of what Team Fuqua really means — we all supported each other during the recruiting journey.

I couldn’t be happier with the outcome, and now it feels very rewarding to give back to the Fuqua community by helping current first-year students recruit for internships, just as I was this time last year.