Tips for Getting an internship in Investment Banking as a freshman
Hey all,
I wanted to reach out and ask for any tips you all may have for freshman aiming to land IB internships for the summer.
YES, I'm well aware that this isn't easy (which is why I'm asking for tips). But for those like me who are determined to try, what are your best tips as to where I can find potential opportunities, how to ask for an internship, how to pitch myself (considering the fact that I'm a freshman with basically no solid experience in the field), etc.
Unless you've got family in high places, not happening. Don't even bother. Try getting any other solid finance experience instead (PWM, corporate finance etc).
I hate to argue, but I know a kid who had one his freshman summer. We go to a target school but not Harvard level.
If you target various regional boutiques, you might be able to get something, but that's highly improbable as well. Most of the times, you aren't even considered since you have 0 experience whatsoever.
Obviously, there's nothing wrong with trying, but you'd have much better chances as a sophomore (since you're from a target).
Always nice to get career advice from a 17 year old.
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Try reaching out to local boutiques next semester/quarter. Introduce yourself, explain why you're interested in their firm, and if they don't explicitly have a job posting up, just inquire if they might be open to having an intern for the summer.
To the extent that people are receptive, I think the best thing you can do to position yourself is to emphasize that you're a hard worker and you're eager to learn. No one expects freshmen to know anything and they most likely aren't going to be giving you anything terribly complicated to do, so you just need to convey you have a good attitude and can be helpful with even basic stuff. (but it would help you stand out if you learn some basic accounting/finance, if for no other reason that to demonstrate interest)
If you don't need to be making money, you may end up getting opportunities with places that are open to having you there to learn a few things but aren't prepared to pay you (wouldn't mention this in your intro email though)
To Buzz's point though, certainly cast a wide net. The main goal for a freshman is just having reasonably relevant internship experience
What kind of freshman internship for IBD? (Originally Posted: 04/30/2012)
I'm planning to email a distant connection at a bank to ask about possible summer internships. The bank does more commercial than ibanking. Should I state that I'm interested in ibanking in my email? Or would it be better to leave it open and say that I'm open to anything and just want some general finance experience for the summer, given that an ibanking internship is pretty impossible for freshmen and because it is so late in the process that I'll be happy with anything.
Thanks for your response.
I'm not under the belief that I have to get an internship in IB or extremely confident that I will be getting one. It's more like I just want to try my hand at it you know? In the past I've often followed the likely and avoided the unlikely, but I realized that I have everything to gain and nothing to lose by trying for the unlikely.
So far I've reached out to a few boutiques (though I'm not sure if I did so the right way): I've managed to get a VP of IB at one of the boutiques on board to talk to me about IB (I did mention I was a freshman).
As far as experience/education goes, I'm taking a financial accoutning course that I think has given me the basics. But on top of that, I'm starting to read some books on IB (methods of valuation and all)and trading.
Be happy landing anything finance-related. Or you could.........not. you're a freshman
...except the junior accountant for the neighborhood lemonade stand.
Nobody will really take you seriously as a freshman, but you can try to get some PWM stuff.
In your emails / cover letters / phone calls just say you are a student at XXX University. Make sure the focus is on the skills you can bring to the table, not what year in college you are in. Of course, you can't lie about it or leave it off your resume, but that doesn't mean you can't avoid the subject. Sometimes, if you prove to be promising, they might not even notice you are a freshman.
I know this works because I was very recently a freshman
If you are a freshman right now then you are about 3 months late to the game. this shit it supposed to get sorted out in february/march not finals week.
Yes I know it's late but I haven't been able to get anything. Would this make me look bad by appearing undecided and not knowing what I want to do if I say I just want any finance-related internship?
no lots of people don't have internships freshman year but it always helps to start earlier
no lots of people don't have internships freshman year but it always helps to start earlier
You're a freshman. Just do something really REALLY interesting that can be a great story. Then on the side learn modeling and show that you know your stuff.
While it might be almost impossible to land an internship at a BB in your freshman year, it's definitely doable at a smaller boutique.
I was able to do just that, and now on my second year, I landed a SA role with a BB.
Prove the recruiter you are passionate about their firm, and learn the basics of finance so you can show them you are actually interested in the work. Having an internship in freshman year is a great way to get ahead during sophomore summer analyst recruitment. These achievements compound over time, so the earlier you start the farthest you'll go.
Applying for an SA position at an IB from the first year of Uni? (Originally Posted: 01/18/2018)
Is it common to apply for SA positions at IBs from the first year of University, or just from sophomore year and later?
What tier bank are you applying to?
I haven't attended Uni yet, so not applying to anything.
ok.
its usually not, most big banks wont take you until you are junior. try to go for a pwm or am internship in your freshman and sophomore years, that will look good on your resume when you apply for an IB internship.
Honestly you could also enjoy your freshman summer.
I worked part-time and enjoyed my freshman summer and I still ended up getting an offer.
Its good to be really into IB but its also really not a big deal if you don't get anything finance related.
First year internship for investment banking (Originally Posted: 12/13/2017)
Hey guys,
I'm a first year student at a target school in the UK. My long-term goal is investment banking at one of the bulge brackets or one of the M&A advisory boutiques.
I'm looking for a first year internship that would bring me into a good position to apply for summer analyst programmes after second year. I have some questions on how to go about this:
1) What first year internships would be best? From what I've read, the classics are Auditing at a Big Four or corporate finance at a large multinational. Are there any other options?
2) I am also considering applying at some smaller, lesser-known M&A advisories, valuation advisories, smaller investment banks. Would this be better than, say, an internship at Big Four Auditing (as more related to IB)?
3) If I chose to do my first year internship in another area not directly related to investment banking, say at a Central Bank or a think-tank for economic reasearch, would this put me into disadvantage (comparing to other options)?
Thank you!
c-alex, have you checked out these or run a search:
Any pros willing to rescue this discussion? SeekingAlpha180 @eldiamanteloco" @The_Financiero"
Hope that helps.
PUSH
Freshman gets a referral to IBD?! (Originally Posted: 08/08/2009)
I work part-time in BB PWM. Several weeks ago, my boss (who is friends with head, MDs, VPs of a IBD group) told an entering freshman (of a target school) intern that although she doesn't guarantee anything, she'll try to get him an ibanking internship for next year if business is good. Is it likely that this entering freshman might actually get that IBD internship?
If a rising sophomore gets to work in BB IBD, I think that kid will be a legend on his campus.
If you express enough of an interest to tiny boutiques (no-name firms) who don't have hiring programs, you might stand a chance at a few (possibly unpaid) weeks of experience. I began reaching out to these firms after my first semester as a freshman. I was able to set up some informational coffee interviews and ended up spending two months with a small firm over the summer. Got some fantastic exposure (for a freshman anyway) and was able to leverage this for bigger and better opportunities.
Unless your uncle is Jamie Dimon, this is perhaps the best thing you can do as a freshman. Good luck!
Is this JPM? If it's their freshman honors program, it's probably a referral for there. Still impressive.
Even more so if it's another bank that doesn't have a formal program for freshmen.
On a side note, for anyone who knows, how impressive is part-time work with Houlihan Lokey as a freshman? I likely wouldn't be modeling anything, but it's excel experience and working with restructuring.
There is nothing inherently impressive about anything that is contained in the above. If a kid has an internship at a BB as a rising sophomore, he will have a leg up in recruiting; that is about all. Most colleges, the qb still falls ahead of the intern in the pecking order. Getting an internship is not going to make you Henry Kravis.
but is it likely that he will actually get the IBD internship?
LMFAO @ "legend on his campus"
Maybe he'll be a legend in the Finance Club...
ha, definitely a legend on his campus. we had a kid (Yung Woo) at our school who landed a gig at Jane Street as a FRESHMAN!!!! He came back to find that every hot girl at our school wanted to fuck him. even though he had severe acne and lacked the ability to speak english fluently, he ran the library, b-school, and finance clubs. in other words, he was the shit. all of the bball and football players wanted to be him b/c of his legendary status.
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let me rephrase it, legend among ibanking wannabes. better?
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No, he won't be a legend. Everyone will assume he got it because his daddy's important.
so lets go back to the original question, do you guys think my boss was just being polite and will forget about it or do you think he will actually talk to the head of IBD group and get the kid an internship?
who cares worry about yourself
I care cuz I worked as hard as him and the boss didn't say that to me.
Unlike high school, you don't get ahead in real life just by "working hard." You actually have to be good at your job as well.
maybe your boss doesn't like you.
does your boss even know you're interested in IB?
the kid declared it up front. you're just in pwm.
Not really that big a deal, at my BB this summer we had a ton of sophs including me. And we even had a couple of people who've been working at the the bank since summer before college.
so basically this kid is gonna get
BB PWM - HS Senior BB IBD - Freshman BB Rotational - Sophomore BB IBD - Junior
before FT recruiting. You guys think this is usual on WSO?
worry about yourself instead
Stop being so insecure. It's really irritating.
These types of posts are stupid.
wtf...don't call yourself "The Boss" if you have such low confidence lol
College Freshman with IB internship Interview (Originally Posted: 05/04/2015)
Hi everyone,
I'm a college freshman at a semi-target/non-target with a decent GPA and eventually plan on going into investment banking. (I'd also like to apologize for the wall of text).
Based on some advice I found here, I cold-called and cold-emailed companies like crazy in hopes to find an internship opportunity for this upcoming summer to give me an edge later on.
My first phone interview was with a smaller PE firm in NYC and I realized afterwards that I sounded like an idiot on the phone. I haven't taken a finance course yet (I know that isn't an excuse if I plan on finding a position and competing against sophomores/juniors) and I wasn't able to answer, in detail, a lot of what they were looking for.
I spoke with the owner of a small financial advisory company back home (city of 100,000 in a no name state), and received an offer for the summer from them. I also spoke with one of the managers of my city's Department of Economic Development and she said she would follow up with detailed in a few days.
I was feeling ambitious one day and called a boutique investment bank near me asking about any summer internship opportunities, and after talking back and forth with one of the analysts there, they asked if I was available for a phone interview later this week with another analyst and then their MD. They're a very small ~10 person shop, so I'm not sure how the interview/experience will differ from a BB or MM firm.
Could you offer any advice about how to prepare for this interview and actually grasp a lot of the knowledge to be able to be an asset to them later on? On the very off chance that I am offered a position, how can I succeed this summer and have working knowledge of valuation model/etc.?
Thanks for any advice you can offer!
Do the basics, and read up on all the ib interview guides. The WSo guide is a good one to start with.
Also, keep in mind any experience you can get as a freshman is bonus. Most people I know studied abroad their freshman summer and had no problem landing sophomore internships then junior summer SA stints. Best of luck!
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