Soooo how much does freshman year summer matter?
Hi all,
I'm a freshman at a semi-target and have an internship, but not exactly a finance internship. The landscape for banking seems to be changing every year so I wanted to ask for some advice off here. I got an offer from a commercial real estate development firm where I would be doing excel work, leasing, acquisitions, and many projects. BUT it's not what you would technically call a finance internship such as PWM.
I've wanted to explore real estate for a while but ultimately want to do IB.
Is a PE/VC/IB internship versus this going to dramatically change my chances for BB?
probably just go with this so u can talk about something in ur interviews and try to get a fall internship in IB at a local firm
Wait so not having IB/PE freshman summer is a disadvantage?
i mean like isn’t it kind of too late to be looking for a IB summer internship at this time? if u actually want to do RE this summer just do it but try to get an IB internship in the fall. if you’re nondiversity, it’ll be extremely hard to recruit without an IB internship on your resume.
It can be disadvantageous, because there are certainly freshmen with legit LMM PE/Regional Boutique IB offers for the summer. But in the long run, if you can land a regional boutique for the fall of your sophomore semester, you are at a good place. I did not land a regional boutique until sophomore spring, and still broke into IB.
Are you familiar with the process of getting IB/PE internship in the fall? Did you cold call, apply on handshake, etc? Also, would this imply that you have to know Technicals to a T (I.r., study over summer) to land one of these off cycle internships?
Interested
Del
Why is this not being said anywhere? You guys have got to be messing with me.
He partially correct, but also its not fully true either. Networking, a good school, and good interviewing skills will get you much further than anything you do during your freshman summer but a good internship can help complement one of these pillars if one is weaker.
^this is very true. it’s not even that people are trying to mislead u by saying that u don’t need it, it’s just that things have changed so much. @OP u need a fall internship to maximize ur chances
An off-cycle and fall internship are the same thing right?
I disagree with most people here. I’m incoming full time to an EB this summer, and I worked a high school-type job after my freshman year. I went to a target and am non-diversity, for reference.
I know that the landscape has likely gotten more competitive since I recruited 2 years ago, but there’s just no way that a finance internship after freshman year has become the norm. MAYBE it’s become the norm to have an IB, CB, PWM, AM, etc. internship after sophomore year but 90% of the non-diverse kids that I recruited with couldn’t land an IB or PE internship after sophomore year… Those IB/PE seats are just extremely limited for straight white guys until your junior internship.
Again, things may have changed dramatically since I recruited a couple of years ago, but I don’t think that 95% of non-diverse freshman will do IB or PE this summer. Even for sophomore summer, definitely try to land something IB or PE, but it won’t be the end of the world if you have to do AM or PWM.
This sounds more accurate to be honest. My semi target has one person doing Boutique IB freshman year (he’s a rockstar at this stuff). Maybe 2-3 doing like healthcare PE or something. Majority don’t even have an internship. I’ve already been doing networking for sophomore summer and I think I can get a boutique IB or PE from a company in Chicago next summer. Just thought that maybe this summer I could give CRE Development a try since I’ll never be able to to try it again.
I go to a semi-target and placements for summer 2023 have been absolutely brutal. I know tons of non-diversity candidates that haven't placed and are now recruiting for consulting. The majority of non-diversity placements at my school are MM firms that do OCR here. Almost no non-diversity candidates have placed at an EB or BB (not many do OCR here anyways). The ones that do place well are insane hairdos and, even then, they don't place at GS/EVR/JPM. I would agree with most people here and try to aim for an IB internship off-cycle if you want to place well.
Inaccurate. Recruiting is changing every year, and if you are non-diversity, especially at a semi-target, you need to hit the ground running. Not sure where you are pulling the figure for the percentage of IB internships before junior year. Boutique IB internships are very easy to land and race is not a barrier of entry. I would argue Asians are the ones landing most of these internships as they are very proactive and hit the ground in their freshman year. YMMV, because I go to a west coast school full of Asians. Also, OP is at a semi-target, which is drastically different from your background. To have a chance at BB/EB from a Semi-Target, 1-2 internships at a regional boutique IB is crucial. (Not a necessity, I have seen people with internships from F500 companies in strategy/finance roles that break in. But even most of the times, they have at least one regional boutique experience)
OP, your internship for the summer is completely fine. It will help your story stronger if you want to pursue REIB. If not, still helpful as most freshman do not have anything for their summer.
So if I can get a sophomore fall and summer internship at regional boutique or PE (maybe real estate) then it could do me good.
You are looking for assurance from people who will have nothing to do with hiring you. With that said, get an internship that is as close as possible to the area of focus when you apply for junior year SA. If you end up doing less than stellar SAs for freshman and sophomore years, it is nothing to lose sleep over. The rest of your resume, networking, personality, and luck play a major role.
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When did you ask these connections about references for your super days?
It’s not insane to suggest a fall internship. The norm in my semi-target’s finance pre-professional club is to get one off-cycle internship before sophomore summer. ~10% of people had finished two off-cycle internships before their junior summer.
The club places pretty well. You definitely give yourself a best shot by getting an off-cycle IB or PE job.
PM me? Interested in chatting more.
Non-target, non-diverse, no connections, pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole.
My freshman year, I worked at a search fund and then over the summer did an acquisitions role at a very small REPE firm. Secured IBSA for soph year at a small MM and junior year for a very well-regarded MM. Your development role seems like a very good place to start, but I would recommend doing off-cycles for your soph year and getting IB your soph summer to make yourself very competitive. Doesn’t have to be anywhere fancy, just something that is IB.
I can definitely get sophomore summer at a large MM in Chicago. I just wanted to try out development this summer and the commercial side because it's an investment class I'll want to invest in the future when I have more money.
I just finished my freshman year and am working remotely for a microboutique IB. (~10 employees) Cold emailed a whole bunch of random people/places and got on the phone with anyone willing to talk to me. It’s a pretty cool gig tbh and I think I’ll have a decent amount to talk about in the interviews that really matter considering I’m doing some hands on stuff. Been reading Wso for a couple years now and it’s crazy how fast everything moves
PM me? Interested to talk more abt this.
Hi, could you PM? I am also a freshman looking for a summer internship! Greatly appreciated.
Could you pm me? I would be interested in taking to you about this.
It's certainly not necessary to meet any requirements, but don't forget that normal interviewing is late in second year of college / summer after second year, so your freshman year internship/job will be the only real item that you can speak about. It's less about competitiveness, more about the benefit of having some experience you can directly point to as you interview.
So if I can just do some financial work at this internship, I can twist it in the interview to show why it’s relevant to IB?
I did nothing during my freshman summer. Did not affect my job application at all. Granted I had to do internship during the semester to make sure my resume is as competitive as my peers to make up for the blank freshman summer.
What was the internship? What sector?
Some small regional boutique, some small buyside firms, anything that I can spin-off to why I want IB
If you're worried about it then grind until you find an IB internship? I did PWM at the beginning of my freshman summer, then IB late summer into Fall, then another IB in the winter/spring. I am non-diversity at a semi-target for reference. I would say having 1-2 finance or quasi-finance internships, with at least 1 being IB is pretty standard nowadays.
how can i spin my PWM internship into wanting IB
If you're doing PWM at a bank that has IB you can talk about how investment bankers presented to the PWM interns and it was the part of the internship that intrigued you the most. That's what I did and for me it was true but that can also be bullshitted
Most places in North America and other 4 year undergrad places don’t hire freshmen, but there are some who still get internships. Focus on developing your skills and networking in the summer. Then get a high GPA next year and apply for internships.
delete
Best comment by far. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for in terms of a reply. Someone who actually recruits us. Thanks again. I assume by finance related internships, if we’re talking RE, then working on loans, acquisitions, amortization schedules, budgeting would count?
Do you have what he wrote? Seems like it's been deleted
It depends on how much experience you had in high school. I had both high school and freshman year internships in finance, and I think the value of those is that you get to dip your toes in the water (maybe for the first time ever) and have something to talk about in interviews in the future. But if you had similar internships in high school, I don't think it's strictly necessary. I would focus more on making sure I have a bit of fun in the internship that I choose/get and figure out how this stuff actually works. But to be completely honest if, could go back, I would rather get ahead on wrapping my head around technicals and start networking over doing yet another internship. The marginal benefit you will get by having a solid network and being strong in technicals will be greater than having 4 vs. 3 internships going into SA recruiting.
That’s why I’m so confused! Finance is broad and you can pretty much spin most internships as finance internships.
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