Do I really have to have it all figured out already?
I'm hoping to get a bit of advice from people who have been in the industry for a while now and feel like they have their careers figured out or at the very least have a good idea of what they want to do. It's a long post, but I hope some other undergrads who are lurking around reading this forum like I do can relate to it.
I just finished my sophomore year at a non-target school in a big finance city (think NY, Chicago, Boston), the first year and a half of which I spent studying biology premed because I thought it was interesting. I didn't join any clubs freshman year because I was obsessed with making a sports team because I was an idiot, and since it was my first time ever living in a big city there was so much to do outside campus. My grades weren't the best as quickly realized that medicine, while fascinating, wasn't something I was passionately interested in. I took an intro to finance course my second semester freshman year and absolutely loved it. This drove my desire to learn more, so after taking a few more courses in the business school I decided to drop premed and transfer this past spring to study finance. I've since joined a number of finance-related clubs and love each and every one of them.
I think taking those classes and joining the clubs helped me change how I acted with people, making me more extroverted and confident in having a conversation. Since then I've downloaded PDFs of a dozen different books about IB, Quantitative modeling, M&A, Fixed Income and investing fundamentals. I began using LinkedIn for the first time last fall and added easily over 1000 people, both alumni and just random individuals at different firms whose names I came across here or that I heard professors mention. I've connected with and spoken to well over 100 of those people on the phone or in person and have developed a few great relationships. They have offered to introduce me to people that they know to help me learn more about the industry and I've jumped at every opportunity. I managed to arrange a part-job at a large and well respected HF working with a couple analysts to update their models, essentially working as a data entry guy. I thought it's probably a good chance for me to try to make relationships and ask some of the pro's for their advice and possibly their mentorship.
Now I'm in NY with my first internship working at a small startup-focused firm. I enjoy the work and have gotten to meet some interesting people who have connections in banking/PE who they have offered to introduce me to. I've managed to network my way into several large HF/Banking events around town by contacting the people hosting and asking for entry as a student. I'm EXCITED for this summer, because I love so many different parts of finance and want to learn about them all. How they work, what they're for and how they all influence one another.
But I've been told this is wrong. Almost every upperclassmen I've talked to, almost every professional I've had a phone call or gotten coffee with, even the other sophomores I've met here in NY who are doing the early IBD programs have told me the same thing. That I need to be able to pick one or two groups and know everything about them. That talking about how I am interested in and want to learn everything at any of these MM or BB internships is a surefire way to NOT get the job, because they only want interns who they know will want to come work there afterwards.
Do I really have no chance? Professors and professionals both talk about how internships are for learning about things you're passionate about, but it feels like as soon as I start looking to actually FIND one that changes completely. It feels like I'm supposed to already know exactly what I want and everything about it.
Does having an interest and passion for learning about multiple things really make me an undesirable candidate for all of them?
Seems to me like you're a bit all over the place, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm going to assume that you're a fairly smart guy as given by your extensive networking, job search, and interest in the field, you've done much more than those who are simply "all talk." First things first, some congratulations are in order – I think you've done extraordinarily well having landed a part time/internship gig (your post is a bit unclear – are the startup-focused firm and the HF two different internships?) and regardless of this, you've networked into it, which is great.
This fall comes recruitment for that Summer Analyst position you want so desperately – I'm going to try to clarify a bit what these upperclassmen/more senior people likely mean. While the entire financial world is vast and has numerous parts that work together like a well-oiled machine, the majority of people who are in one specific industry are going to be incredibly interested by that industry. You can wonder about, study, and learn about many different aspects, but when the interview comes around or your cover letter is sent, it's important to make it out to be as that specific whatever is your goal. You're in an ib interview for JPM, IB is what you want to do. You're in a S&T interview at BMO, S&T is what you want to do. Get it? Your transitional opps down the line post-internship are much larger, and given by the way you write and the knowledge that you seem to already have, you'll likely have numerous options come this fall. Don't stress, just perfect your story and know why you're gunning for the position that you're interviewing for, regardless of how many different positions you are.
It's okay to not know exactly what you want to do for the foreseeable future – when looking for internships, look for things that you're personally interested in. Cast a wide net and see what happens. Just do what works for you – no one is saying to only apply to one gig. While you need to know what to go for, you can't be expected to know that IB M&A is the 100% must-do for you at the age of 19. Interest and passion are wonderful traits – framing is what's important in your situation.
Talk to as many people as you can across many different industries. Ask them about their day to day, why/how they got to where they are now, go to networking events, get in front of people. Talk talk talk and see what people in these positions are doing. Maybe you'll change your mind another 5 times before you finally decide what you want.
Thank you for this. To clarify, the startup firm is an internship I am currently working at doing business dev with a couple different founders. The HF isn't quite an internship (the HR guy I talked to emphasized this) its quite literally a part-time job doing data entry. It's supposed to start in the fall when I get back to college and I'll be going to their offices with varying hours depending on the season/how busy the analysts are.
I guess I haven't really thought so much about my own story, figuring that most people aren't going to care given the "non-target less than outstanding GPA" thing and will be more compelled by me expressing interest in whatever it is they do and how much I know. In almost all my conversations I keep whoever I'm networking with as the focus because the longer I can keep them talking about themselves the more likely they are to usually keep talking to me.
I feel like my biggest issue is that I'm scattered like you said, in that for a few weeks I'll be immersed in reading about quantitative finance and then I will suddenly drop it like its hot and get into reading about M&A banking, then restructuring, then DCM and then back to M&A. That's something I'll have to work on.
You're doing the right thing man! People love talking about themselves.. but make sure that they know who you are, and that you have some basic experience! Read Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People," it could help you a bit with networking. Seems like you have it down for the most part though. Invest in WSO's IB guide if you're looking to break into IB, it comes w/ access to the WSO Company Database for email formats, and use LinkedIn Recruiter Premium (investment obviously) to fine-tune/target alumni. You mentioned something about this in your original post, unsure of the strategy you're using.
I'm sure you can fluff that HF position for your resume, work in a bullet with "utilized various financial models to compute.." whatever. You'll figure this out, don't stress over the HR/Data entry conversation. It's awesome because you'll be involved in and using financial statements/models/etc even though you're just a data entry monkey, which is something you can talk about/embellish upon in an interview.
Like I said, it's okay for interests to waver – the most important thing to do is to have a soul-wrenching/crushing story about who you are and why you want to do what you're applying for, and then you tweak them based on the position you're applying for at a given time. Non-target/Sub 4.0 GPA aside, you seem like you can network and know for the most part what you're doing. I'm sure you'll be ok.
Drink less coffee before sitting down to write one of these.
"I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead."
--Mark Twain
Yes, you have to have it figured it already. I'm not sure what makes this true. But it is.
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