What should I do my freshman summer?

Hello, everyone. This fall, I'll be a freshman at a target school. I know it might seem ridiculous to start planing for next summer already, but I don't feel comfortable without a plan. Anyhow, I've read that even while going to a target with a good GPA, it's hard to get an internship. I'm debating between either taking classes or doing something finance-related. Some people may just say to kick back and take it easy. The problem is, whenever I do that, I feel like I'm wasting time. So, my question is, should I take classes during the summer or do something that'll look good on my resume? If the latter, what are some things I can do as a freshman?

 

Hey, I'm in the exact same position as you but I'm from the UK. Almost end of my exam period and I have absolutely nothing lined up in terms of insight programmes or summer analyst/intern opportunities. I've been asking the same questions as you, and the main answers that I've got back are to (a) Network your ass off, find some second years in your uni or college who have intern roles etc and maybe see if they'll have a chat with you. If no second years or you don't want to do that, find alumni and try and set up networking coffees or chats with them or even some guys from local finance firms. (b) Do some volunteering or something to show on your Resume/CV that you're a well-rounded guy and a team player. (c) Read some relevant books like Barbarians at the Gate or Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle and maybe teach yourself modelling.

I hope some of this helps.

 

I would suggest looking at a few of the "hot" or "top" threads in the IB forum, there's some pretty insightful posts on how to network. I guess it really comes down to the individual you're networking with, if it's someone's who's a second year, a bit more relaxed, I guess you can ask some pretty informal questions. But if you've got yourself a networking coffee with someone who's like 5-10 years in the field you're gonna want to ask them about the way they got in etc, advice, what they would do differently but don't ask questions you can get an answer off the web (obvs). I'm not saying what I've said is 'THE' way to network but I think it's along the right lines.

 

First of all - given the quality of the school you'll be attending and your age, you are way too young to be gearing your freshman summer around your potential future career. Even if you want to pursue business or finance in some capacity, you'll figure out that there are a lot of possible paths to take which also pay well, are better for your physical and mental health and let you develop a personal life.

That said - for the summer after freshman year, do anything interesting. Do something that you've always wanted to do. Go take that fellowship to learn Korean in Seoul, get funding to study the Icelandic financial crisis, do an internship in Switzerland with the EU or in Mongolia in real estate. If you're going to do investment banking or corporate finance, at least do something abroad and spend some time traveling.

The worst thing about talking to internship applicants was when they were so focused on trying to say what they thought I wanted to hear. When a 19 year old tells you that investment banking is their "dream" because "you can do anything with investment banking", that's really frustrating, because you're exhausted and sick from working until 2am everyday. Those sort of conversations really annoyed me, whereas when people had interesting stories to tell, I learned a lot more about what they valued, whether they were team players and how they thought.

In short, do something cool while you still have the chance. It'll give you some perspective and maturity. It'll also make future job interviews a lot more interesting for those on the other side of the table.

 

Dude - I didn't intern in finance my Freshman year. No one I know from college did either.

You can do anything as long as it's productive. Camp counseling, working for your parents, waiting tables, interning with the gov't, etc.

 

I'll diverge from the rest of the posters and suggest you do find a freshman internship. Recruiting nowadays is starting way early. I have friends that have interviews scheduled for junior year internships during their sophomore summer. Thus it's pretty important to have at least something on your resume because soon sophomore internships may not even be completed in time for interviews to be even talked about during the interview. Im a freshman at a target school and got my internship for this summer through cold-emailing. A few of my friends did as well. I think that it helped being from a target school as employers at least know you're decently smart even though you don't have many applicable skills. So just cold-email a ton of firms and alumni, you should target boutique firms because they won't have a structured process and are more likely to take on interns. Also you have to be willing to work unpaid although some firms will pay you, just make it clear that you are willing to work unpaid.

 

Agreed, the recruiting process gets more competitive each year and is probably more competitive than it was when any of us went through it. Especially if you're at a target school, you'll find a decent amount of peers who do have a freshman internship and it'll be very helpful for getting a better sophomore internship if you don't have a family network to rely on. Doesn't have to (won't be) a terrific internship, likely to be low stipend or unpaid work, but it's good to get something on the resume. There are an abundance of places looking for cheap help if you offer - small boutique banks, research shops, bus. development for random startups, etc.

 

Why not combine the two - traveling & interning? Sure it'd be tough if you target classic finance shops as you'd have less time to mess about, but if I would be American and could go back in time I'd absolutely jump at any opportunity to do an internship in a big city in a new state (be it in Texas, Cali or NY). Not only does it look good in an interview setting (e.g. shows out-of-the-box thinking and a willingness to take risks to develop yourself) it could also help you widen your network.

 

I can't tell you what the best use of your time this summer will be in regards to accomplishing your goals, but I can tell you that people in the positions you're targeting have a very, very wide variety of ways they spent their freshman summer. In other words, there are a lot of ways to skin this cat.

I worked for the parks department in my hometown. It sucked. I changed out a lot of trash bags at the lakefront and got really friendly with a pressure washer. But I saved enough to pay for my books the following year, and that was what mattered at the time.

If you have the means to spend the time learning something useful, then by all means, go nuts. But if you end up doing something else, I don't think it'll knock you off-course.

"Son, life is hard. But it's harder if you're stupid." - my dad
 

Something interesting. I am not a huge fan of going home for 3 summer months, even if you can work for your dad's baller buddy, or whatever. If you're heading to an elite college, it should be super easy to line up a neat job in a cool city, or become a camp counselor. Anything but going home and loafing around with high school friends.

 

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If we're lucky, maybe these professional users will respond: AmIRight broadstbully Cherrybomb

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I worked a small internship but it isn't drastically important. When I was interviewing for SA positions, they didn't ask more than 3 questions about it, they care mostly about your schooling and life experiences/leadership experiences. My advice is join finance clubs and excel in school, get a wealth management internship if you can

 
Serena D:

How did you get an internship as a freshman?especially in another country?I am new for university and wondering the same thing.

The best way to do it is to use family/friend connections. Also, PWM firms can be open to taking freshmen if you go about it the right way. OP probably got the internship through family connections in India.
 

I don't think you can take the CFA level 1 as a freshman, I believe the earliest it can be done is senior year.

I think study abroad is the best thing to do summer after freshman year if that's an opportunity that is open to you.

 
  • Look for an internship at small firms that may still be hiring.
  • Find an area you're interested in finance, search that subject on Amazon and purchase the best rated book.
  • Open a stock simulator account and follow the market.
  • Watch finance/economics related videos at khanacademy.org
  • Create LinkedIn account... join relevant groups.

Not having a summer internship after freshman year is not a big deal imo. Just try to balance your summer among leisure, some personal academics and a job... take that caddying, landscaping, life guarding, etc. gig if its 3 days a week to earn a few CAD $s.

As noted you're too young for the CFA.

 

Go on amazon and wso FAQs + forums, find all the relevant books that pertain to the area that you're intererested in and borrow all these books from the Toronto public library. Try and read at least 15 books this summer and you'll be light years ahead most of your peers.

The last thing you want is a blank resume and this happens to far too many people. Recruitment in Canada has been awful this year and this trend may continue next year so take anything you can get. Office admin is far better than McD/ nothing. Avoid PWM if you can, far too many people do it.

Prepare for and write the CSC level 1 and 2 by the end of the summer.

Collaborate with your compsci friends and create a web startup, perhaps finance related. This will help fill blank spaces on your resume.

 

I'm also going into my freshman summer and I'm trying to land a local PWM gig. I sent out a few emails and I've already got someone willing to meet with me. Can't hurt to try it yourself.

 
Voltaire X:
I'm also going into my freshman summer and I'm trying to land a local PWM gig. I sent out a few emails and I've already got someone willing to meet with me. Can't hurt to try it yourself.

yeah...if you're set on getting an internship, PWM is a good way to go. that being said, if I were in your shoes I'd enjoy the only last actual free summer I could.

Sometimes lies are more dependable than the truth.
 

Yeah, like others have said, do some readings. Hey, take a summer class to alleviate your fall course-load so you can have more time networking? Whichever decision you make, I wish you luck. Get involved next year, though!

The difference between successful people and others is largely a habit - a controlled habit of doing every task better, faster and more efficiently.
 
mhurricane:
Yeah, like others have said, do some readings. Hey, take a summer class to alleviate your fall course-load so you can have more time networking? Whichever decision you make, I wish you luck. Get involved next year, though!

Negged

Whats the matter? Scared of my little red fuzzy anus? Don't be shy,let me show you the way, give me your hand and I will take you to paradise
 

Just cold call/email or use family connections to find something for the summer, and then try to get into the finance track at your school. I go to a target but the only freshmen who got things either had connections or busted ass looking.

 

Interestingly, that's what I did to get my phone interview with JSC -- cold called an alum from my school. Will definitely be doing more of that soon.

Do you have any recommendations for specific firms or kinds of positions that emphasize probability/expectation and aren't as technically demanding (that is, obtainable for a freshman)?

 

think about it--if you're good enough to get BB freshman yr, then you'll be good enough later on (if you keep up whatever it is you've been doing)

  • no one looks at your freshman yr summer anyway... have fun while you get the chance
 

If your connections can get you a freshman year internship, they can get you a FT job. Especially if your connection is so powerful that he can bypass you through the entire interview process and get you the job directly (as would be necessary at this point, as almost all 1st rounds are already finished, and superdays are quickly coming to an end). You don't even need to do an internship, freshman, sophomore, or junior year - go straight to FT. This is, of course, if your connections are as powerful as you claim they are.

 

I might believe him. Kids at top liberal arts schools are often from more connected/powerful families than kids at, say, MIT or Cornell.

_______________________________________ http://www.drmarkklein.blogspot.com/
 

To be honest, freshman summer doesn't matter much anyway so I wouldn't stress too much over it. But I would at least try to do something that you can spin as some type of productive activity even if it isn't a job necessarily.

Sports, training camp, language instruction... those are all "fun" but give you good experiences that you can talk about in interviews and write on your resume at the same time.

Honestly an internship making coffee and copying papers at a BB your freshman year is not really worth it, if it's down to that and having fun, I would just have fun.

 

dosk17 proffers some good advice. My recommendations would be inter-railing with friends through Europe or teaching English somewhere in Asia. You could tell your connections that you'd love to take the New York internship next year and the London one the year after or vice versa. To answer your final question: none at this point.

 

Dude...have fun. Assuming you like to go wild, go all out summer after freshman year, and then get a kick ass soph internship.

I had a blast that summer, and now that I've done one serious internship and have offers for SAs, all I can say is enjoy the time that you don't have to work.

 

If there is any way you can get in a summer study abroad program this late I would do that. Seems like that came up in nearly every interview. A great topic to shoot the breeze about be it in interviews or at informal meet and greets and they like to see that you have a global perspective. As a whole it seems bankers are pretty well-traveled.

https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
 

I am in London now... It is a lot of fun.. If you want fun - partying, traveling (Europe).. then definitely come to London... work or not.. but work would probably get you some $$$

However, since you have great connections, money shouldn't be an issue for you.. so you could just go travel instead...

U r very lucky to be born in a previlege family.. gl!

Ling~

Ling~
 

If you have those connections today, you'll probably have them tomorrow? However, going away to Hawaaii, Ibiza, etc., getting drunk, laid, and partying until your balls turn blue, only gets harder as you get older. You're free now, you probably won't be free tomorrow.

 

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