How I Got Hired by RBC in First Year
In September, I attended an on-campus information night hosted by one of the Big 5 Banks (not RBC). I remember that they were explicit about wanting only second year students and above. This discouraged me a little, but it didn’t stop me from mass applying to postings that even had “graduating in 2022” as a requirement. I heard that landing a summer job is a number’s game (aka the more you apply, the greater your chances of getting a job), and I was ready to play the game.
As a business student, you quickly learn of all the acronyms of the top companies to work for: MBB, Big 4 Accounting Firms, Big 5 Banks, American investment firms. You form general expectations about when students usually get hired by these companies, such as Big 4 being reserved for second year students and above.
While it isn’t rare for RBC to consider, and even hire, first year students, it is less commonly seen across the board of the Big 5 Banks. Nonetheless, as I have been asked by a handful of students about how I got hired at RBC as a first year, I shall share my story to provide some insight for those who are hesitant to ask.
Disclaimer: This post isn’t intended for me to brag. Hard work played a part in my recruitment, but I think I got very, very lucky as part of the process. I don’t want to think of myself as any better or worse than other students just because I got in the door early. One’s consistent growth matters more in the long-term. Moreover, the identity of both you and I go beyond a job or company title.
Note: Part One of a probably three part blog post series
Section 1 of 5: The Mindset
One of the quotes that I have come to live by is, “It’s all about the mindset.” It’s important to believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?
Shoot your shot at everything. The worst thing that can happen is that you don’t get the job. The best thing? You do, you kill it, and you gain the experience of a lifetime.
Be prepared to submit a job application anywhere, anytime. Constantly improve yourself, and as a reflection of that, continually revise your resume. Be ready to be rejected many, many times, but also be ready to stand back up.
If you want to improve your resume, this is my favourite resource: The Ultimate Product Manager Resume Guide
Section 2 of 5: Pre-Recruitment
Many people think that BMOS is a bad program because of its content-heavy nature, but in my opinion, BMOS is okay. With low program module requirements, it provides flexibility for me to take non-business (tech!) courses. More importantly, with only around 15 hours of class a week, it lets you do what matters most: networking.
I learned early on from one of my mentors that the true value of university comes from opportunities and the people you meet. So, I was determined from before university to make the most out of the opportunities that presented themselves and to create opportunities if I didn’t see the ones I wanted.
Through attending many biztech events in the first semester, I obtained valuable recruitment tips. Here are some:
Read books
Keep up with the news (even if it’s only the headlines)
Turn on job portal notifications (apply early!)
One job posting could have multiple jobs behind it
However, the tip that gave me the highest return on investment was: “Attend hackathons.”
Hackathons practically became a holy grail because, through them, I was able to:
Learn by doing
Have something to talk about in interviews/at events
Stand out from the technical-heavy kids as a biz kid (in my opinion, hackathons > campus recruitment events)
It’s important to note that if you do decide to attend hackathons after reading this post, you should be genuine about it. Most people, especially recruiters, have a 6th sense in sensing out people who are putting on a mask or fake front.
Section 3 of 5: The Recruitment
In January, as many Big 5 Bank job postings were being uploaded, I was debating between going to StarterHacks or UofTHacks. I almost didn’t go to the event I got recruited at (UofTHacks). Shoutout to OHall Soph “Thanos” for convincing me to choose the latter.
I participated in UofTHacks as a team of 4. It was a brutal 3 days of late-night commuting to Toronto, crashing at my friend’s couch downtown, and sleeping on the ground at UofT’s Bahen Centre. Our team built a prototype of a calendar integration app that saves you time and energy by auto-populating empty spaces in your calendar with activities from your to-do list.
Early morning on the second day, I went to the designated area for the company booths. I conversed with many people, three of them being RBC recruiters. One of them asked me how I was doing, and with 2019 reflections fresh in my mind, I told them about how my team and I practiced 36+ hours the week before the dance competition in November. In retrospect, I oddly kept whipping with my hands while laughing at myself.
At the end of the conversation, one of the recruiters said that I would make a great fit for the team and company. I was hopeful, but I didn’t think they were serious. Nonetheless, I added the recruiters on Linkedin and followed up with them a day later.
What’s ironic is that this was only one of the only recruiting events where I went in without the intention of being hired. I later realized that sometimes, going in for a job will only get you advice, whereas going in for advice might get you a job.
Section 3.5 of 5: Interphase
Between the application and interview phase, there was a mental abilities assessment required after applying to each job posting, but it’s pretty quick to do (around 20-30 min.).
I’ve also heard from some that it doesn’t come into play in hiring you; it’s only for post-hiring when they want to reflect on what might’ve made you a strong or not-so-strong worker (to perhaps apply it to hiring their next candidate).
Section 4 of 5: The Interview(s)
As part of UofTHacks, there was a mock interview segment hosted by RBC. Through a practice interview with an actual RBC employee, I learned how to add clarity to my story and how to convey my strengths as a potential hire.
The week after, all UofTHacks attendees who jotted down their emails at RBC’s booth received an email from the company. Essentially, an extra “job posting” was created for those who went to the hackathon—we would get pulled through further in the application process if we “applied” to the posting.
A week or two later, I received via email an interview request for a Business Analyst position under RBC’s Technology and Operations division.
Before my interview, I prepared a rough outline on common interview questions + stories I could bring up. Tip: Use the iconic first question of “Tell me about yourself” to steer the conversation in the direction you want it to go in.
I don’t remember the specific questions they asked me, but I remember asking at the end of my interview how many rounds there would be. Surprisingly, they said there was only 1 and that I was up against 4-6 other people. They also told me that I would hear back by the end of the next day.
I felt that the interview went okay-well but wasn’t sure of my chances. In my opinion, the hardest part about interviews isn’t knowing if you did well or not, it’s not knowing how others did relative to you. You could be a great candidate but others just happen to be a better fit for the position.
Late night of that day or early morning the next day, I received my offer and accepted almost immediately. I was ecstatic.
Section 5 of 5: Recruitment Tips as a Current Employee + Student Partner
One of the things I’m doing to make the most of my summer role is surrounding my Linkedin community with people from RBC. Through student ambassadors and recruiters that I acquainted with, here are some tips I gather for you:
Your cGPA isn’t considered as much as relevant coursework or extracurriculars
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis so apply ASAP to get on top of the resume stack
The hiring process: 200+ applicants to one broad job posting > unknown # of resumes chosen for next stage by recruiter > 4-6 resumes chosen for interview by hiring manager > interview by full-time employees from your prospective RBC team > 1 candidate chosen and hired
From my experience, I feel like two main aspects come into play for recruiters in deciding if they should hire you:
Do you fit the culture? (attitude, learning, etc.)
Are you different enough from other candidates?
To expand on the second point: four months isn’t enough for interns to create a ground-breaking change at their company of employment. So why do companies still hire interns? For a fresh, un-groupthink pair of eyes to suggest new ideas.
And remember, this isn’t a set formula to get a job at RBC or the other banks. Like finding the right friends, be yourself and if the opportunity is meant to be, it will eventually come (assuming you put in the work on your end, of course).
Nonetheless, if you found this post helpful, be sure to subscribe to my mailing list below + stay tuned for the other parts in this RBC/networking series! I hope this was helpful :) Message me if you have any questions or alternative perspectives!
Appendix
For those interesting in my recruiting timeline…
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to message me :) Also, stay tuned for more parts in this series! Cheers :)
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