Please help.... I can't get a Junior Year internship and I'm totally screwed now.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I am just going to be blunt here. I'm a female Psychology major at a nontarget in my junior year of college and was formerly premed. When I went to college, I wanted to go to med school and was advised to pick "an easy major and get straight As" to have the best chance at med school so that's why I did that. The only thing I have on my side is my 3.9+ GPA I have no financial work experience and all of my volunteer work is charity. I was stupid and didn't know how important work experience was and spent all of my summers volunteering and doing research. We are now mid way to the school year and I am screwed because the deadlines have ALL passed for IB internships. I can't even find a PWM internship available (to try to later move up into IB). I am totally screwed now aren't I? You guys don't have to sugarcoat anything with me, be brutally honest about my chances of ever breaking into IB because I have family (that knows nothing about finance) all trying to tell me "Don't lose hope! You can't just get a masters of finance and then get into IB!" which I know from reading is not true and probably not worth going 50k in debt when it's all unknown. A rare Goldman Sachs alumni from my nontarget school told me that I missed the deadline and they only take junior internships and that I am further screwed because everybody prefers finance/econ majors and I am a psych major and would have a hard time convincing people that I want to be a banker. I see that most banks are the same way about internships because most of them only want juniors too. Is my only serious exit option now to try to get into law school? I can't figure out how I could ever switch over into banking now. This is so depressing.

 

Try to find any alumni in investment banking or banks around your area. Boutiques, middle market, anything. Now is not the time to be picky. Call them, email them, anything to schedule a call with them, get your story straight and short, and then talk to them about how you'd be interested in an internship. It's a numbers game at this point.

Also, join the finance club if your school has one. Start one. And try to get anything finance related. You need to show that you're going above and beyond to get yourself knowledgable about finance. I've even heard of a guy who pays instate and had a scholarship for the tuition so he picked up a finance/Econ major, which would make him graduate in 5 years but gave him another shot at recruiting because he was technically a "junior" again. But he was at a target. Best of luck.

 
Best Response

Ways to get into IBanking right now (from "easiest" to hardest imo given your major/circumstances): 1) Get a consulting internship (shows that you are a competitive candidate). Consulting internship is extremely hard to get, but given your major and GPA, you have better shot at this than anything else imo for junior internships (especially at this time after all the deadlines). Work hard on consulting prep, get a consulting internship, take a few business classes if possible, and network your ass off for the remaining time until IB full-time recruiting. 2) corporate finance job at F500. I am not sure if deadlines all passed yet (I know the couple best ones passed, at least at my school). This will be hard since you need to convince the interviewer that you have interest in finance & know finance. 3) Boutique IB internship. Networking is key here... 4) Small mid-market PE internship. Networking is key here...but you might get grilled on finance unlike boutique IB.

Btw, I think some S&T stuff might still be going on. And also maybe the minority programs as well for females. If nothing works out, try out for some decent name asset management firms as well. Good luck & don't lose hope. If you really want IB, you will end up there some day anyways.

You crave what you are not. Dude, your perspective on life sucks.
 

I would avoid being fatalistic and just take the advice above. Apply to anything remotely relevant to finance (in addition to consulting and accounting) for this summer and continue to network with alumni/non-target grads or other female bankers. These are the people that best understand your situation and are most likely going to help you get your foot in the door,

PWM/AM internships during the school year are easy to find and can give you relevant work experience. Most of my classmates that had these internships just reached out to random regional ML/UBS/Citi branches or RIAs in their area. Landing one of these helps demonstrate a genuine interest in finance (crucial for getting past the initial resume screen).

Honestly, I think if you can get 1-2 relevant internships, take some basic accounting/finance classes for next semester, and network strategically, you will be in a good position for full-time recruiting. 3.9+ GPA & minority status is a pretty strong platform to be standing on already.

 

You would benefit from looking harder at an MSF. With your gpa and a good GMAT you could come away with some pretty heavy scholarships, making school affordable. Go to a semi target program and you'll have a huge new alumni base. Get some sort of finance related internship (anything, doesn't have to be great), network through the year and try to do a solid IB internship between UG and MSF.

Not saying it's the golden ticket, but do keep it in mind.

"I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
 

I was planning on sticking with med all the way and even contemplated dental school until late fall. I fell out of love with medicine last year and realized that it was silly to stick with it and take out enormous debt with med school if I wasn't 100% set on it. I've been spending the majority of the time making the best of what I have on my resume and cover letter. I made this post because I am desperate since I pigenholed myself so much into it and I will be lucky if by some chance I do get some sort of finance related internship for this summer still.

 

Start reaching out to individual groups that would be of interest to you. While general firm application dates may be done, I can personally attest to the fact that many groups are still looking for their own selves. Examples of this are tech, healthcare, and entertainment. These opportunities may not be located in New York, so be prepared to answer the "Why (insert city)?" question constantly. It's fine if you're industry-agnostic, but when you are talking to specific groups make sure that their focus is your focus.

Again, there are tons of individual groups still recruiting at the BB level. But you will have to network like a motherfucker to unearth these opportunities, because their processes are much less structured than the general firm process. And also, email/call everyone involved in finance you can uncover. You aren't out of the game by a long shot.

 

Search through threads on WSO that have to do with late blooming non targets like yourself. Most threads address multiple routes toward IB, nothing familiar to last minute shortcuts that you seem to be asking for.

As a pyschology major, you have a surprisingly frail and negative mindset. I highly suggest reading this book: http://www.amazon.com/Unbeatable-Mind-Resiliency-Toughness-Succeed-eboo…

 

If you haven't already started networking, I would highly recommend you start ASAP. Other people have given you that advice in this thread, so hurry up and get on that!

Simply applying won't be helpful now - if I'm screening resumes and see yours versus another that screams banking, you better have some extra edge if you hope to get an interview. That edge is called a personal connection, and you get that via networking.

Also, different schools have different deadlines at different firms, so since you go to a non-target, there might be a chance you can get into a separate recruiting process.

 

Someone advised me to take on a 2nd major in something quantitative or finance. I might have to stay longer in school if I do it but I am considering it. How much would it help me? I know that others have said that in IB, you don't necessarily have to have a specific major although obviously finance and quantitative majors are preferred...

 

Also, right now I am seeing a few (about 1) application that is for Sales & Trading and it states although there is no preferred major, quantitative majors is preferred. Should I give it a try or not bother applying? It is for Citigroup. At first, I thought I would apply anyway but I started the application and the first question they ask is if you are a re-applicant...

 

Seriously? With your defeatist attitude it's not likely that you'd make it past a first round interview even if you got it. You need to get your head right if you will have any hope of getting an internship. I will tell you right now that there are a lot of places that are still interviewing, but you have to start cold-emailing/calling right now. So stop crying.

Tonight, on LinkedIn, find every alumni from your school who is on wallstreet. It shouldn't be too hard. Then write up some kind of decent sounding cold-email script. In the morning, start sending those emails out. If you send out 50 of them you will probably get 10-25 who respond back over the next couple days. For everyone who hasn't responded by Monday, email them a second time.

Do decent in your informational interviews and they will help you out. At the end of the call feel free to ask them what the recruiting timeline for their firm/group is. Ask how best to prepare yourself to participate in the process. Ask if there is anyone else at their firm/group they would recommend you speak to. Talk to everyone. When it comes time for them to make decisions on first rounds, your name will definitely be in consideration. If they want you to apply online, they will ask you to. Sending out apps without any point of contact is generally useless, and even more so for people like you and me who are not finance majors.

Email alumni > email anyone in a group you are interested in > talk to them > talk to their friends > interview > ...... > profit

 

For networking, you need to articulate why you want IB and how you even remotely fit the mold. The reason firms prefer finance/business students is that there's a logical connection to their academics to why they're applying.

For example, I have no idea if you have taken any quantitative courses (calc, stats, etc). You've always wanted to pursue med. Great. Why are you suddenly interested in finance or IB now - something so far removed from medicine? How do you feel switching from charity work (more altruistic), to finance (more competitive & cut-throat)?

Lastly, evaluate this goal of yours to get into IB just as you did with Med. Make sure it's what you want. Then set goals and plan/execute based on the advice here.

 

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I used to do Asia-Pacific PE (kind of like FoF). Now I do something else but happy to try and answer questions on that stuff.

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