Northwestern Mutual Internships
I'm going in for an interview next week. Does anybody know anything about their internship program?
http://www.northwesternmutual.com/career-opportunities/financial-repres…
It's seems like it's going to be a lot of cold calling. Is this type of thing worth doing? I am currently a sophomore at a state school.
Internship at Northwest Mutual Review
Our users unanimously agree that the program is not one that you should be targeting if you are interested in gaining a meaningful internship experience.
One of my friends interviewed for it. They actually give you a worksheet where you list all the people you know, and then you are supposed to call those people to sell them Northwestern products.
Yeah basically you’re a phone salesman......you ever seen the show the office...imagine your life like that lol.....I definitely would do it unless it’s my only option.
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Not worth it unless you have NO other choice. They accept almost everyone and try to offer life insurance to your family/friends.
This
Yeah basically your a phone salesman......you ever seen the show the office...imagine your life like that lol.....I definitely would do it unless its my only option.
One of my friends interviewed for it. They actually give you a worksheet where you list all the people you know, and then you are supposed to call those people to sell them Northwestern products.
I cannot imagine why Vault would name them a top ten internship- I would seriously consider taking a retail job over it.
[quote=West Coast rainmaker I cannot imagine why Vault would name them a top ten internship- I would seriously consider taking a retail job over it.[/quote]
They're a big "sponsor" of Vault
This should not be posted on WSO.
Fuck. I guess I will go in next week anyway just to get my first exposure to an interview.
Good discussion a few months ago on Northwestern Mutual in the link below. Should provide all the insight you need (from both sides of the aisle) on what you would be getting yourself into...
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/northwestern-mutual-why-its-a-gre…
I did this internship going into my junior year of college and everyone on here is right, only do this if you have no where else to go. While I did develop networking skills, it was one of the most poorly organized, run, and compensated internships I've ever seen.
Thanks for the link, and all the other info. What is my best way to handle this then? Should I tell the girl interviewing me that I would prefer to work at a real firm, but if I can't land an IB internship I would be prepared to jam bullshit life insurance packages down the throats of my friends and family for a summer while contemplating suicide and crying myself to sleep every night.
The way their HR reps hand recruiting is reflective of their business. HR basically cold emails and contacts every possible outlet that could provide them with students to enslave. Paul.Allen is right, they accept almost anyone so I imagine you could jump on to the desk as soon as you walk into the interview, drop your pants and drop a dookie right on the desk and they'd still offer you a job for the summer. Going to the interview will basically be them gauging YOUR interest in the job. The ball is in your court so you keep THEM on the hook until you have no other options and then see about working for them.
There are people making Nikes in Asia who feel sorry for Northwestern Mutual interns
I need to stop reading this website during class. I just burst out laughing when I saw this (as I did the NWM stint for a month. Got a nice dinner party invite out of it. Free drinks
It highly depends on which office/group you'll be working for, at least from my experience. I did this internship last summer and was sold on the career about a month and a half after I started. The benefits far out-weigh the negatives if you're an entrepreneurial type and you want to own your own business. Compensation is extremely good if you're successful as well. If you're considering working for NMFN in a big city, however, I really wouldn't recommend it. I was working in a state in the South so making $45k-$60k in the first year and $300k+ after 5-6 years is much more appealing, especially considering you can work a 50 hour work week and completely control your entire business model.
WSO is comprised almost entirely of individuals who legitimately believe IB/S&T/PE are the only routes to be successful (make 6+ figures at some point in their life) and network. Don't completely dismiss the opportunity but make sure you're doing it for the right reason. Plus, the top guys in PWM (private wealth management) often start as financial advisors elsewhere and get laterally hired.
Feel free to PM me if you want more info!
Just got back from my interview, I pretty much knew what to expect, thanks to you guys. I was out partying pretty late last night, I was extremely lucky that I didn't vomit during the interview. After the interview I was taking the elevator down to the parking garage when some Dustin Hoffman looking motherfucker started making small talk. The door literally opened and I stumbled out and started yakking all over the show. The look on the guy's face as the elevator door closed was priceless.
Oh, and I stole their pen... should I give it back when I go in for round two?
^^you my man...you're a major douche. ok so their internship is not legit, but no need to shit on them about i, especially to that degree. your superiority complex sickens me. i would never hire a dick like you.
Yeah, I guess everyone else already got to the point: The Northwestern Mutual internship isn't all that awesome. You're pretty much selling insurance to your "contact list." Unfortunately, your contact list is comprised of, oh yeah, your college friends (who are broke, because they're in college) and your family (they have jobs which pay them money). As a result, you end up pitching insurance and annuities to your family, and what are your parents going to say when you start telling them how to manage their hard earned cash? "Stop calling the house, shouldn't you be studying or something?" Hard to get much out of an internship with that format.
Worthless...Unless you want to be a sleezy insurance salesman
I was just looking on this, and I'm a former Northwestern Mutual Intern. I had an amazing experience, and trust me, I wasn't even expecting to accept their offer- my background was music, I never thought I'd be in a career like this, HOWEVER, I couldn't find any other career where I had as much of an opportunity to get paid to be who I am, to get to meet people and help people on a daily basis. This is a sales career, but it's not salesy- I never did any cold calling, and I certainly wasn't looking to just sell to friends and family. Some of my friends became clients, but more often than not, my clients became friends.
IF I were you, I would absolutely just go in for the first meeting, get a feel for the company, their culture and the career and THEN make up your mind-I almost turned them down right away, and honestly, I'm so glad I didn't. I'd also encourage you to speak to some more former interns.
Wow, I'm a defender of NM, but this is over the top. How did you not do any cold calling?
As I've posted before, a close friend works for NM and makes more than most on Wall St. (for his age). You work on commissions and your job is to cold call and set appointments for your boss. You sell life, disability, retirement planning, investment advice. If someone buys, you get a cut.
It's a VERY difficult job, but doesn't require the highest IQ, just people skills. You aren't doing research on HLF to find if it's a fraud or not - you take their profile and suggest mutual fund allocations that balance risk/reward and financial situation.
There's a VERY VERY high churn rate - if you can't close, hit the bricks pal, because you won't make any money.
If you do well, GREAT lifestyle. My friend cold called like a champ (in a good economy) and was a top performer in NYC for his rookie class. Your clients give referrals so less and less depends on cold calling. Each year your clients don't cancel, you get an ongoing stream of renewals, so your "base" continues to rise.
If you do well, then you hire interns / FT to cold call for you and the cycle continues.
Don't have any meetings today? Stay home, take a long weekend, whatever. Again, you'd better not do it if you haven't found success, but once you have, you make your own hours.
Hey! but its a "PAID" internship right??? and Its one of the TOP TEN internships!!! LOL
I love how they promote that on their postings. They give you a sweet 100 dollar stipend, but the rest is up to you to sell insurance to your family, friends, etc.
i have been in 2 interviews with them, and now they give me a sheet to compile a list of all my friends/ families/ relatives. so is it the market that im gonna work with??!!
You best not put down anyone. They didn't even offer you a job yet.
Stay clear and find another job.
Intern at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network (Originally Posted: 01/28/2012)
I have the opportunity to be a Financial Representative intern during the academic year at the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.
But what does a Financial Representative at the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network do? Is it a position which can add experience to my resume for IB recruiting?
google it first. there are a lot of mixed reviews about northwestern...to say the least i personally would never ever touch the place, but there are some who swear by it...
you know something is up if you type in northwestern mutual internship in google and it autofills with "scam"
Scam
Interviewed with them last year, was offered a "second round". Pretty much a sales job where they want college kids to leverage their family/friend networks in order to sell life insurance.
Needless to say I declined the second interview.
Won't help your resume, except to be a filler if you need one. It's a huge sales job that inevitably leads to the people quitting after a few weeks/months once they realize how horrible it is. Some people are successful at it though
Yup sales, although I do have friends who did it and mentioned its not bad...
It's shit.
I'd try and find something else. They pulled my resume from my schools career site and call me about once a month asking if I want to do an internship. Looked it up on my school's site after the first time they called and saw that they had one listing for an intern whose entire job was to lead recruiting initiatives for more interns...
Sounds like cutco for life insurance.
Steer clear unless you're just looking for a resume filler. Unpaid internship at a boutique bank or buyside firm would be way better.
Its BS....
BUT if your a freshman/sophomore with no other experience, why not
(but unpaid intern at boutique/anywhere else is better)
I have a close friend who is ~30 and making big $ at Northwestern.
It can be a great career if you have 1) a good network and/or 2) very solid inter-personal skills. You won't be running models and recommending stocks; NMFN's investment team or models will provide you with the details you'll be giving to your clients.
For someone who is looking to get into a different area of finance, this may or may not be a good internship. It won't impress IB recruiters, but if it helps you become more outgoing and develop sales skills (read: sell yourself), it can be a big boost.
As for reputation, NMFN is very highly regarded within the industry. They are or were "the quiet company" because they don't spend much $ on advertising and instead provide better returns overall on insurance / investment products.
Essentially what everyone else has said. Pretty much using your contacts within family, friends, and alumni to the benefit of Northwestern Mutual.
Doesn't give you much experience, working environment shitty.... wouldn't waste your time unless you have nothing better to do.
I found the internship experience to be pretty great. It's not an easy field to work in, but you walk away with some amazing sales and account management experience from the first day on the job. I never "hit up" friends or family and was extraordinarily successful with leveraging college alumnus.
The difficult part about the internship is the 100% commission compensation structure (aside from the $100 per week stipend). Many interns tend to get burnt out and quit. You get what you put into the job - if you advise a client with a large Estate Planning case and earn a commission exceeding $200k it might not be a bad summer.
Northwestern Mutual Internship Question (Originally Posted: 03/27/2013)
Yup, we're having this thread again.
Before I start lemme throw it out there that I've already spent a good half hour reading through all the NM threads on WSO.
Anyway, I'm a freshman at the University of Non-Targets, and I got a call today from Northwestern Mutual's finance department, and the lady I spoke to wanted to bring me in for an interview this Friday for a summer internship. After agreeing I went on WSO and started reading about all the scam and horror stories from people who've interned with them. I've really just got two questions about it.
1) Right now I'm currently waiting to hear on another internship at a boutique AM firm ($14B AUM) where I think I have a pretty good shot. At the firm I currently intern at I helped in an project between our two firms, and after finding out I applied there my supervisor told me that she would talk me up with them because she's going to be at their firm all day on Saturday, and one of their C-Level execs actually came from the firm I currently work at.
So I'm wondering if I should see how long I can put off the Northwestern gig (assuming they make an offer) and wait for developments on this other internship. My career goal is to eventually break into AM doing equity research and move up to a PM role, so I feel the AM internship is obviously a better path.
2) How bad is it really interning for Northwestern? From what I've read it's obviously going to be a sales job, but I really wouldn't mind doing sales and cold calling. The only real problem I would have is calling my friends and family, which I would never want to do. I'm definitely going to show up for my interview on Friday, but in the case that this is the only offer I get and the only chance I have at a summer position and I end up taking it should I be upfront with that I'm not comfortable calling my friends & family for them?
When I spoke on the phone with the recruiter she told me that they have a branch office opening in my college town, which is really a nothing town other, and I heard that it's better to take an offer with them if it's in a small city? Any truth to that?
Thanks in advance.
I've heard of them literally putting a piece of paper infront of an applicant and having them list relatives and friends who could buy products. It is a shit coldcalling internship and future interviewers will know this. Accept the offer and feel free to renege.
Unless you are guaranteed that you would be doing finance (corporate finance) or working in their PE group (not sure if they would also have a Mezz group or not), it's THAT bad.
Worst case, take the NW job and keep looking. If you find something else, bail on that company b/c they treat young employees like shit. Or just keep looking in general b/c any other job would be superior.
Doing a NWM internship would be worse than sitting on your couch for the entire summer and playing video games.
You will be calling your friends and family and pitching them life insurance. I would rather sell knives door-to-door.
Don't listen to their marketing BS either. They were on campus for a "career night" when I was in college and tried to pitch themselves as some sort of investment firm, making it sound like you'd be figuring out which stocks and investments their clients should buy. Some quick fact checking showed that was certainly not the case, and worst of all, you had to pay "rent" or some shit so you could actually wind up selling insurance to your friends and having to pay for the experience.
Shut that shit down and figure something else out. It is a life ruiner.
my little bro did the NWM internship during his sophomore summer and it was strictly cold-calling and sales
the next summer he locked down a gig with a top MM in IBD in NYC
all that said, he did play lacrosse at a lower-tier Ivy
Is this for their corporate HQ in Milwaukee or a district office where you'd be selling insurance? Both have their ups and downs but either way NWM is known for having a great training program. You could do a lot worse for a freshmen year SA program.
I applied for their SA program through their corporate website which didn't really give any specifics. I'm interviewing in their St. Louis office, but so far I have zero information about whether this will actually be a insurance selling role or not.
I can't imagine the people they recruit for their sales positon have any sort of experience, so maybe there's a slim chance I could leverage my current IM experience for an intern position in their HQ? I will probably go to the interview just to see if I can do that, but otherwise I don't plan on taking it.
FSC, those are all good ideas and if I can't land a position anywhere I plan on taking summer classes. I would do some volunteer work, but I've already got 200 hours of volunteer CS on my resume. Reading is going to be what I'm doing regardless of where I end up.
NMW is the finance equivalent of selling DVD's on the subway.
Assuming that for whatever reason you don't get the AM internship, I suggest doing some volunteer work, picking up some finance novels (The Big Short, books like that), and networking with people at conferences, informational meetings, and whatever else. Take some summer classes if you can / want to, too.
This is ridiculous. Look, it's not GS or SAC, but any selling experience is helpful and they have a good training program.
Their internships are ridiculous. If you have nothing else lined up, sure take it, but after having a first round interview there a few years back, I would never interview there again.
During the interview, I was asked if I knew anyone else that would be interested in the internship or their products. I politely said "I do not." The interview was noticeably upset. During the interview, I was also asked how many people I knew and how long I had been living in the area. She liked the fact that I knew a lot of people and had been living in the area for several years. While she did not say this, she hinted that Northwester Mutual only considers people who have a network. Why? So you can sell their products to your network.
As an intern, you basically do the same work that FT people do there. You make cold calls every day (you are expected to set aside a few hours for this) and are expected to get your friends and family members to buy from you. They are awful! I cannot understand why they are still ranked so highly for internships.
@FSC
Northwestern Mutual is actually a very well regarded company. As far as the actual insurance goes, they are probably the most prestigious and well-capitalized company in the entire industry. Many fortune 500 c-level executives use their products as do many extremely wealthy families.
For a freshman at a non-target this is not the worst opportunity in the world. Yes, you have to bother people you know but you will be trained how to use the phone and how to pitch a product. These are valuable skills that will help you later on - realize that most finance jobs involve some sort of sales. If nothing else, it at least helps you get a better internship next summer.
So you work for them?
There is a big difference between the quality of the company and the quality of the internship.
Just because I was given a janitorial job at JP Morgan doesn't mean I should take it.
I know a few kids who have done it and trust me, if you don't want to call your family and friends then who are you going to call? Are you gonna have the balls to open the phone book and start calling every doctor/lawyer in there? Plus, from what I have heard, there really isn't anything to the internship BESIDES calling people so it's gotta be someone. You said you had a current internship, what about extending that? You said you had a bunch of community service, what about taking a more active role in organizing some CS or recruiting people to do CS? I think that would look a lot better than the internship. Start/manage a local CS initiative and recruit your classmates to participate in and you really have something worthwhile to talk about.
I was recruited at the boutique IM firm I'm at to assist over my winter/spring break with a large project they were working on with a partner AM firm. It's not a formal program, and they don't offer summer positions. I'm still in the process of cold emailing/calling alumni (fraternity) so there may be a slim chance for me to land something at a boutique still.
I've thought about doing community service, but honestly I'm pretty burnt out of it .Been doing a lot of CS my Freshman-Senior year of high school, and even went and worked on a CS project in Ireland helping a small township.
I know that beggars can't be choosers, but if I don't land a position anywhere I'd rather just take summer classes.
A lot of great insight in this thread, guys. Thanks!
I also hate how NWM keeps referring to everything as "building your business" and the other euphemisms they use. There is nothing entrepreneurial about it.
I know this conversation was a while ago, but the threads I'm reading on here are worrying me. I'm a rising junior and took the Northwestern Mutual internship this summer because I wasn't able to land anything else as a sophomore. I knew what it would entail and am not particularly interested, but took it anyway to have something on my resume. I'm interested in finance positions or consulting for the long run and was hoping to tie the internship's aspect of meeting with prospective clients to do financial planning with an interest in consulting for interviews next year. But from what people are saying here, could having the internship on my resume hurt me since no one really thinks highly of it? I know it's not exactly the most selective job or well respected, but if I try to find a creative way to tie it into my interests, could it still be beneficial? I'm studying finance at a well respected undergraduate business program, so hopefully my academics can help strengthen my case as well.
Northwestern Mutual PWM - as bad as selling insurance all day? (Originally Posted: 07/08/2014)
I just received an interview for a semester internship at Northwestern in PWM, and I'm trying to figure out if it's a worthwhile. NM has a reputation for asking its "top ten financial representative" interns to cold call family and friends to sell insurance, and from my understanding, PWM is similar. However, the two divisions are distinct. Does anyone know about NM PWM?
Had an internship with them last summer. Good experience and learned a lot but like you said, its all cold calling and selling insurance. I loved the company, hated the job. But if that's what you want to do, it is a very reputable insurance company.
I disagree with this, and I personally have nothing against them as a firm. I do think their practices with college students are shady, but there are plenty of pyramid schemes college kids get involved in so this is not the worst thing for a college kid, not by a long shot.
But their reputation is not good, for a couple of reasons: recruitment practices as mentioned in this thread, and their platform. I wish I could tell you people were agnostic when it came to firm reputation in PWM, but NW Mutual is not considered PWM, they're an insurance company, similar to NY Life, Prudential, Nationwide, Metlife, etc. that happens to offer some investments.
If you said you were in private wealth management with NW Mutual during a conversation, the other person would probably say "I thought that was insurance?" In order to be PWM in my opinion, you have to have open architecture, membership on NYSE (or if you're small, representation like through Pershing or First Clearing), and some sort of research or Asset Management arm, however small.
Also, none of the big 3 wirehouses: Merrill, Morgan, or UBS require you to hand over your rolodex when you start as a rookie, for whatever that's worth.
I advise against interning at that firm. I interviewed back in ugrad freshman year. At this point, assuming I'm in a recruiting roll, I'd be critical, to say the least, of a CV with NWM on it. Hold out for something better. They wanted me to basically give them my Rolodex before they even officially hired me. They also said the president of my school had good things to say about me. It just didn't smell right. Keep in mind my experience was with one branch office in particular and is not representative of the whole firm necessarily, but that doesn't keep me from advising against it.
From what I heard... Had a bunch of friends who had started there and quit within a year...
Like someone said above, I'd hold out for something else. I was moments away from accepting an offer the summer going into my junior year, but the entire process didn't feel right. For example, before you even get an offer they ask you to write down numerous contacts (potential sells) and to put down the names of people you think might be interested in the job...that was weird to me.
I have a couple friends who started off the summer with this role and only one is still with NW Mutual because he has sold to his family, his family switched over policies, etc. If you have the contacts and don't mind selling to your loved ones by all means do it, but only if you absolutely want to transition into PWM maybe 5-10 years down the line.
Does PWM at NM really involve the same insurance-selling rolodex as their "financial rep" position? This is the description for the internship.
Work with Name, a Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern Mutual with over 26 years of experience as a full service financial planner. He manages investments, estate planning, life and disability insurance, long-term care insurance, and retirement planning for high net worth individuals.
The Fall Semester Intern will be responsible for assisting the team, both with day-to-day tasks and long term projects. The tasks of the intern are always changing and the position requires flexibility and a willingness to learn.
Responsibilities: •Assist in the planning and execution of large-scale marketing projects •Record monthly revenue and expenses using Excel •Learn and independently perform the functions of Northwestern Mutual’s online database/client service software •Create referral lists through LinkedIn to obtain new business •Manage email correspondence on behalf of the office, maintaining a high level of professionalism and accuracy •Learn about Northwestern Mutual’s various product lines and what best suits our clients’ needs •Work with the team to prepare for client meetings •Assist office staff across all clerical functions including filing, copying, and scanning •Keep office supplies well stocked
you can ask during the interview, but my guess is yes. I'd say "will my responsibilities entail reaching out to potential new clients to tell them about the benefits of the firm/___ advisor's practice?" or more directly: "will I be cold calling or calling on friends/relatives with the end goal of setting an appointment for the advisor or selling them myself?"
best to get shit like that out of the way early.
As bro said, this is not PWM. Everyone likes to attach the PWM moniker to any form of financial advisory which isn't proper or true at all
How would you describe it then? My boss would be a WM advisor for Northwestern, according to the website.
Used to get calls once or twice a month from "friends" who got jobs at Northwestern Mutual. Seems like they hire anyone and just have you spam cold call anyone you know. Horrible company as far as I'm concerned.
Yep, that's my feelings towards this company as well... and definitely not PWM as far as I'm concerned, just like he ^ mentioned...
NWM internship is better than nothing. My first internship was with an Insurance firm as well, it's a good way to make some part time income and have something to write on your resume. The cold calling does suck tho but eventually after that internship I landed a BB PWM internship during the semester. Small steps, maybe do this internship for the summer then try to get a PWM internship or off-cycle internship during the semester. It should put you in good position for analyst roles during OCR
Make no doubt about it, 99% of insurance internships or even BB PWM internship will not be analytical in nature. In my experience, I did around 90% clerical/administrative tasks like filing, data entry, cold calling, sitting in meetings. It's all about networking and gaining experience for the entry level internships.
Northwestern Mutual (Originally Posted: 04/04/2011)
I swear this place is the biggest fraud in the world. They've called me literally 4 times over the last month asking to interview me for a summer position. I have no idea how they even got my resume. What a chop shop.
Cool.
.
I have a friend who is taking this internship this summer...does anyone know someone who has actually done it? Wondering if it's as bad as I've read.
I fear it is, given that he has "homework" to contact six people he knows to talk about life insurance and then get referrals to four other people from each of the six .......
Friends do not let friends intern at Northwestern Mutual.
Yeah, a guy in the gym here told me he had a job waiting for him back at home with his "Business Administration" degree and I chuckled a bit under my breath, asked him where it was, and had a hard time keeping a straight face when he said Northwestern Mutual. I even straight up hardballed him next; "So you're selling insurance!?" "Yeah," he goes, "Financial Sales."
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/northwestern-mutual-why-its-a-gre…
Fuck, this girl from one of my classes last year gave these people my number!!!!!!
Lol, if you're in the midwest (like chicago, or U of I), the equivalent is Mass Mutual. Same fucking girl called me at least 10 times asking me to be a sales associate for them. 3 of those 10 times I told her to take me off of whatever list she was coldcalling from.
A few weeks later, I was checking linkedin, and like a dozen of my connections had friended her.
northwestern mutual is a total joke when it comes to these internships. i interviewed for a position for the summer after my freshman year not knowing any better, and during the interview, realized how big of a scam it was. i had a "double interview"... me and some other kid were being interviewed at same time. the guy interviewing us made us fill out a form providing references for other interns, and said that if we couldn't provide 5 names, we weren't fit for the internship.
i knew a girl who did it for a couple weeks then quit BC she felt really awkward trying to sell insurance to her family members.... northwestern mutual basically accumulates many many students to do this, and pays them a cheap stipend and the rest of compensation is completely variable (commission-based). so they take hundreds of interns in and then use those networks to sell insurance to webs of thousands of ppl across the country. absolutely great for them, but awful proposition for most of the interns.
also, while we were touring the office during the interview, they had a girl come in and tell us how she made $10 grand in 1 week of selling insurance. what a joke. straight lying to us to try to entice us to work there.
I remember interviewing at Northwestern while I was a sophomore. I am a rising senior now and I still get at least 1 phone call a month from one of three local branches. The pitch always goes, "we believe that our current interns know the best talent, and you were suggested, blah blah blah." Either the biggest scam or smartest business model I've seen.
I used to think it was shitty experience. But, for someone who is a freshman or sophmore, its great to be able to put on a resume early on. Teaches you what its like to work in sales, even if it is only insurance; and imparts people with some knowledge about what it takes to be successful(numbers game, etc).
This and cold-calling are some of the best ways to start out, I think.
There's tons of money to be made in the retail markets. Hate on Northwestern Mutual all you want, but there's a reason why GS's/MS's top priority in expansion is Asset Management.
Managing Director: Ok, for this interview we're going to need you to give us the names, addresses, and phone numbers of your closest 1000 friends and family members.
Khalil: But I already gave you 500.....
Managing Director: Oh yeah by the way I got some sweet steak knives, would you like to buy some?
HELP! Sophomore Internship BNY Mellon|Ayco, a Goldman Sachs Company|S&P|Northwestern Mutual|Boutique Firm|UTC Aerospace Systems (Originally Posted: 03/11/2014)
Hi everyone, I am a sophomore at a non-target school and my ultimate goal is to break into IB. My current internship options for this summer are listed below, and I was wondering if I could get some input into which option I should accept.
BNY Mellon: Depository Receipts Ayco, a Goldman Sachs Company: Intern Level 2–Investment Services Group S&P Ratings Services (McGraw Hill Financial): Analytics/Research Intern Northwestern Mutual: Financial Representative Boutique Firm: Unpaid internship at a small boutique firm (Private-equity, and mergers and acquisitions) UTC Aerospace Systems: Co-op Operations Research/Supply Chain Management
Any advice is greatly appreciated, so please feel free to comment.
Thanks!
what does the boutique firm do?
Private-equity, and mergers and acquisitions.
After I told you what the boutique does, which one would you recommend that I pursue?
Do not do northwestern.
Agree wholeheartedly.
So which one would you recommend?
Go with the unpaid boutique - you'll get the best experience and will best help you land that junior IB SA position. Its not all about pay at this point
Thank you Stifel Piper. I appreciate your advice and will definitely consider it.
The Northwestern Mutual Internship is a joke. My last round required me to write a list of the wealthiest people I know, followed by calling them and trying to sell them insurance. 100% commission based and not worth it if you have other options. I
Thank you arminkohan.
Northwestern Mutual Internship (Originally Posted: 10/15/2007)
I did a search and noticed the recent post about the Internship through Northwestern Mutual and was surprised at the negativity. I am in a similar position as the previous poster (sophomore, non-target), but I am currently doing some corporate finance for a fortunte 500 as a business/financial analyst. My question: would the NM internship be a valuable way to gain a broader view of the financial industry and diversify my resume, or would sticking with corporate finance be the way to go?
I'm in it right now and the answer is definitely no. Even corporate finance at a taco stand would give you more experience than NMFN. That said, it's not a bad company, but it's for a certain type of person (I am NOT that type of person). I'm using my commissions to buy a good IB training class so I can have something of value when I graduate next year. Pros -you get to sell insurance if that's your thing or you learn that you don't like insurance and want an actual salary -if you do well and drink the kool-aid, you'll more than likely get a full time offer Cons -you have to come up with a list of 200 people when you start -you will have weekly sales meetings where the coach puts interns on blast for not making enough dials (you should have AT LEAST 25 PER DAY and 40 IS IDEAL) -if you aren't well connected already you probably won't make it, most people try to save $$$ on insurance so they don't normally want an overpriced Northwestern Policy
In the end, it depends on the office, I can't say where I work but it's one of the more respectable offices with a lot of successful people and a managing partner who's easy to get along with. I won't slander them like everyone else, but you need to know exactly what you're in for ahead of time, save yourself a headache.
People certainly won't look down on it. I know people in BB IBD and in PE that did this as their first job. It's not fun though, and your friends will begin to hate you as you incessantly ask them to buy insurance and for references.
do you know how they made the move over to IBD and PE? i assume it wasn't a direct jump? i was under the impression that working there is basically just sales over the phone. doesn't seem to be much overlap between that skill set and the one required for banking
I pity one of my friends who works here as a full time insurance peddler. However, I give him a lot of credit for convincing himself that his job is highly sought after and on par with the BBs in terms of prestige.
Stick with corporate finance.
Stay with corpfin for this summer man, no question.
ahh ok that would make sense.....when he said they did at as their "first job" i was thinking full-time after undergrad.
ahh ok that would make sense.....when he said they did at as their "first job" i was thinking full-time after undergrad.
Just wanted to say, yea it sucks. But IT IS better than nothing. People here say it's a total waste of time, but a resume filler no1 can argue with. I did it my Sophmore year, and out of 10 interns , 3 ended up at front office BBs. One who did it in his Junior year went on to S&T at Citi, and another 2 I think IB at DB. I ended up in a Big 4 Valuation group. Granted the other interns were from Brandeis and NYU. But regardless...it's better than nothing.
If you don't know a lot of well off people you wont do well. The end.
Northwestern Mutual Internship option (Originally Posted: 11/13/2014)
Anyone have any experience with this? From what I've heard, it's a sales job, but would it be good to get a name like this on your resume as a freshman assuming you had a small PWM internship as your other option?
From what I've heard, it's basically a phony sales job with a small weekly stipend. There are much better things to be doing your freshman summer. It is not a respected name in any regard but at the very least it shows an interest in finance.
So a job at a small hedge fund or a small PWM office would be better?
double post, deleted
Small HF job would be much better. Small PWM job is probably about equal. PWM job at a known bank would be better on your resume.
Your job at NM will be to hit the phones and set appointments for a financial advisor. It is a sales / cold calling job. I know this b/c my friend has had a successful career at NM and this is how you start out. He know runs a unit which includes college interns.
Sink_or_Swim is wrong on reputation. Northwestern Mutual is well known and respected, but as an insurance brokerage. Same as MetLife.
If you are thinking that you'll want to get into investment banking or other "high finance" jobs, this internship or a PWM internship only go on your resume to show that you have interest in the field. You won't pick up much in terms of knowledge or capability at either. If you think you might want to be in anything that requires sales skills, these are great jobs. Very high failure rate and you'll learn quickly whether you can handle dialing 100 phone #s only to get 2 people to take a meeting, one of which will cancel last minute.
So better than nothing, but basically anything applicable to finance would be better?
Northwestern Mutual Financial Rep Internship (Originally Posted: 05/08/2013)
Is this internship any good? I've heard stories of people saying it's crap and others who like it. What is the salary for it and what is the success rate for interns actually becoming successful at it and making a lot of money
oh god...
hahaha
Don't do it. I knew a kid in it. He left after a two months. During his first week, they told him to take a blank sheet of paper and fill it out with all his relatives and friends with their phone numbers and emails. They wanted him to cold call them.
The above post is completely correct, the only reason they recruit is to try and obtain your friends/relatives contact info. I know you didn't mention compensation but I guarantee it is commission based. Also be wary of the title financial 'representative,' much different from analyst.
Steer clear of this piece of shit position.
It's a terrible business model. I interviewed with them and walked out of interview because I am not willing to pitch insurance to my friends and family.
Northwestern Mutual internship before junior year? (Originally Posted: 05/11/2012)
OCR didn't work for me and I've been applying for internships non-stop since my summer break started a couple weeks ago. I still don't have any solid summer plans yet and the only interviews I have right now are for NWM, a marketing intern position with a small start-up, and a social media/marketing intern with another small start-up. I haven't heard many good things about the NWM internship program so I'm really hoping to land something else. The problem is that my financial situation doesn't really allow me to apply for internships that aren't in the southeast WI area and my freshman GPA was absolute crap and I'm still working on bringing it up to respectable levels.
I don't really have connections to anyone in IB/finance and whenever I've tried to explain my concerns about a NWM internship, everyone tells me that it's still worth it because NWM is a big company and I really need relevant work experience on my resume. I'm hoping to go into IB or corporate finance in the future.
Any suggestions on what to do?
I'd take the marketing internships over NWM..all you will be doing is cold calling your family and trying to hock shit to them.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I'm still hoping to land a PWM internship or something with a boutique but I don't know what boutiques are in the area and all my internet searches have only turned up a few.
My main worry is that because NWM is a big name and a Vault top 10 internship, it might look better on my resume.
Anyone familiar with Northwestern Mutual (Originally Posted: 04/26/2014)
What usually do they do? What's so different is it from other big HFs?
Trollin hard
delete
dont join if you're serious..
One of the top firms on the Street. Amazing management and a top notch internship program. If you don't get a FT offer from NWM you will probably get FT from GS, MS, JPM.
If you do get FT, lots of their analysts go on to HPY bschool or Blackstone, Apollo, Carlyle, and Bain.
Good luck!
I heard Citadel is thinking of recruiting exclusively from NWM starting next year.
Breaking into PWM from Northwestern Mutual (Originally Posted: 02/04/2014)
Is it possible to successfully break into PWM by starting as a Financial Advisor at Northwestern Mutual?
Anything is technically possible..
Are you asking if PWM at NWM is possible if you start as an FA?
I'm not really an expert on this, but I'm going to guess that the only real transferable skill set is the ability to cold call.
I am assuming that you are asking if it is possible to start out at NWM, gain some experience and then transition into PWM at a major firm. In my experience I have really only seen two different ways people come into PWM:
1) Straight out of college, starting on the bottom doing all the grunt work and then work up to either the portfolio management or relationship management role.
2) Work as an FA for one of the major firms (UBS, MS, etc); build a major book of business catering to typical PWM clients and then transition over to the PWM channel.
Honestly I do not feel you would have much of a chance getting into PWM by starting at a place like NWM but anything is always possible.
Generally what @sfbroker said, plus through Associate programs (MBA level). If you sold like crazy I'm sure it would be possible. But, insurance salespeople can do very well, so, if you were making it, I'm not sure you would switch.
I'll throw something out there only because I successfully switched from an FA role at an insurance firm to BB PWM.
You have to decide if you want to be an advisor. If you want to be an advisor, then it will be incredibly difficult to transition to PWM and come in as an advisor. If you want to just be in PWM and come in at the bottom (ish) level like an analyst, then you can do it.
If you do well enough after breaking into PWM then you could try to become an Advisor, but from my experience most firms hire Advisors laterally from the other firms/banks.
I left my role as an FA and broke into PWM as an analyst hoping to learn and gain experience.
If you only have the NWM opportunity then take it, get your license, focus on networking on your butt off and you might have to a few lumps but as long as you are consistent and persistent you will break in.
Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management (Originally Posted: 08/04/2014)
Hey everybody,
I just got invited to do a phone interview with Northwestern Mutual in their wealth management division. To be honest, I didn't even know they had a wealth management division. Does anyone know any details about them? Prestigious/good group to be with?
Any details would be great, thanks everybody.
from my blog, in response to a question about NW Mutual: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/how-pwm-really-works-part-1-of-past-presen…
Absolute joke. Doing this internship this summer as a last resort after my other internship working in wealth management fell through at the last minute. My day consists of showing up at a little before 9 because that's when we are suppose to begin. All full time and upper level reps don't show up until 20-30 minutes after we are supposed to start. Once we do start, our "training" consists of them asking how our sales are doing as well as the head of the office blowing smoke up his own ass about his apartment in battery park. Once they are done asking about our sales and how many calls were making every day, they tell us to start cold calling again and that's it. (I simply go home after "training" out of frustration). It makes sense why the compensation is so awful- we don't do anything. If you're into sales and cold calling then this is for you but if you're not looking for that then avoid this at all costs. If we actually learned about investments and different financial instruments I wouldn't be so frustrated but the point of an internship is to learn. At this point in the summer I am going to be leaving and working at a damn deli. Thankfully I still have next summer and will get a better head start on recruiting. Have a good day everyone and avoid NWM at all costs!
Northwest Mutual Financial Rep Internship (Originally Posted: 03/11/2008)
Hey, does anyone have any info/experiences with this internship. I know Vault ranks it in the top 10 internships in America. But, I know some people thinks its a waste, but some think its really good. Any thoughts? Thanks.
I actually know a couple of people who've done it. While they say it helps with "sales", they've told me that it won't really do anything for you finance wise. You basically drive around on your own dime and bug family and friends to sign-up for insurance. It's all commisson based, and it can be embarassing in front of your family and friends trying to pitch them life insurance. I know that paints a rough picture, but that's the gist of it from what my 3-4 friends who've done it said.
Just reading the internship posting makes me think it's a pain in the ass.
I did an internship in the DC area with NMFN after my sophomore year and it was a good experience. WallStreethokie hit some of the points (i.e. selling insurance, doing pitches, etc.), but I think it helped me last a job this upcoming summer at a BB. Here's a breakdown of Pros and Cons:
Pros: Great experience doing pitches, plenty of face-to-face meetings with clients, improve selling skills, can make decent money if you put the effort in, flexible hours, top ranked internship by Vault, Princeton Review, etc.
Cons: Tough industry, hard sell because people don't see life insurance as a need, only a few skills translate to IB/S&T
If you don't know what you want to do/think you might want to go into sales/don't have other options then definitely do it. I worked with some great people and it is a fantastic way to build a network of contacts for the future. If you want more info on the internship, shoot me a private message.
Did it last summer like Wahoo - He hit the nail on the head. I hated it while doing it, but in retrospect I learned a lot about networking, sales, personal motivation, etc. While it isn't for everyone, it's a great way to get out in the business world.
PS - This is my problem with the Vault guides and rankings. NMFN takes TONS of people. And does anyone honestly think that HLHZ is the greatest like Vault puts on? Nothing against HLHZ, but I def. get the feeling that the Vault can be bought.
This sounds awful lmao. I got an interview at this small securities broker near me that just opened an office here, soooooNWM is definitely a no. Selling life insurance to my family, and friends (who are 18-20)?!?! I don't know how rules work with securities brokerage but I'm 99% sure I would just cold call leads.
Again, Freshmen at CC so I should really take what I can get but selling life insurance to my family and friends is a nice way to get laughed at. I'm not sure how different it is being in PWM. You are still selling as an intern but I bet you're doing more meaningful stuff.
EDIT: had the interview with NWM, same as I read here. $100 a week stipend plus deal commission ; I straight up asked about contacting my friends and family. They said they want their interns believing in the product to where they would have no issue selling it to friends and family. Turned it down and have another couple things lined up. This is just a sales gig. I was told that the average financial advisor makes $250k a year on average. Not sure where that number is from, lol.
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