Summer 2024 London

Just wanted to test the waters for how ER summer 2024 (London) is looking and what my chances may be at this point. I study chemical engineering at a semi-target (possible cope), currently work as an engineer in pharma (internship, have worked here before, wasn't successful recruiting for anything more ER related), have over a years experience doing this. If I went into ER i'd love to cover healthcare, but not sure my experience as an engineer in the industry would carry any weight at all in recruiting. My understanding is those in ER from industry have a sciency/PhD background, as this is used to asess the potential success of early stage small molecule portofolios, clinical trial success/potential market access etc.

Thats my work experience as it were.

In terms of extracurricular, I have placed highly in a global investment competition, been an analyst for my school's fund, been an analyst for the finance society following fixed-income markets. Various other leadership positions not related to finance.

I am graduating next year in the summer, so I'm looking at SA positions as FT is out of reach. Are most firms open to taking on graduates for SA, or am I likely to get dinged for this?

I am planning on starting my own coverage/models for big pharma/biotech firms and writing on a substack to help me get better aligned for ER. However I don't want to plow my time into this if I'm too late/a non-compete for SA 2024 or if the coverage/pitches won't help in recruiting. As I mentioned, I work about 50 hours a week, and I am graduating next year so I need to be realistic and applying for positions in B4 Audit, Engineering (I'd say im a top bucket candidate for this so good to fall back on), and similar as I know breaking into ER is unlikely.

I really appreciate any guidance.