Background:
Sophomore at target, currently interning with hedge fund in midtown on long/short equities.
Dilemma:
Current hedge fund is good - great culture, some meaningful work. Little actual modeling (work primarily with updating three statement financials and ratios), but there's some fundamental analysis and tons of qualitative analysis work. Very little grunt work, good pay.
Interviewed and was also offered part-time spring internship position with a very prestigious industry-focused investment fund. The problem is that the interviewers were jerks (one of them didn't listen to a word I said, kept looking at his phone. When he got a text he actually unlocked his iPhone and read it while I was talking, and then looked up as if he thought it was weird that I stopped talking; another was with interns already working there, very unprofessional - made me very uncomfortable, told me I was underdressed. I didn't wear suit but wore a tie, and the interns were literally in t-shirts and jeans; the third guy was 25 minutes late), and it's quite obvious that, because they are such a prestigious fund, they feel that this internship program is really something we should be begging for, so they don't take the applications or the interviews particularly seriously. They emphasized that the interns primary work would center on compiling statements on where the fund was exposed, and that we would "gain exposure" to the front office functions of the business.
I really want to end up in private equity or investment banking after graduation, and the fund's name will definitely be more impressive than the fund I'm currently at. Also, this fund participates actively in PE/VC markets, although it was made abundantly clear that interns don't really interact with the private equity investments.
Problem:
Should I drop my current internship for the new one in the spring because of the better brand name? It's very well-known and will be taken seriously by banks, but the work will probably be less value-add, and the culture was pretty unfavorable.
I really want an FO role this summer in IBD/PE - any advice on the route that will yield the best results for OCR?
wow...nice life. Take the brand! It is just one internship, not a FT commitment. It'll look good on your resume and get you where you want to go
For reference get used to interviewers checking blackberries/iphones during interviews, it happens a lot and is completely normal - they can't afford to put off checking emails for 30 minutes in case a fire drill happens and you're not very important to them, sorry, just keep talking as if it didn't happen unless they specifically say "excuse me one second" or something before checking
Edit: missed where you said "was offered". I would take it, even if it's just to show you're a 'hot commodity' and I think it will bode well for you down the road.
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