Sales & Trading internship at a BB or no name boutique IB internship?
Hi all,
Hope everyone is doing well.
Now I seriously need some help.. Some of you may recall that I posted here a while ago regarding how to choose between a Jefferies operations internship and a no-name boutique IB internship.. I chose the boutique one, no questions asked.
Now I am facing an even more difficult situation: how to choose between a S&T internship at a non-US BB and an IB internship at a no name boutique? I got the internship by an alumni, he referred me to the S&T program since one of the interns didn't accept the internship last minute. Excluding the pay factor for both.
I do want to do IB in the future and I was targeting big four for their M&A / Valuation group for full time positions before this situation came up, but I really can't resist the brand name of that BB...
Now I don't really know what to choose .. Help!!
Thanks.
Please help.. they wanted me to get back to them asap.
I know you want to say "no name" but it will difficult for us to give advice without them. What's the IB shop called and which BB? Please just say, haha this isn't enough info.
Regardless of if you tell us the name think of the key term of "transferrable skills" working in M&A is working in M&A. Working in trading is working in trading lol.
IB at no-name boutique. This still isn't a hard choice.
No question, I would take the S&T internship at the BB, even if I want to do IB in the future.
Lets be honest here, 10 weeks at a boutique IB isn't going to make you an M&A or valuation expert. The brand name of a BB (+ S&T role) is going to open more doors than what the "no-name" boutique is going to offer you. While, the experience in the boutique might be good, it is not irreplaceable.
Also, one thing that might change my answer is the MD and the team of the boutique. Did they give you a good sense of what you might do during the internship? Was the MD from a big 4, that might be willing to push for you come full time recruitment? etc.
Okay guys thanks!
Here is more info: the MDs are not from big four, and basically what I could expect to gain is some deals working experience since they only have 3 analysts and I will be directly working with managing directors. My work there is gonna be financial modeling, power point and writing. MDs there say they are willing to recommend me to BB once I finish the internship. Again, I am not sure how much credibility is there when it comes to "recommendations"...
To be honest, I am perfectly happy ending up with big four and if I go down that route, IB experience is definitely more relevant with big 4 M&A / valuation groups, but the S&T internship has a brand name... So far, my resume has an assurance internship with PwC and an ER experience with a boutique.
The S&T internship is with SG, the French investment bank, in their nyc office, and the boutique is a real boutique, also in nyc.
Help!!
SocGen isn't a BB and I really don't think doing S&T there would position you well for ever doing IB in the future. Comparably, working at a boutique shows you have demonstrated IB interest and you at least have a shot at FT recruitment.
I would've been inclined to say S&T until you said SocGen.
Go with the boutique
What's wrong with SG?
There's nothing wrong with it, but the reason people were saying go BB S&T was because the brand name would outweigh the lack of direct relevant experience. SG is a fine bank but it doesn't carry the same recognition that a true US BB bank would.
I know a classmate who did S&T at a BB in HK and ended up with a number of attractive IBD options here in the US (not necessarily BB though) for FT so it's definitely possible. I don't think you would get the same benefit of a doubt with SG though.
Still boutique IB
What if I could network with bankers there at SG? And I got transferred to IB after I finish my internship there? Would that be possible?
Do you want to do capital markets? Otherwise I'd stay with the boutique and take my chances.
Even though you've probably already made your choice, I would clearly, clearly say take the brand name bank. You need the stamp of approval to have choices when you're doing full time recruiting. I transferred divisions and banks between full time and my internship, and having a top BB internship in a different division still carried a lot of weight.
You really don't learn enough in an internship to make your internship experience valuable at a full time job.
Given that it is SG, and not a BB, I would say take the boutique and make the most out of it. Learn as much as you can, do as much as you can, but be smart about it.
When comes to FT recruitment, know how to speak about your deals intelligently and show that you really did learn something there.
If you had a S&T internship at GS/MS/JPM those leagues, then it would have been a different story. Not because I am a brand-conscious person, but I know many people who are. Also, the fact that you were able to be selected for those internship puts a lot of weight into your capability in interview, etc. A S&T internship at those houses will pretty much open doors at Big 4s and other banks for IB; SG, not so much.
Also, if the boutique is relatively small, my opinion is 3 analysts would be more than enough to cover their work, you might not be doing an analyst-work, but still more as an intern. (but then again, i would not know the structure of the firm at all, so this is just a possibility)
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