How to maximize an Internship in sell-side ER as a freshman?

For the summer of 2020 I will be interning a small boutique where I will be working with a team doing sell-side equity research. I am wondering how I should try to maximize this experience to prepare myself to apply for internships at bugle brackets (this firm is not looking for full time people in ER currently). I am a freshman and hope to land an internship in ER (buy side or sell side, I don't really have a preference right now) at a bugle bracket for sophomore summer (or any job at a BB, honestly) so I will have one guaranteed offer for junior year summer.

The specifics of what I will be doing: analyzing around 300 position (80 mill AUM) looking to see which to sell and consolidate assets.

Any advice on how to maximize this experience would be greatly appreciated.

409 WSO Academy Equity Research Session Reviews: 4.83/5

Class of '25 Nov 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Equity Research Career Roadmap (optional)

“Chris was very easy to talk to and made the session feel relaxed and genuinely useful. He gave me clear, actionable tasks that I can go away and work on straight away to expand my network. I hope to reconvene with him at a later date to discuss the progress I have made and get his feedback on the work I have been doing.”

Springfield College

Class of '29 Sep 2026 Cohort

4.85/5

Equity Research Mock Coffee Chat

“Craig gave me a really clear picture of how sell-side equity research actually works. The biggest takeaway was that research is a service business built on trust, not on picking stocks, and that analysts are paid on rankings rather than on whether a call is right. He was honest that even a 60% hit rate is excellent, and that it matters more to understand where you went wrong than where you were right. I also liked his point about not being “unintelligently wrong”: own the mistake and explain it well. On the practical side, he told me to start now by running a blog, posting on Seeking Alpha, using Koyfin as a cheap Bloomberg alternative, and using AI to draft commentary so I have more time to think deeply and explore other sectors. He also explained that research recruiting is much more targeted than IB, since sector teams are fairly autonomous, so I should reach out to senior analysts in specific sectors and recommend based on fit. His own path from no finance background, through China, to Wharton was encouraging. My one suggestion would be a quick walkthrough of what a strong first report looks like beyond the core pieces (recommendation, risks, summary, price target).”

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+1	IB SA -> ER FT	4	2w
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How to maximize an Internship in sell-side ER as a freshman?

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