Junior Summer: Screwed
Hey,
Here's my dilemma:
I'm hoping to get some advise as to what would put me in the best position to get a full-time job. I missed out on summer analyst positions, but my ultimate goal remains to get a full-time position in the fall. I'm stuck with pretty unappealing summer plans because I planned to try out for a U-23 national team over the summer, but a last minute injury prevented me from doing so. My remaining summer possibilities are:
1)work limited hours at a BB's Financail Services wing assisitng a Sr. VP who works with hedge funds
2)construction
3)backpack europe alone
I go to a target ivy, I am on a very successful and time-intensive sport team, and I have a mid-range 3.7 GPA in a non-finance major. My internships to date have been law-related and I have worked in an office at my school where I researched alumni's assets for fundraising.
So, I'm aware that the problem with my resume is the lack of any relevent internship, but I have a feeling option 1 will be a lot of general office work and litttle substance. Option 2 could be a way to differentiate myself as someone from an ivy league who isn't afraid to work hard and who wanted to experience what real work feels like. And option 3 could result in awesome experiences that I could talk about in an interview.
Thanks for any advice.
I have no idea what I'm talking about. But If I were you I would do #3. It seems like you are going to be a very competitive applicant as it is. Go have fun. It's not like you won't have a very good reason for not having a finance internship. And if you decide to travel the world this summer don't be afraid to think outside the box and go off the beaten path.
I'd recommend No. 1, bc No. 2 doesn't really fly(it could work for a freshman summer or a sophomore summer, but not a junior summer when you're supposed to get a serious job), and No. 3, unless you plan on liberating an Eastern European village wouldn't bring anything that relevant to an interview.
No. 1 at least shows that you're serious about finance or business and want to be committed to it.
1 is your best bet as it shows that you are interested in the industry. if i were looking at ur resume, a summer in construction or traveling europe would equate to the reject pile.
also, i know kids who did meaningless office work during their junior year summer and still snagged a FT analyst position. its how you sell your experience that makes the difference
Wow! Are you fucking kidding me? You're so far out to space it's disgusting. You need to get back in touch with reality quick, but I'm afraid it's already too late.
Seriously, take a second to think about what's wrong with your statement.
I don't think it's too absurd. Think about how many people from the Ivies already have piker jobs at a financial services firms. It's no secret that they sit on their hands and waste time at work all day. At least by doing something that is a little less glorified and really intensive, he can show that he has a positive work ethic and not too absorbed in the image of the position. I know a friend who did a summer as a manager for a local McDonalds, and she's now working for McKinsey. One word of advice though, I wouldn't take on some kind of grunt laborer position. Try and showcase any leadership and teamwork skill you have.
I would recommend #3 over #1. Honestly, without previous work experience and no finance-related major, you are severely shorthanded. You aren't going to land a BB. If you have the opportunity to travel to Europe, you may be able to become more cultured. Listen, this will be the last and only opportunity to do some traveling if you are really committed to working hard after school. Become more cultured. 5 years out, you won't remember what firm you copied papers for junior year, but you will always remember your European tour. Just make sure to learn up on the history and find ways to make the most out of the trip.
Good luck
I appreciate what your saying man, but the guy is a junior...he probably won't get a BB position but he needs to get his head in the game now by doing something finance related.
Travel Europe after Senior year if you don't have a job...
I'd go with #1 but I believe that you still have a great shot at FT recruiting.
I think you should work on your interviewing skills and you will get a job eventually in finance field. Keep knocking on the door. God bless
Right now there is nothing on your resume that shows your interest in finance. Your major is non-finance, your internships are in law, and you haven't mentioned anything about finance related extracurriculars. If I were looking at your resume (as good as it sounds,) I would wonder how you knew you wanted to do finance. Additionally, anyone who spends his junior summer traveling as opposed to interning is hurting his career potential.
It is true, you probably won't get another opportunity like this to backpack Europe. It sucks but, I think it is worth it to work instead of to travel because one's first job can sometimes define his career options (or at least potential) for the rest of his life.
Yea thats a ridiculously false statement. Getting a good job out of college guarantees you nothing later on in life nor does it dictate your career path.
It doesn't guarantee anything, but it'd be ridiculous to say that it wont have a huge effect. When you're young is when you start setting what kind of options you'll have for the rest of your life, and the first job will have a big effect.
Sure, maybe he can take a job with something unrelated or something lower-tier to banking. But if he wants to do banking, he'll have to spend all that time working himself up, instead of getting there right out of undergrad.
On the other hand, if he gets a BB job, he can always after one or two years decide to transfer to something else.
He will have plenty of time to travel if he chooses to go to grad school which is where a lot of students land when they make post UG mistakes.
you choose...
"Living the dream 24/7 on http://theallnighter.blogspot.com"
I don't know this guy at all, but from the sound of things, he doesn't know what the hell he wants to do. In my opinion, he is just the typical smuck who is lured by the money and prestige of banking. Law firm internship, sports enthusiast, non-finance and is committed to banking? I don't think so.
While going through Europe isn't going to help your career as a banker, your last 3 years in college haven't either. Take this opportunity to see the world, at least it will make you more of an interesting person... regardless if you decide if banking is right or not for you. Just because you aren't first out of the gates doesn't mean you still can't finish first.
[quote=albatrosslee] Honestly, without previous work experience and no finance-related major, you are severely shorthanded. You aren't going to land a BB.[/quote[
You should have just done the trip AND the internship. Theres still about ten weeks left in the summer, maybe thats still a possibility?
I didn't say that your first job has to be banking in order for you to be successful. I said your first job is very important. Yes, there are many, many MBA students who did not start in banking. However, there are few who did not have significant or rare work experience.
Take a look at the following resume book from Tuck: http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pecenter/resources/2007_resume_book.pdf
Let me know if you find anyone who did not have stellar work experience.
my advice? ignore the retard-fuck talking shit to you. Then choose #3, #1 won't make any significant difference and #2 is pretty basic, anyone can do it. But #3 can be viewed as someone who isn't afraid to attempt things.
ah....i have a feeling #3 would just elicit the response "what hell is he doing????"
BB positions aren't exactly easy to get, #1 will at least show you're interested.....
Only way I would recommend #3 is if you're going to do something crazy like liberate an Eastern European country or stop a genocide.
Other than that...."someone who isn't afraid to do things" sounds like wishful thinking to me.
The guy wants to be a banker, not a contestant on fear factor. While not being afraid to do things be a nice quality to have, it is certainly not worth one's junior summer to be able to prove it. Your past experiences need to be organized or at least show some sort of direction. This is one of the intangibles of one's resume. By spending the summer in Europe, he is losing both a quantifiable piece of experience and the image of directed career goals.
However, if you want to reduce it down to: "Screw it, I want to have fun," than clearly your career is not as important to you as I would expect from someone that is looking to dedicate his first two years out of college to doing nothing but work.
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