What would you do? - Junior at a non-target

I have been lurking around this site for some time, but I am curious as to what advice those that have "made it" can offer me, more personally. Any advice or recommendations, I will appreciate greatly.

I think it's important to describe my current situation, and yes, its far from ideal, so I am sure I will take a beating for it. I am still in school, a Junior at a Non-target, my major being Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. I transferred from a community college just this semester. Did all my GE's there but haven't taken much finance or business classes besides basic econ and math.

My goal right now is to get my GPA as close to 4.0 as possible, currently its a 3.6, but I feel confident I can bring it up. With that said, I also work. With the semester starting, I am cutting my hours from full-time, to part-time, so that I can take class full time. Ive worked as a bank teller at BOA for the past 3 years to support myself, since I do not live with my parents and I have to pay my own way (and I know, this job is useless to IB but I do have to pay bills).

With that said, I know landing a summer internship would be the most important thing I can achieve to help with my success, but I am not sure how I can go about an internship in my situation.

First, if I apply for summer internship, I believe I have to let BOA know about it, and if I am interning at a "bank" wouldn't that pose to be a problem? Wouldn't I have to quit my job? Second, I know as a junior I should be focusing on internships for this year, but I haven't taken much business/finance classes yet, how can I possibly interview because I imagine they will "test" me to some degree.

It sucks that I am in this unfortunate position but it's kind of the path that I have found to recover from my rough beginning. Being from a family that no one has gone to college, it was my moms persuasion to finish high school by home schooling and that was my first big mistake to agree. I ended up self-studying and enrolling myself to take the GED. After passing that and working a minimum wage job, I enrolled myself in the community college and went from there.

I am sorry for this lengthy post, and I know I will take a beating for not going to a target school and not having a high GPA, but what's done is done. Any input you guys can give is greatly appreciated.

4 Comments
 
Best Response

No beating here, just respect. Do you know what you see yourself doing for a career? Identify your strengths and weaknesses and focus on some areas you see yourself being a good fit within finance/business. If you've done that, then set yourself up to get experience. Join a related club on campus, learn as much as you can about the industry, etc. Do you live near a city? It would be great if you could get a part-time internship during the semester. If you don't live near a city, there are still likely lots of Private wealth management branches near you. Call them up and be straightforward. Tell them you would love to gain experience and want to see how you can position yourself for an internship with them. People like it if you're confident and pro-active. Some of these internships might be paid and could take the place of your bank teller job. Seek to strengthen your resume and gain as much finance-related experience as possible that would make you attractive to an employer in which ever area of finance you choose to pursue. If you really want it, you can make good things happen for yourself. Good luck.

 
Jb2888 First, if I apply for summer internship, I believe I have to let BOA know about it, and if I am interning at a "bank" wouldn't that pose to be a problem? Wouldn't I have to quit my job?
Would you have to tell them if you applied for a similar job at Citigroup? No. You don't have to tell them in this case either. I'm all for being honest, but you don't need full disclosure all the time either.
Jb2888Wouldn't I have to quit my job?
Probably so. Maybe you could work something out that you returned during the school year, you would know better than me, but it can't hurt to ask.
Jb2888Second, I know as a junior I should be focusing on internships for this year, but I haven't taken much business/finance classes yet, how can I possibly interview because I imagine they will "test" me to some degree.
Do whatever you can to prep outside of classes.
 

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