Breaking into high finance internships as an engineer/msf?

Hey!

I've had some bad luck breaking into high finance internships and was hoping for some advice. I'm graduating this year with bachelors in electrical & comp eng (3.1), and a ms finance next year (3.2) from a large state school ranked T10 for both programs.

As I apply to high finance jobs (investment banking, s&t, etc), I keep getting shunned away. I'm guessing it's because of my lack of finance internship experience or because of my low gpa. I did 2 software internships at F500 comps and 1 at a BB, but also do valuation work for my dad's real estate company and have some relevant coursework in finance (grad finance/val/accounting). I've done fine in the interviews I've gotten before (coursework/breaking into wall street), but have still not gotten a single offer.

I've been networking quite a bit, but I'm not sure what else will do the trick since the rejections keep flowing in. I can also re-recruit for FT, but want to do do an internship that will set me up well for it. Since it's so late in the summer 2019 recruiting game, any recommendations?

I'm planning on taking probability actuarial exam in february and considered taking the series 63 (if time permits) to help with s&t recruiting. Not sure if that's a good idea or if others had better advice.

4 Comments
 

Is the job placement rate at this MSF program 90%+?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Yes, the placement rate is 90%+. However, a decent amount go into corporate finance and that doesn't align with my interests. That's why I was referring to specific verticals: banking, s&t, etc.

 

Based on your description I attend the same school. I broke in with a lower GPA - it’s all about networking. Anytime anyone asks how you break in the literal answer is to network better and harder than every other guy applying. I leveraged somewhat special experiences in regards to actual trading but it was more building connections at the bank. Once you do that you’ll likely have your resume cleared without them checking and just get an interview.

 

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