Sell day I thought.... what another surprise.. My biggest blow yet.

So I flew to New York again for the final final round interview and I hoped that I was the only candidate this time doing the picking, or choosing. As soon as I got onto the plane there was my competition. A guy from my school and another guy from Emory were right in my plane sitting next to me studying hard for one more interview with one bank, and I knew it was Merrill Lynch.

I was confused, .. "but she said it was a sell day" I thought, but it was just another final round interview to keep cutting till they got the right match for the group.

Prior to this round they asked that we select the groups that we'd liked to work for, and rank them 1 through 5. I requested interviews with Sponsors (FSG), Leveraged finance, Multi-Industry, and Private Equity Directs/Private Placements as other banks would call it.

On the day of the interview they told us that most positions had already been filled, and that they would do their best to put us in a particular group... Baloney!

So I interviewed with Sponsors, Leveraged finance, and Private Placements, and I knew I did very well, but at this point my offer was dependent on some kid at Harvard or Stanford declining his offer, and me taking the crumbs off the table, and coming in as a second-tier analyst. We were all interviewing to get a piece of the action from the crumbs off the table; i.e. we were the banks insurance policy in the event that their offerees reneged their offers, we were the back up players waiting to get on board, or get dinged. It was a BIG BIG game, and that was that.

The interview was in December, and by January I still hadn't heard back. My buddies also didn't get a call back, because we were all hoping that the summer interns would eventually turn down their offers, so we could get in.

With all the miracles I had seen my God perform I prayed and hoped that I'll get in. I called the M.D.'s I interviewed with and one of them was kind enough to let me know what was really going on. He explained that we were all interviewing as backup analysts, and that I should keep following up till he heard back from his intern. I knew I was his guy, but I was on the bench, and that hurt. Nothing hurts like when you know you can do the job, but luck is simply not on your side. So I kept calling this guy every week, and I felt weird harassing the poor man. I even had a dream that someone gave me a call and offered me a job, and I just tried to stay positive. New Year's came and passed, and I still didn't hear back. So I called, and asked for an update.

That afternoon I got a call saying,

"Thadonmega.. Thank you for coming in and interviewing with our firm, but it was a very competitive process, and our class is full from our summer hires. You can try again next year."

Devastated, I tried to get feed back, to no avail, she just hung up and probably called the next guy on the list with the bad news. Out of all the 100 or so final round candidates they only picked 2 non-target candidates, it was that bad.

From my past rejections at Bain, McKinsey, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and everyone else, at this point I had learned to give thanks and praise even when things weren't going my way. Though very difficult, I learned to trust in the Most High, His judgment, His way, and His plan. So I thanked God, but I was still very confused on my next steps. For the first time I didn't have a tangible backup plan.

Here I was at the end of January, with the major recruiting cycle completely over, and I didn't have an offer for a job, even after going up to New York more than 5 times. I took a risk interviewing with the big boys and I didn't pursue the manufacturing jobs because I just didn't like those kinds of jobs. I failed in my efforts, I cried, I was ashamed, and I didn't have anyone to blame, but myself.

I remembered two verses in the Bible, regarding my failure, and based on what I read in the Bible, I was up for a major major miracle from God's hand himself, so I was worried, but still hopeful.

Proverbs: "Man can plan his ways, but the Lord will direct his paths".
Ephesians:"For my grace sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness."

I prayed that God would move, I tried confessing all my sins, but nothing worked, I tried applying for internships, but those were exclusively reserved for juniors and sophomores from the ivy's, so again I was rejected. So I decided to trust in God, and that's what I did. I did nothing, but kept my eyes open.