Difficulty of getting UNPAID IB internship

Hi, I am currently recent graduate from the university of (virginia,michigan,north carolina) caliber school. From networking I was able to secure an unpaid IB internship in LA last semester. However, they somehow decided not to take me in due to their internal management problem etc.
So I started networking again (Cold Call), but having hard time landing one this late in the summer. I was wondering if it's still possible to land an internship this late? Also, I was hoping if you guys could give me advice on how to effectively ask for unpaid internship through cold call?

I have attached my resume for your reference so please feel free to critique.
http://www.razume.com/documents/31508

Thanks so much for your help.

19 Comments
 

your resume looks almost identical to mine, I was also in the same situation. Just cold email all the boutiques you can. I put internship opporunity as my subject line and gave them a outline of my qualifications(no resume attached) and asked if they wanted to set up a phone call. got a few responses and now i have an offer I almost have locked up. Its not too late just move now and send out as many emails as possible.

Target small boutiques, also ive never had problems with the whole "copy/paste" thing-if they need somebody this late they will call you

 
Best Response

i feel like your first problem is a major one... aka your resume needs to be edited.

think about listing your Major GPA in addition to your general cumulative... unless that's lower than that 3.1. otherwise, put that sh-t at the bottom and start with relevant work experience/project experience. putting a 3.1 GPA at the top of your resume isn't quite a highlight.

in section 1:

floppity mentioned the missing space... attention to detail is a requirement for analysts... how else can you perfectly align logos horizontally and vertically morning noon and night.

bullet 1: i believe "the morningstar" is a british tabloid... is that the source of your research? or is it simply "morningstar". bullet 2: hmm, well start with a google of "in-depth vs in depth".

these are small, silly items. in general, i think a re-wording of the bullets would make it more clear what you "owned" and in more concise terms. i stopped reading after the first 1/3 of the resume. i honestly might forgive the general and long-winded bullets if the formatting was on point. that's just me. but def don't highlight 3.1 GPA unless your dad is an MD.

 

other than that... you gotta network and hustle. check with alumni network. that's how i landed my spot out of school... bulge bracket firm MD was an alumni and i hustled/hassled the sh-t out of him. he got me the interview.

 

I'm probably wasting my breath as I don't see you listening to me or anyone else, but you need to be more open minded about potentially great opportunities.

You really shouldn't have turned down several paid full time offers for an unpaid internship in the first place, even if they were in consulting or corporate finance and not IB.

For your own sake, please don't keep repeat that mistake man.

 

You've already graduated. You should be looking at full time opportunities rather than unpaid internships. Not only would it be hard to get, you'll have explaining to do in case that again doesn't turn into a full time offer. Like others have suggested, cold calling/emailing is not a bad idea but I wouldn't rule out applying online directly on company websites. In fact, you should do tons of those every day. There're some good resources available on this site so make use of those. I've found the model that fincampus has created useful too. At your stage, there's a lot to learn and it's important to gain industry experience so don't create a gap on your resume by waiting for your dream job. Good luck.

 

Be a bit more specific on the first work experience chunk - say how many companies you screened and then how many you did actual work on - just running a screen isn't going to win many points (anyone can "screen" 10 million companies and drill them down with capIQ filters), but to say you then dug into financials (i.e. spent at least an hour or a few) getting a handle on 2 dozen plus prospects, that is more legit and gives them a better idea what a day was like.

Nitpicky here but 6% isn't necessarily that undervalued, in fact I'd say that's well within the margin of error.

if you like it then you shoulda put a banana on it
 

First bullet for BAML ends with "client asset." - asset(s)

Keep Cold calling/emailing and hopefully you'll find your way into a great shop! Good Luck!

"Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game." - Donald Trump
 

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