Ib intern at a boutique irm as a non target

I’m assuming this is an internship offer based on you still being in school. Going off of that, if you don’t have another IB offer……… then 100% take it.

Let’s face it, most summer analysts don’t do jack shi* at MMs and BBs. But they’re pulling for a return offer, so it doesn’t matter. If they don’t pull a return offer, recruiters question why they didn’t cut it. But they were still good enough to land the SA role, and they went through training. So if a hiring manager sees “Moelis” on a resume because some kid went to a target school, they’ll likely take the lazy / easy route, VS picking the non target kid with a boutique on their resume.

Based on that really what gauges a good internship at a boutique (in my opinion), is how much exposure you’re going to get that can outweigh the fact that it’s not a big name bank. The likelihood of you being given significantly more responsibility and exposure due to lean deal teams, when compared to traditional SA’s, is pretty high.

Now its up to you to decide how you can tell that story and sell yourself. If you can get a few M&A reps on your resume and speak to them with confidence then you should be fine.

Additionally, you can always take the offer and continue recruiting and renege if you land something better. In an industry where recruiters will waitlist you, there’s no shame in reneging on them. This is cut throat, and a numbers game baby. Go get em.

Hope this yap fest helps a bit. Cheers and good luck!