How to navigate?
I’m a freshman at one of the lesser known ivies and I feel like everyone is in third gear with finance. I have no clue how they have everything figured out. I want a freshman summer internship (in anything business related). I also want to explore my options because frankly I have no idea how people know they want to do HF 3 weeks into college. I’m currently applying to our investment club and other business clubs. I’m not quite sure if there’s anything else I should be doing at this stage. I’m a girl, and most freshman around me have already started networking/looking at their connections. How should I proceed? Do you guys have any advice?
Put it in fourth gear then
Also
>I have no idea how people know they want to do HF 3 weeks into college.
they don’t. All they know about hedge funds or investment banking they got from movies and tv shows (meaning that they don’t actually know anything about hedge funds or investment banking, they just think these are desirable jobs because Hollywood tells them to think that). Most will burn out very quickly after realizing they don’t actually care about “high finance” and will then have to figure out what they actually want to do after they’ve already graduated with a degree that, as it turns out, they didn’t necessarily want. It would behoove you to avoid following the herd here just for the sake of following the herd, and spend some time trying to figure out what kind of job might actually interest you. If you reach out to alumni in HF/IB (and even at a “lesser known ivy” your network here will be substantial) and develop a genuine interest in the field, then great, try and position yourself for an internship by junior year so you can find out for sure. But don’t just scramble to get in the door because you see everyone else around you doing it. Plenty of other career options out there.
Is it better to reach out to upperclassmen or alums? Thank you for your advice, very helpful.
I would start with alumni since they have jobs they can speak to
Appreciate the outreach and take a deep breath. No need to be worried or anxious. I get it. I was in your exact shoes. The person above definitely made some good points I agree with. Much of the “buzz” around you is merely people dropping snippets of things they heard (without knowing what they mean lol). The biggest piece of advice I can offer is what someone told me as I began my freshman year. You have so much free time in a given day or week. Take advantage of it. There’s no pressure right now. I’d recommend using the opportunity to learn about what’s out there… because there are a lot of really cool avenues you can go down. Don’t be hesitant to reach out to alumni/other people in various fields. Start with something simple. You are in a great spot where you aren’t asking for something, or have a motive to call. You are just inquiring to learn more about what they do. 80% of people would love to chat with someone in your shoes. For context I went to a non-target so I was worried about walls that would be put up. My freshman year I reached out to a number of ppl in different areas, and frankly some of the best calls I had were with people that I ended up having 0 desire to go into their field! As you begin to learn from people you’ll start to decide what you gravitate towards, and as that happens you’ll really decide what you want. With that being said you are in a great spot so don’t stress. Also noticed that you posted this on a Saturday night… go enjoy your time! 4 years flies by so have fun. Good luck!
Thank you for your help ! It’s just so fast since I’ve started school and I want to have fun and explore, but everything points to finance and preprofessionalism.
just get any internship u can freshman year summer or do research. You have more time to figure out if finance is really for you later.
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