Internships early on?

Hey everyone ,

I'm currently a HS senior looking to find a HF internship the summer before college. By then I'll be 18 (can sign NDA and won't be a minor anymore).

Some of my accomplishments — 1st place Stevens Institute of Technology Trading Day 2017 (competed against 20-30 other teams, had 90 mins to trade and made the most $)

1st Place — Future Business Leaders of America "Securities and Investments" competition (went against 50 ppl)

High scores in college level Econ classes, in addition to classes like derivatives trading, portfolio management, Harvard case study-focused business strategy classes, etc.

I've studied for the Series 7 exam and know most of the stuff but cannot take the test since I'm under 18.

Bloomberg Markets Certified, Office/iWork proficient, Wharton administered online fin modeling experience, coding experience, etc.

Did research into SEC Rule 504 (accredited investor law). Did research into Simon Property Group and my outlook on the company and how they can turn themselves around etc (presented to a some finance people, which landed me an interview at a HF — more about this below)

In school, Im the VP of student government, president of a United Nations club, VP of a community service society, and founder/president of Future Business Leaders of America at my HS. I've also created a few volunteer drives in my town for lower income residents and the military

Currently, I intern with an investment advisor. It's not high-powered HF stuff, but its definitely real-world finance experience. Beforehand, I got an interview w/ a $1.5-2B fund but didn't get the internship since they were worried about dealing w minors and didn't wanna spend time training anyone although they said they were impressed by my qualifications

What do you guys think I should do during the summer between HS and college? Where could I find internships, and how realistic is it that I will actually find a HF that would be serious about taking me on for a few months?

Thanks!

MediumRare_

 
Best Response

Enjoy your last summer before shit gets real. Dead Serious.

TBH, you sound like a mega try-hard, and I would advise you to enjoy yourself while you can. You're 17 for fucks sake.

 

You seem to be really keen on finance. That's great. But don't overkill it. Going to a target college - preferably an Ivy League - is much more crucial than having early financial experience, so if you can do something about that, this would be your number 1 priority.

Try to cultivate your interests besides finance and the ECs that will look the best on your CVs. If people label you as a try-hard, you will have trouble building rapport with your team, clients, potential mentors...

Finance is no rocket science. You don't need to spend 10 years preparing yourself for it. But the more senior you are, the more important being "well-rounded" will be - because the higher up the food chain you get, the more you will understand how absurd and nonsensical the practice of corporate finance is, and how woefully irrelevant are the financial theories you learn in textbooks.

Enjoying some poetry, knowing what makes a suit classy or not, having fun around a beer with old contacts without making it feel like painful networking, being an authentic person and not just some CV-obsessed IB drone, those are the skills you will sorely need.

 

Reading this just makes me sad... 17 year olds should primarily be focussed on getting laid.

I think you should chill down with all your studying and competitions. And if you actually enjoy the markets, just build up your own portfolio and cut all the other resume bullshit. How can you possibly be VP/president of 4 organizations and have some depth in any of them?

Sounds to me like the only thing you enjoy doing is filling up your resume. I honestly think you're a freak.

 

To be blunt, no one cares about what you did in high school and no matter how you try to spin what you did it is just not relevant. I'm sure you will get some funds being nice and telling you its impressive and stuff, but you have zero value add.

Just focus on getting good grades in college and stay up to date with recruiting stuff if thats what you want. You're not the first self-impressed high schooler to come through here.

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