Energy & natural resources IB - how to break in?

I'm a rising junior at a small non-target liberal arts school on the east coast and interested in working in energy & natural resources & utilities IB. Did some research on energy-focused investment banks in NY and Houston and it seems that most of the Houston banks only hire UT or Rice graduates. Is it possible to break into Houston banks if I have no connections to Texas? What kind of past experience are they looking for? I'm currently doing an internship at a boutique PE firm. Should I bother contacting energy investment banks in NY to see if they are looking for an intern during the school year?

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Hello radmad,

Not sure if my input will be relevant but maybe it can help.

I am currently interning at Macquarie in London and the group has a strong Energy & Natural Resources reputation worldwide. I know they have offices in Houston and several other places in the US (https://www.macquarie.com/uk/about/office-locations/).

I am a Summer Intern and what I can say is that a huge amount of people in there have no experience in IB and not all of them come from target school. Again this is London so I do not exactly know how things go in the US but my advice would be that you try to get either on their Spring or Summer internship as I feel like it is really accessible.

Hope that helps.

Bests, Rorshak

 

Hic quo natus voluptatum quas et. Deleniti velit et quidem iure exercitationem. Quia omnis inventore aut aut quo. Enim quo ipsa consectetur illo minus at nisi neque. Dolorum nisi minus non quos velit.

Qui architecto qui ea rerum. Aliquam corporis doloribus minima repellendus et cumque.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”