How Realistic Is Boutique IB Work Experience at 16 in London?
Hi everyone,
I’m 16 and based in London. Over the past year I’ve spent a lot of time reading into finance independently, following discussions on here and trying to build a stronger understanding of the industry beyond what’s taught in school. I also run my school’s finance society and help organise wider student finance outreach initiatives.
I achieved 11 A*s at GCSE and I’m currently planning to pursue an Accounting & Finance degree. I’m trying to make the most of sixth form by getting some real exposure to the industry early.
I’m particularly interested in investment banking and wanted to ask how realistic it is for someone my age to secure some form of internship, shadowing or work experience at a small boutique in London (or anywhere nearby, not too picky to be honest).
I know most firms are not formally set up to take on school students but I’d be really interested to hear from anyone who has seen this done successfully or has experience at smaller firms.
I’d especially appreciate insight on:
- Whether boutiques are generally receptive to sixth form students reaching out
- What would genuinely make a student stand out positively at this stage
- Whether independent modelling/research work is actually useful signalling before university
- What sort of work or exposure a boutique would realistically trust a student with
- What kinds of firms adjacent to IB might also be worth reaching out to at my stage (corporate finance boutiques, search funds, valuation/advisory firms, small PE/VC shops, etc.)
Appreciate any insight.
(Bumps appreciated!)
Willing to disclose more about my overall profile in DMs if need be!
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It's either
A) You have a good network and family background and can swing a spot
B) You are somehow super impressive / DEI and someone feels nice enough to give you some mentorship.
Either way you need to utilise your network. It is not impossible, I have seen kids get placements at Evercore in Sixthform at that age through cold emailing. But you need to utilise the network or build one
Thank you for your response. I don't really have the family ties for this specifically. I have something of a budding network going, but not the sort that can skip HR or whatever especially considering they're in bigger firms that don't seem to really like this sort of thing, although what you said about Evercore has given me some hope. Worth a shot then I reckon!
But if I'm honest, the reason I want something at a smaller boutique is that I can see the whole deal process end to end which can give me a larger surface area to find something cool to talk about in an academic context while being firmly grounded in reality (something that would help with direction and nuance I would think) for my personal statement.
I can perhaps try the super impressive route though, I reckon the grades might go some way and my technicals are quite probably on the good side -- for my age anyway. What would you recommend to become impressive? Willing to go as far as I need if I'm perfectly honest. Thanks ever so much for the reply, again.
Just have a good command of financial knowledge. Ideally the funnel is you have a lot of coffee chats with people, impress them with your knowledge and desire and follow up some time later saying you need work experience for sixth form.
People are always happy to have chats / help out young driven kids if they are smart, willing to learn and seem to love this stuff. Start cold emailing, reaching out to people you have something in common with.
Don't directly ask for WX before meeting them IRL. You live in London so it should be pretty easy to arrange a coffee chat.
Evercore in sixth form is a special programme not cold emailing 😂. Don’t cold email Evercore please it’s a waste of your time, apply to the programme.
mate I am talking about someone years ago back in like 2018 whos specifically listed (through cold emailing)
not the BCBF stuff
Hi alexcokke,
Fair point. I noticed you're at LSE, what course are you doing and what sort of workex did you get to assist your PS? Thanks for your time.
Not able to give too much feedback on that but just wanted to congratulate you on the vision and the focus, you're going places mate.
Thank you for your kind words. Means a lot.
You're most welcome. Keep us updated on your progress, which is certain if you keep the same energy
xyz
Thank you for your generosity. I sent you a message.
cheeky bump -- still curious about this
bump again
good luck man you seem to know a lot more than i did at your age, keep it up and you will go far
Thank you for your kind words. Congrats on your internship as well.
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