Internship issue
I'm a freshman at a non-target and I am going to try to get a finance internship (PWM, etc.) this summer. I talked to my advisor today and he explained that they do not give college credit for internships until the junior year summer. As I understand it, there is a gray area in the law regarding working for free, and so most companies will not hire students to work for no pay AND no credit. Seeing as I am a freshman, I think it is unlikely I will find a payed internship.
Do all big banks require one to receive college credit for an internship? What about smaller companies? Any information would be helpful as I'm at a loss of what to do as I'm at a non-target.
smaller places won't give a shit. ask them if they can comp travel or food even partially and that counts as a stipend i believe.
Spread your net wide. When I was a freshman I did a formal internship at a F500 company where I was paid on par with what the juniors were getting. Don't limit yourself to just PWM, any structured internship would be a big boost during your freshman year.
Check in with your school's career office, scholarship office, etc. Often, there are stipends available for unpaid internships.
In my experience, the smaller companies that I did unpaid internships for didn't give a shit. I just came in, worked, and left. This is different for PWM because you're working for a larger company like UBS. Like Bearing said, any internship will help; but if you're applying for something that isn't a structured intern program, target smaller firms.
Would recommend having them create some sort of file in order to document that you worked there, though. For the last unpaid one I did, they just made a document that said "(my name) worked at (company x) as an (intern) from October - December 2011" and put it on file.
Firstly, if you're writing emails, make sure you type paid, not payed.
Secondly, only big companies know and comply with the law. Many small players and boutiques won't have a clue what the law is and even if they do, they will assume you don't know it, and try and use that to their advantage.
You can use that to your advantage but cover your bum and stay one step ahead of them - ie document everything if you're dealing with companies playing in the grey areas.
Alternatively, if you don't get a summer internship, you can always get a job in support staff or something to pay your way through college, until you're second or third year.
I actually have no idea how I made that mistake, thanks for pointing it out. By smaller places what do you guys mean? Should I be targeting boutique investment banks or small investment firms?
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