How to Put an Upcoming Internship on a Resume?

hey guys, i've got a banking internship starting soon, around the same time as the applications are due for the summer internships. i was wondering if it's ok to put it on the resume now? if yes, how should it be worded - "expect to do this and that," "will be working on .." or is there a better way to do this? i think i will get some experience with spreading comps at least, and maybe work on some pitchbooks - i'd like to have it on my resume to have a better shot at getting interviews.

thanks in advance!

Can I Put Upcoming Internship On Resume?

Users on the forum have mixed opinions regarding the question of whether or not to include an upcoming position on your resume. Generally speaking - it is wise to only put current or past experience on your resume.

User @NorthSider", a private equity associate, shared this sentiment saying:

NorthSider - Private Equity Associate:
The point of your resume is to be an exhibit of experience that you have and things that you have done. Putting a future position on your resume looks a bit desperate.

User @Nouveau Richie", a corporate development associate, took the opposite perspective sharing that it was okay to share your upcoming internship experience:

Nouveau Richie - Corporate Development Associate:

I would say it isn't unreasonable to include for stuff like conferences and scholarships when you're still a student, as the actual offer itself can be a signal of a competitive candidacy in some cases.

That being said, you should only do it if you've already signed and it should only include three things:

  1. Name of the company
  2. Title as "Incoming [real title]" (e.g. "Incoming Global Wealth Management Intern")
  3. Start date instead of a date range: "Starting May 2013"

Don't include more than that. Be understated about it.

Resume Bullets for Upcoming Internship

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney | New York, NY
Incoming Global Wealth Management Intern | Starting May 2013

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a resume reflects both your skills and accomplishments (if any). what skill did you obtain from this internship? none. what accomplishments do you have from this job? none. putting it on there only shows you're a tool (not trying to bash you but i'm being completely honest). if i ever read your resume with your "expected" internship, i would trash it.

DON'T DO IT!

 
Best Response
fez:
a resume reflects both your skills and accomplishments (if any). what skill did you obtain from this internship? none. what accomplishments do you have from this job? if i ever read your resume with your "expected" internship, i would trash it.

DON'T DO IT!

Exactly. Similarly, you also shouldn't put expected graduation or even majors for which you haven't taken the core courses. After all, you haven't actually accomplished this either. I trash every resume from sophomores or juniors with their major listed and no courses specific to their major listed.

Seriously though, even though they haven't actually started, it shows interest in the field and is experience that they will have prior to starting. I'd be careful about how it is worded, but I say go for it. I've seen plenty of cover letters listing expected future coursework. How is this any different.

 

I have done this for a resume I sent to various master programs. Don't know if this was a balancing act, but I read the story of some dude from India a few days after submitting my applications, which kind of freaked me out. Supposedly he applied to the LSE (Management) and put in his resume that he would start an internship with McKinsey. The LSE accepted him with the condition that he needed to proof that he completed the internship. He didn't and thus he couldn't go.

 

Now, do take my post with a grain of salt (if it is even warranted) since my experience is limited to the hiring process outside of the US:

Just put it on the top and add a bullet saying "to be determined" and perhaps in brackets. Make sure to add the future start and end dates. I did the same exact thing for an upcoming internship as well and it was a major talking point in every interview I had. I also have to disagree with fez and FreezePops (I feel like you're just trying to play devil's advocate). Showing that you received an offer (be it an internship or not) shows that you actually managed to jump through the hoops of the application process and at least eliminates uncertainty to some extent. All my interviewers bluntly said that since I was accepted at bank X, all they wanted to ask was fit questions. Definitely doesn't hurt.

 
Leidenschaft:
Showing that you received an offer (be it an internship or not) shows that you actually managed to jump through the hoops of the application process and at least eliminates uncertainty to some extent. All my interviewers bluntly said that since I was accepted at bank X, all they wanted to ask was fit questions. Definitely doesn't hurt.
Agree, just do it right and you're fine. The first comment supporting this course of action is on point with how to structure it. FWIW I got poached from one internship in corpfin to ER before it even started based on putting it on my resume...that's why I ask the start dates. Believe it or not, you can actually leverage stuff you've landed for the future. Just be humble about how you bring this up in conversation.

Hey, employers are unfair. The economy is unfair. The government is REALLY unfair. Now you have my blessing to be unfair too. When things settle down and everyone acts like decent fucking human beings again, then you can too, but until then you need to stay light on your feet, ALWAYS BE CLOSING, and have backup plans on speed dial.

Get busy living
 

I've seen it done before too, but the fact that you haven't been at the job yet means that you will not have a detailed job description under the heading. Also, if you are interviewing for the firm soon and they ask you about it, you saying you haven't started yet basically kills the rest of the interview.

 

I agree that it's a badge of qualification. I just see it possibly backfiring, especially when they realize that name tells them nothing about how well you work at all. I had a friend in college that had just started doing part time at a regional MS (about a week) before interviewing for summer internships, and this was the experience listed as the top/most recent on the resume. She said that when interviewers asked and she said she hadn't gotten much work yet because she just started, it killed the interview, even though the ms name may have gotten her the interview in the first place. If you imagine yourself telling others, well I work at UBS, MS, etc. and then when they ask you what you do, and you say well nothing yet, then they may (MAY) have a worse impression of you than had you said nothing at all.

Usually one of the most important parts of your experience on your resume is in the job description you place under the heading - usually these will be specific tasks that you had to do, possibly specific projects and or takeaways from your time at the firm. If you haven't started yet, what are you going to write? Speculate on what you're going to do? Say "DCF, Public Comparables, and Transaction Comparables analyses to arrive at valuation"? You'll get torn apart. On the other hand, if you don't put anything, then the internship seems less than impressive.

I see what you mean xist but I also see potential downsides.

 

I would say that you should put it down, or at least mention it in the cover letter or in the interview. It's experience that you will have, and that will prove valuable to your new employers if they hire you, so you should tell them.

 

It looks a bit wonky to have future dates on your resume under work experience, so best bet is to be very up-front with the fact that it's out in the future and not play up specific job functions too much. Pull a few key phrases from whatever information you've been given as relates to the job description, and be prepared for that to start a conversation with the interviewer only (as opposed to actually demonstrating qualification). Make sure you stay very up-to-date and get into the resume whatever salient details you've developed through the first week or two of the internship, so at least you've got something you can say you did.

 

i'm math and economics, not mmss (didn't know about the program until too late). thanks Ballyho, i might put it that way, although it might be kind of presumptuous, and i'm afraid it will detract from the rest of my resume. i'm actually wondering if i should even put it on my resume, or at the most just put a line that says "equity analyst intern..." any further opinions?

 

The reason I asked was because of the short time I have been at the internship. I guess I felt that the firm I am applying to would look down on me for putting it down.

Thanks for everything guys.

 

As long as it's a sure thing and you've received an offer for the spring internship, then yes, I would definitely put it on. That being said, I wouldn't go into too much details in the description section because you obviously have no experience from that firm yet. Just limit it to something like: "-Will join [FIRM NAME]'s [DIVISION] for a three month internship starting [START DATE]"

As for the date on the resume, I would write: "January 2011 - Future"

“Millionaires don't use astrology, billionaires do”
 

just to add, if i got a resume with your future experience on there, i would probably laugh for 3-4 days...

Nouveau Richie - just curious why you said to put it on...it makes no sense

 
MittRomney:

Nouveau Richie - just curious why you said to put it on...it makes no sense

I agree with Proboscis's take on it. When applying for summer positions, including the future spring experience shows two relevant factors: 1.) that this candidate was already deemed worthy of selection elsewhere, and 2.) between now and the summer, you can expect this candidate to expand/sharpen his financial acumen.

That being said, I also think that it shouldn't take resume space away from the accomplishments that have already happened, which is why at most he should include the start date and a brief note listing (but not describing) the team/division he will be joining. Should take two resume lines MAX.

“Millionaires don't use astrology, billionaires do”
 

I think there is some value in letting the recruiters for summer internships know that you will have had the spring experience by the time you join them.

The main thing is not to project you anticipated duties...that will sound weird. Just state that you will be working at X Company in Y Position from [start date] to [end date].

That is my opinion, at least.

Proboscis
 

thanks, so how should that look on the resume?

just the title of the firm the date i will start and for the description I just write I that I will be joining whatever division, soon, but not started it yet?

 

lol I was thinking that, but my essays are at the maximum limit for size. Also, If it take any of the existing material out, the essay kind of collapses.

But do you think its a bad idea? I figured the admissions board would understand

Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis - when I was dead broke man I couldn't picture this
 

Put it on there now.

It's not a negative to have landed an internship in an investment banking role. Unlike most people in finance it sounds like you have a resume UNDERSTATEMENT problem rather than a resume OVERSTATEMENT problem .

Most people write resumes and overstate skills by about 15%. You got a job... There are no lies there. You're working as an intern currently. Nothing wrong there. You want to increase chances of getting interviews... Include it.

Your resume will likely go through the scanning process much faster now so you'll be moved up to the top of the pile, better to have them glaze over the date and interview you than to never see your resume in the first place.

 

I would put it on. I started my current internship in September and put it on after a couple weeks so I got a better sense of what I would actually be doing. Now that it's late October I've tweaked the bullets enough that it's a fairly fleshed out job description. I had a first round interview early October but even at just a month it provided a number of good talking points.

 

Up to you, but if you have it on there, be prepared to speak about it.

Would include if you think it makes you a significantly stronger candidate, especially since you are starting the internship now and will have some talking points by the time you interview

 

Assuming your internship is in a relevant field, I would put it on there. Either refer to your job description or ask for help from someone who has also held the job before. If it's an IBD role, there are certain key skills which might be worth highlighting. It is a fairly well understood job so there is a certain consistency in what people would expect to see on an intern's resume.

 

I'm in a similar position right now, and I just did my best to create bullet points out of things I had already done or knew I would do very soon. They aren't as specific as those for my past internships, but at least it gets the job on the resume

 

I would just hold off on applying to these places in September if you could. Then on your resume you can put September-Present and you're not putting anything as "incoming".

make it hard to spot the general by working like a soldier
 

People who do that on LinkedIn look so dumb. I even see MD's post about being incoming members of charities where they haven't accomplished anything.

On your cover letter and resume I would list it. Just point out the firm, what team, and the agreed upon duration. Please don't put up one of those summaries of fake projects you haven't even done yet but expect to do, that's dumb too.

 

Don't. I get wanting to show relevant experience on a resume, but that's all you should show. Experience. Not speculative or expected experience. I would never have anything on the page that I can't talk about on the spot. Any interviewer is going to see it as more or less wasted space on a page as he/she can't ask you anything about it. And what good is the experience if you can't show what you've learned during your interview?

 

Thanks for your input guys.

Also, how does one include his exchange semester on CV? (note, I am a kid from a non-target uni and will do an exchange in a target school). Should I go for a separate entry or just a short line under my home uni?

 

If you have some space on your resume, I'd make it an additional item on your resume in the education section, like this:

Target University City, State -- BS, Economics May 2015

Exchange University City, Country -- Visiting Student Fall 2012

If you don't have as much space, add an extra line on your resume, like this:

Target University City, State -- BS, Economics May 2015 -- Studied abroad at Exchange University in Fall 2012

 

I'll take a contrarian position and argue that you should list it, but not in "Experience". I'd include it at the catch all at the end.

Also include in the cover letter, but a lot of people (including me) never look at cover letters. Our HR department doesn't even include cover letters in the screening packs we get.

Reasons I'd like to see this as an interviewer: - It tells me what experience you'll likely have when you start with my team - It tells me you've successfully got through interview process with another organisation, which provides validation for my view of you in the interview (and is likely a good pre-conditioning factor for me looking at your favourably during the interview)

It could make the difference between you getting dinged vs interview at the pre-interview screening stage.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

This has been asked before, but, in short, you can mention an upcoming internship, if you've accepted it, towards the bottom of your resume - you can include position, company and start date. This is a way of letting others know, for FT recruiting, for example, that you will be working IB and are a "desirable candidate." That said, you cannot add bullet points highlighting what you WILL be doing, even if you are "certain" that you will be doing these things. Experience sections on resumes are only for your experiences - those that have happened already - not the experiences you are assuming you will...experience...at some point in the future.

IBanker www.BankonBanking.com [email protected] Articles, News, Advice and More Break Into Investment Banking with a Resume Revision or Interview Prep Session Today!

 

em·ploy emˈploi/Submit verb past tense: employed; past participle: employed 1. give work to (someone) and pay them for it.

So I'm not really sure why you consider yourself currently employed... you currently are "just unemployed"

You think boasting that you have an offer in a different industry is going to attract the banks?

 

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--Death, lighter than a feather; duty, heavier than a mountain
 

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