Engineering or back office

Currently I am in my second year at university. If you were in the same position what would you do?
First choice, a middle/back office internship at a top BB.
Second choice, an internship at a prestigious selective engineering company, think lockhead martin, mbda, exxon and so on...
Which would you pick. I come from a non target.
Would doing that engineering internship put me in a better position for a front office internship at a BB next year?

14 Comments
 

You're going to have to be a little more specific about what your options and what your career goals are if you want an accurate answer. What positions or divisions are these opportunities in and what front office role are you most interested in? Choosing the position that is easier to spin as relevant to finance and a logical step towards your career goals will make selling yourself in junior year interviews much easier. For example, If your long term goal is to do M&A in the defense sector and you have the opportunity to work in an engineering or business development role for Lockhead Martin, you are better off going with that over a BB back office role. If you want to do S&T and have the opportunity to work in a BB middle office role that has significant exposure to the trading desk, that might be your better option.

 

I want to become an investment banker. Have thought about becoming a quant but need more info. I thought that if I did an internship at a prestigious engineering company in a highly technical role would that not impress them loads and you would gain so many skills?

 

Assuming you want to banking (specifically, a corporate finance role) I would lean toward the BB. Knowing the group would help.

In terms of what I think would be a better learning experience, engineering internship x1000. It also would still look good on the resume.

"For I am a sinner in the hands of an angry God. Bloody Mary full of vodka, blessed are you among cocktails. Pray for me now and at the hour of my death, which I hope is soon. Amen."
 

I do not know much about quant roles. How much do they make relative to IB or traders? I assume their role is going to get bigger due to death of prop trading?

 

http://www.morganstanley.com/about/careers/programs/summeranalyst.html Check out this link to the MS careers website. Here you can find explanations all of the summer analyst opportunities at MS-, including quant. If I were you, I'd read through them all and see which one interests you the most. Don't worry about how much one position makes relative to another. You'll thank yourself in the long run for choosing something that actually interests you that you won't hate doing for the rest of your life versus choosing the position that makes a little bit more money.

 
Best Response

Curious why people would choose BO. Not like you're gaining relevant experience in BO. Plus the general perception I've gotten from BO guys is that their job is just that, merely a job. Not saying that's bad, but different mindset from most FO guys.

Would take ths engineering gig and spin your story as you became more interested in the business side of companies. Can be pretty successful if you're targeting TMT or industrials imo.

 

I can speak from experience that having an engineering degree is more valuable than a back office internship at a BB. Having a big name engineering name on your resume can pique interest further down the road. What kind of engineering are you studying?

I used to work for AECOM as a civil engineer and now I work for a BB in project finance. This is of course after attending a non-target engineering school and then receiving my masters from a target school.

 

I am actually doing maths but I have done a two week placement at an defence military company and now I have the opportunity to do an internship at this top prestigious company. It's the GS or BlackRock for engineers.

 

Take the engineering role. Flat out more impressive, and also gives you more options down the road. Heck, it sounds like it might even be a great experience. Don't think the opportunity cost of passing on a BO SA is that great.

Just curious, but does your degree program not have any English requirements? Hope you're just being sloppy on the forumz, otherwise yikes.

 

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