Sophomore Summer: Lazard ER vs. Boutique IB

Hi Everyone,

I wil be recruiting for SA recruiting this fall as a junior and want to know what I should do this summer. It's either Lazard Equity Research or Boutique IB. I'm not sure if Lazard being a better brand name justifies not doing IB work at all.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks!

 
Best Response

Everyone on WSO says that boutique IBD is best vs non-IBD in terms of internships, but honestly, I disagree with this.

If it's a brand-name front office internship that's relevant to IBD (ER or PE/HF/AM investment roles; basically anything involving deals or financial analysis), I really think you should go with the brand name internship over some boutique working on sub $100 million deals.

 
kidflash:
Everyone on WSO says that boutique IBD is best vs non-IBD in terms of internships, but honestly, I disagree with this.

If it's a brand-name front office internship that's relevant to IBD (ER or PE/HF/AM investment roles; basically anything involving deals or financial analysis), I really think you should go with the brand name internship over some boutique working on sub $100 million deals.

i agree with this, especially since you are a sophomore take the LAZ ER

 

Disclaimer: I went the boutique IBD route my sophomore year, and, although I didn't have the option, if I did, I would have chosen an IBD-relevant FO position at a brand name company.

Also, my advice is only for sophomore year internships. For junior year SA, I'd be a bit more iffy.

 

Yes, this is a special case here.

LAZARD would look fantastic on your resume.

I'm sure you can even spin you resume to look like you got some IBD exposure considering LAZ is much more IBD focused than ER.

 

If this is the Lazard ER Retail mall rat internship where you just visit malls all day and write updates on certain stores, then don't do it. I have friends who did it, it's useless BS work and you won't learn anything.

But if this is an actual legit front office Lazard ER internship, then absolutely go for it

 

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