Financial Representative Intern

Status
Group/Division/Type
City
Albany
Interviewed
2013
Overall experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Very Easy

General Interview Information

Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
In-person
Length of Process
Less than 1 month

Interview Details

What did the interview consist of?
1 on 1 Interview
Please describe the interview / hiring process.
I first reached out to Northwestern in the midst of cold calling boutiques for a junior year internship. With the clock winding down and no internship offer on the table, I figured I might need to expand my search beyond just IBD. Vault.com listed Northwestern's internship as one of the Top 10 Finance Internships in the country, right up there with JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, so I figured, what the hell, it's not banking but at least it's finance. Called up the number on the website, got the head recruiter's email address, and sent out my resume.

A little more research revealed that the internship description was quite a bit different than what I expected from a Top 10 Finance Internship. It was a front-loaded sales job. Interns work with financial reps and do everything they do to manage a client's money, which sound great until you realize that you have to recruit your own clients. This means that your internship is going to be spent asking friends and family members to meet with you while you and a rep pitch them life insurance, until you build a solid client base.

During the interview, the head financial rep pitched me softball finance questions regarding what I knew about risk management, along with basic stuff about ETFs, REITs, bonds, etc. but I soon hijacked the interview trying to figure out if there was any actual finance work to this internship. It appears that there is, to an extent. The head financial rep explained that the internship was about 25% case analysis, and 75% meeting with clients to explain your analysis and the financial solutions (i.e. Northwestern products) you suggest. Also, did I mention this is commission based?

I got the offer, which I declined. It just didn't seem like a good internship for a kid trying to break into IBD in the fall. I'd rather work unpaid at a boutique.
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$25bn+
Est Annual Revenue
Industry

Other Interview Data

Associate (Vice President)
Goldman Sachs, CHICAGO, 2016
Trader (Vice President)
HSBC, New York, 2022
Vp (Vice President)
Morgan Stanley, New York, 2021
Vp (Vice President)
Morgan Stanley, New York, 2021
Quantitative Strategist (Vice President)
Morgan Stanley, NA, 2020

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