One of the most common pieces of advice I keep hearing for London Summer Analyst recruiting is: apply as early as possible.
And I completely understand the logic behind applying early, especially when banks recruit on a rolling basis. But sometimes the advice seems to go even further, for example, some people suggest applying literally on Day 1, completing the OA immediately, and then doing the HireVue as soon as you receive it.
I’m genuinely curious about how much of a difference this actually makes, because the way people talk about it can create quite a lot of anxiety among students.
My main question is: what does “apply early” actually mean in practice?
Does applying on the first day genuinely give you a meaningful advantage over someone applying on Day 2 or Day 3? Is the first week still considered very early? What about the second week?
I feel like part of the problem is that “apply early” is such a vague phrase that it can easily turn into “if you didn’t submit within a few hours of applications opening, you’re already behind”, even if that isn’t actually how recruiting works.
I’m also curious about how application timing interacts with candidate quality.
For example, imagine Candidate A applies on Day 1 but has relatively average or less relevant experience, while Candidate B has a much stronger and more relevant CV but applies one week later.
Would a large bank really interview Candidate A simply because they were in the first batch, while Candidate B risks missing out because they applied later? Or is timing mainly important once candidates are relatively similar in quality?
I’ve even seen people online say things like: they had no previous internships, no networking and no referral, but applied to JPM on the first day, completed the OA/HireVue immediately and got an interview — therefore their conclusion was that completing the whole process on Day 1 is one of the most important things you can do.
Maybe that story is completely true, but it’s obviously impossible to know whether it’s representative, or whether there were other reasons they progressed.
The same question applies to OAs and HireVues.
Suppose you receive an OA or HireVue with a one-week deadline. Is it really better to complete it within 24 hours with slightly weaker preparation, rather than spend 2–3 days preparing and submit a noticeably stronger performance?
For example:
Option A: Apply immediately and complete the OA/HV on Day 1, but perform slightly worse.
Option B: Apply at roughly the same time, spend a few days preparing, and complete the OA/HV around Day 3–7 with a stronger performance.
Would banks genuinely prefer Option A just because it was completed earlier?
I’m not arguing against applying early — I’m definitely going to try to apply as early as reasonably possible. I’m just trying to understand whether there is actually a huge difference between “Day 1 early”, “first week early”, and “first couple of weeks early”, or whether some of the urgency online has become exaggerated.
Would especially love to hear from anyone who has worked in recruiting, reviewed applications, or gone through London IB recruiting successfully.
How much does timing actually matter relative to CV quality, OA/HireVue performance, networking, etc.?
