A little bit about me: I go to a total non target SEC state school. I have a pretty mediocre GPA (3.3), have mediocre extracurriculars, and have no previous internshipsmnance experience. I’m a junior this year and am obviously working on these things but there is only so much I can change at this point.
On the upside, I do have a decent and growing basic knowledge of the markets/investing. I am very passionate about the financial markets and I spend a great deal of time keeping up with them, studying books on investing, researching stocks, maintaining my own portfolio. etc.
I realize the importance of an internship this summer but don’t know what to shoot for with my poor credentials. My dream job would be ER and I feel strongly that I could excel at it, but I realize how out of reach this is at this point.
So my question is this, what kind of internships should I be looking for? (and in general) I was thinking PWM, although I have zero interest in the sales/client side of finance (I’m interested in the analytical/research part), but it would at least be investment finance. But without any really strong selling points on my resume even PWM seems like a stretch. Should I be contacting branch managers or just using the online resume drops? The city I will probably spend the summer in only has pwm branches for 3 or 4 BB’s and a few MMs so if I don’t get interviews/strike-out with those 3-4 I would have to go to cold-calling small local no-name firms without internship programs. Other than PWM all I could really think of is F500 corp. fin, which would be fine but the same issues arise (and there’s only a 1-2 that I know of with headquarters in my city)
I guess my question is this: what internships should I be looking for and how should I go about this search. What would fit my goals and still be feasible for someone like me. Any general advice on my career path is welcome as well.
Also what are your thoughts on transferring schools, Ive been thinking about this but I kinda figured a 3.3 gpa would be prohibitive of admission anywhere worthwhile.
Sorry for the longwinded post, banannas to anyone who reads it and offers helpful advice.
whats PWM?
PWM = Private Wealth Management
//www.wallstreetoasis.com/faq
Transferring schools would definitely not be an option because of that fact that you're already a junior. Obtaining an internship in PWM would help, but not only would it be hard for you to get an internship, getting one is by no means an entry into ER. Your best bet to get a PWM internship is through cold calling individual teams within firms to ask around and see if they are taking interns for next semester. With PWM, you have to call the teams themselves because they are in charge of whether they want interns or not, not the overall firm.
If you can accomplish that, I would try to leverage that to get something more relevant for the summer, as chances are, applying for ER positions right now would just be a waste of time. Keep networking until full time applications roll around next fall.
If all else fails, offer to work for free at small, no-name boutiques
This. I've read it here many times and successful follow ups have stated it enabled them to land a better and obviously more lucrative job the year after.
what's the diff between PCS and PWM? just terminology?
Thanks for the responses, one more thing to note... I will be taking 5 years to graduate so I still have one more summer for an internship after this summer. Also, If I tried to transfer schools I would be transferring in as a junior even though I am already third year.
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