I just accepted an offer for a summer internship with a F50. This will be my last internship before I graduate next december. Next fall I'll be shooting for consulting FT if I decide not to return. I'm able to rank my internship rotation preferences for next summer and am hoping to get some insight on which group would be likely to give me the best experience. Possible placements include: Accounting, Contracts, Cost/Schedule Analyst, Estimating & Pricing, Financial Operations, Financial Planning, and Procurement Financial Analysis.
I'm curious to know if there's any that I should be gunning for or any function that I should try to avoid besides accounting.
IMO, Financial Planning would be the closest to your goal - it is called strategic finance in some places.
What you have to do (or as an intern - most likely assist) is the project out the 3 statements based on your assumptions & understanding of the operations of the company.
This will give you a deep insights about the drivers of the industry as well as how they impact the financial performance of the company. You can spin this experience into something consulting related,,, but work on your case interviews too of course.
+1. Thank you very much for the input.
I currently intern at an F50 company with all of the same rotations (possibly the same company) and I have had rotations in Financial Operations, Accounting and Contracts and Pricing, and will be going to Cost/Schedule Analyst role here pretty soon. As the above comment says, I would shoot for Financial Planning or Operations (this is normally considered the best rotation by many). If it's a 10-12 week internship, it may take some time to learn all the ins and outs of that role, but it's a great place to get your feet wet, IMO. I noticed that Financial Operations is really similar to a logistics and operations management course, you'll use some of the same math there, but nothing you won't learn on the job.
It depends on your interests, too; all of those roles fall into two groups, gathering business or executing business. Depends on which side of the game you prefer!
I've heard a schedule analyst roles is highly recognized within F50 firms, it's often referred to as program management and has it's perks.
My last two cents.. Something I've learned in my past 3 rotations is that no matter where you go, as an intern, always try to get involved in additional work that isn't directly related to your work group (i.e. corporate development projects). As long as your supervisor is okay with it, get out and learn more about the business. Conduct some informational interviews in other functions that peak your interest but didn't have a chance of getting into. Best of luck on your internship! Feel free to message if you have more detailed questions
+1 I appreciate the info. I sent you a pm.
Internship Rotations (Originally Posted: 04/16/2015)
Hi, I've been asked to put down my 3 preferences for my S&T summer internship (I've excluded sales because I'm less interested in that role).
Structured Finance Credit and Rates Trading FX Trading Equity Trading Structuring
Out of curiosity, which desks would you recommend? I think credit trading and structured finance seem interesting.
Also does anyone have any additional information on what structured finance is like? I know that it comprises a lot of areas including structured credit (structured credit trading and advisory), distressed and real estate financing.
This is an honest question, but why are you asking us what your preferences should be? They are YOUR preferences. What do YOU want to do?
Thanks for the reply. I ask because I am open to all of the options I listed and I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations based on the prospects of the desks over the next few years or based on how 'interesting' they are.
I also don't really know much about structured finance and I was hoping someone could provide some insight into what the area is like.
That's a better way to have worded it. Because if someone were to have said, my top 3 would be FX, Debt, and Credit. That wouldn't really have helped you out too much ha
If I were you, these are my personal preferences (based on my interests, and nothing else):
Structured products, Structuring, Credit & Rates Trading
Structuring = you won't have a pnl, or clients, you originate stuff (these guys get paid a 'structuring fee')
Structured products = something like a bond + vanilla/exotic option, or multiple options thrown together; shit like that
Credit/rates = corporate bonds/cds/gov't bonds/interest rate swaps
Structuring desks will not translate to the buy-side, if that's what you're looking for at some point
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