Did I screw myself?

Hi all,

I'm a rising Junior at a semi-target trying to break into IBD. With a subpar GPA and no luck in any of the sophomore programs, I was able to get offered an unpaid wealth management position freshman summer as well as sophomore summer at my local Merrill Lynch branches. However, my friends who have been through similar positions said it didn't offer them any valuable experience, they just cold called and did random stuff all day.

Instead of doing the wealth management internships, I did something entrepreneurial my freshman summer with a small start up company, and this summer I'm doing F500 corp development. Although these positions were both paid and beneficial for professional development, they had nothing to do with finance. Is this going to put me at a disadvantage against people who have done those wealth management/finance related internships? Or would it actually make me stand out more?

Thanks for the guidance.

7 Comments
 

Let me start off by saying nothing is impossible. Unfortunately, however, you not being at an elite target with a stellar gpa is already putting yourself at a disadvantage. On top of that, without any related internships in the field, it makes it harder. Of course anything is better than nothing and f500 corp dev is better than bartending, but i would say really try to network your junior year and earn a BB or boutique internship next summer if IBD is your goal. Nothing is better than hands-on experience

I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
 

judowned: my question is if doing something non-finance related that was a paid and much more competitive position to get than wealth management would make me stand out. My GPA is not bad overall (3.6~), but it wasn't good enough for the sophomore programs. .

 

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