If your main goal after graduating was to break into IB at a BB, but your options for your sophomore summer or junior summer are limited to the following two options which would you choose?
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I'd probably take the AM role and try to network with the IBD guys.
I'd do the same, if its an unknown investment bank, you dont really know what kind of experience youll get as an SA. On the other hand, it is putting IB experience on your resume...
Are you at a target? If so, boutique IB may be better since you'll get a more relevant experience and you should still be able to get interviews through your school. If you're at a non-target though, I might go BB just because of the brand name and networking opportunities.
Completely agree with what downtown says. If you're at a target, then a boutique IB experience will help you get interviews in junior year for IB. If at a non-target, it would help to put a brand name on your resume and do more networking.
What's wrong with the AM role if he's at a target? It shows interest in the field even if it's not banking, and if he's at a target, then the difference in help for recruiting is marginal IMO. Plus, he'd be making $$
Even at a semi-target, I think if you want to do banking, then do banking. If you work your ass off you'll be fine. AM is the wrong path. You'll go into it only thinking about IB and you'll regret the decision. Bankers would rather you went for a no-name boutique. It shows how passionate you are about IB.
Non-Target. I could definitely leverage the a boutique ib internship as experience and it definitely shows passion/strong interest as nutsaboutWS said. I'll have my feet wet, even if it is just a little - some experience with valuation and what not. But then again, if I do take a BB internship in AM and excel like no other, it'll be a good look, and if I do apply for an IB position that'll know I am comptent. Now is that a risk worth taking?
Which would have more weight come time to apply for full time positions?
Sophomore: BB AM Junior: Boutique IB Not many opportunities for sophomores to get an internship in IB at least from a semi-target viewpoint.
I know what I would do. Take advice from people who have signed / are already analysts. Which accounts for about 2 of us on this thread.
Boutique IB vs Brand Name AM Internship? (Originally Posted: 07/05/2012)
Hey guys need some advice,
I am torn between two internships, one which I just started last Friday and one which recently reached out to me.
The internship I am currently at is at a boutique investment bank in NY where I am currently working on researching companies for potential buy-side acquisition. The team is pretty chill and I enjoy their company. I also have a lot of exposure to the deals themselves and they promised modeling and me sitting in on deal meetings. The firm itself was founded in 2010 so still relatively young though there are a lot of deals going on this summer. This internship is unpaid and I usually work 10-12 hours a day.
Recently I was emailed about a position my friend referred me to. It is a large Asset Management firm with a well recognized name in the industry. The internship will be paid and will also be full time though the hours will be slightly better. I don't know too much about the position at the moment but I know that it will be quantitative as well which is what I am seeking. The recruiter emailed me 3 weeks after I sent my resume to my friend who referred it to him. I'm not sure if that means I am guaranteed a spot or if they are only interviewing me out of politeness.
However I have a phone interview tomorrow afternoon.
Should I mention that I am currently already at an IB firm and leverage it to my advantage? Or should I omit that information in case he rejects me?
Lastly, if I end up with the position is it wise to take it? boutique vs. brand name problem.
Thanks for your input I appreciate it.
its all dependant on your end goal...do you want to do IB fulltime?
Brand name is much more important imo. Plus, it's paid.. I'd take the AM.
Sophomore Summer: AM or Boutique IB Internship (Originally Posted: 04/07/2013)
Hey guys, I was hoping to reach out to this community for some advice. I'm a sophomore at a target university with a decent GPA, with aspirations of doing investment banking for my junior internship and eventually full-time.
However, I OCR didn't work out too well for me, considering most of the positions were taken by juniors, and I don't qualify for an URM programs. After a lot of cold-calling and emailing, I need to decide between two summer offers.
1) I could do AM at one of BNY Mellon's subsidiaries, paid, in a somewhat structured internship program, located in Boston.
2) Or, I could intern at an unpaid position at a very small investment bank in NYC, where the internship program is not structured and the work would mainly be ad hoc.
Because I eventually want to end up in IB, I'm really not sure what to choose. The bigger name and structured program with AM is a plus for option one, but having some, albeit cursory IB experience is the plus for option two.
Hoping for some input! Thanks!
As Im sure many would say, try to find out more about the IB one. See if you can reach out to previous interns (check linkedin). If you are not just binding books, then should probably just go for that.
Yup, if you get to do proper IB work (i.e. help with analysis on deals) then go for the IB one if you're looking to do IB next year.
As an update, I went to visit the boutique IB mentioned in option 2. While the CEO claims that I'll be doing substantial work, the managing director and analyst I met with said I wouldn't be doing much. I'm just a little unsure about the situation as a whole.
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