F50 Finance vs. Small Boutique
I am in the process of choosing internships, and have one from a F50 firm, and one from a small IB Boutique.
As a sophomore, what would be better for me to pick if I want IB next summer? Now I hear people say "If you want to do IB, just take the IB offer".
Isn't the brand name of the F50 worth something? Isn't it a more "different" and "interesting" thing to talk about in interviews?
Is working at a small IB really worth that much? Doing IB work is really not rocket science- why would an interviewer care that I have done it for a summer in the past? Is the IB experience that valuable as a sophomore?
Appreciate the thoughts and feedback guys.
What department will you be working with at the F50?
You are right, investment banking does not take a rocket scientist. But it helps in cementing your "passion" for wanting to do investment banking.
thecoldburns- it would be a Finance Internship with the FPA team. Was told there would be forecasting and data analysis involved.
(undergrad here..so take my word lightly)...through talking to bankers the earlier you can get experience in IB, the better. Personally, since you have IB as an option, I would say take it to know if you actually want to do IB in the future?
Although, since you are a sophomore, I think both options will set you up good for IB internships (BBs) your junior year, it just might be require a bit more effort coming from F50 experiences -are you in a target or non -target?
If target, then you will be fine but if non-target definitely go with IB.
I never really had to compete with targets but from my colleagues, this is quite true.
I've always been a proponent of experience, and both could probably give you good exposure depending on how you spin it. What kind of exposure is the boutique firm offering you? Even if it is lots of grunt work - IM/pitchbook building, research etc, it could be really interesting if the deal flow is good (if deal exposure excites you).
When you interviewed with the two, where did you feel you would enjoy your summer most? It usually shows in your future interviews if you liked working at a place and I personally look out for that when interviewing for summer analysts. It tells me that the interviewee somewhat knows the shit he's getting into and isn't going to whine all day.
f50(think vz,at&t,ge) finance co-op (paid well) vs. no name boutique IB internship (unpaid) (Originally Posted: 10/25/2013)
I am currently a sophomore at a nontarget. I have 2 offers of the upcoming semester, a f50 finance coop and a unpaid IB no name boutique internship. What looks better if I am aiming for IBD SA junior yr?
If you believe that you will be doing relevant work instead of getting coffee, then the investment banking internship is worth a lot more and will contribute a lot more to your story when you go for your junior SA opportunity. It will give you a leg up as a non target to demonstrate that you already have the skills, experience and desire to work in investment banking.
Personally I'd go with the brand name, well paid job, since it's your sophomore yr internship. What is a no-name shop really going to do? It's more impressive that you have an offer from a F50 IMO.
I don't agree, F500 companies commonly recruit from non targets but rarely ever are there investment banking opportunities. It shows more of a determination to break into the industry.
these are conficting thoughts that I am having exactly..questions is which one of you is right?
I'm with Cash Bro all the way on this one.
If your ultimate goal is IB, you go IB. You do whatever it takes (working at the first place to offer you a job in order to gain relevant experience) rather than padding your resume with names (good names, don't get me wrong) but irrelevant work towards your goal.
You want to show determination. The outcome of this choice is that you were so determined to get relevant IB experience that you rebuffed top-flight offers to do something OTHER than IB. The right place will respect that.
And if you want to show that you're willing to risk it all, you have to put your nuts to the fire sometimes and take a risk. Can't be all talk.
Exactly. corpfin would just detract from your story, whereas IB would show how serious you were from the start.
I'm with Cash Bro all the way on this one.
I think that either of these experiences can be used to get you a SA position the following year, with a proper networking effort. If you are working hard towards IB, this decision isn't going to decide YES or NO on whether or not you can break in. With that said, the boutique IB internship would demonstrate interest in the industry and be an easier sell in SA interviews. Also, if you do well there, the senior guys may have contacts that you can leverage. It's a sophomore internship, the pay is not important - Experience > 15$/hr. If you look at them both as unpaid, it's a pretty easy decision as to which you should choose.
That's another great way to put it, if both were unpaid, it would be obvious which would be better as a path to IB, which is supposedly your end goal.
I see,my only reason against the boutique IB is that I feel like I will have a job lead with the f500 co-op, and I can always try finding a boutique ib internship for the summer or the fall. I am just trying to have a 2nd option setup for when I graduate, since usually every year only a handful (IB from my school,but I see everyones point. Thanks for the input
You said you want to go into IB, right? Then:
Stop settling for back up plans as a sophomore, just because some internship could lead to a career 3 years later. Don't use the excuse that only a handful of students go into IB from your school either. Have some confidence, put in the work and be one of the "IB. Make the decision based on what you want to do in the future, and not based on the idea that you are going to fail and need security. The same companies will be back looking for direct FT hires when you're a senior, if you really want to focus on that scenario.
Congrats and good luck.
Financial Analyst at a F50 or Boutique IB Analyst (Originally Posted: 03/26/2016)
I have a few offers right now but the two at the top of my list are a Financial Analyst role at a F50 or an IB analyst role at a boutique. Pay is relatively close. What do you guys think? TIA
Well what do you wanna do...
I wouldn't poll WSO on deciding between these two very different career paths. If you want to go into banking, take the boutique. if you dont want to go into banking, and want the easier lifestyle and everything that comes with being a financial analyst, take that gig.
If you're indifferent (which I doubt you are because you are a member of WSO) I would consider the attributes of each firm. "Boutique Investment Bank" is a general term for a group of hundreds companies that can easily be stratified.
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