Crucial Freshmen IB Internship
Hey guys,
I am a freshman at a target who is currently doing an internship at a small PE firm.
However, I am struggling to find an IB internship for this summer.
I will continue to search IB internships, but how disadvantaged will I be for recruiting if I continue my current internship throughout the summer break?
My GPA is 4.0, and I will try my best to not let it fall below 3.8. Also, I am a non-diversity male.
It seems like there are a few of my semi-target friends who already did IB internships during their freshmen summer, and I began to feel incompetent for not getting one despite I go to a better school which I think translates to more opportunities.
I'd appreciate any tips! Thank you.
I’ll keep it real with you, freshmen typically don’t land IB gigs unless they know someone that’ll go to bat for them, even if they’re from HYPSM. Chances are most bankers you talk to will also not be willing to give you more than a coffee chat right now. Reach out to them, recruit early, do all the freshman enhancement programs you can etc. but don’t expect anything this summer.
Recruit for whatever bank you want next summer starting now, and be happy that you have a (presumably paid) internship right now. If you stay with it long enough, you’ll have a good employer recommendation and hopefully someone at your firm who knows someone at a bank.
It’s extremely unusual to see freshmen get SA at a bulge bracket investment bank unless it’s a diversity program, there’s no reason for banks to recruit for full-time that early since the freshman is likely to flake or find something else. SA exists to convert to a full time offer, and the chances that a freshman will come back three summers straight and convert full time might seem low.
Bottom line, don’t stress. You’ll get the IB internship since you’re putting work in already. Work with the organizations at your school and talk to lots of bankers, sign up for events and show demonstrated interest with the groups you see yourself at.
And enjoy basically what may be your only lax summer. College goes by fast, make the most of it, IB internships are not everything especially during your first year. Make some mistakes, learn a new skill, go to the gym, don’t die young.
Thanks for the input. Are the gigs at small/local boutique banks difficult to get? I've emailed like 30 regional banks but got zero response.
Usually they have even less spots or fewer structured internship programs. I believe my freshman year there were some remote MM ones a lot of people I knew did, but they were also unpaid and the networking benefit was marginal. If you really want to build on your resume you can try for a different PE firm and I also know that local real estate/PWM offices of larger banks/PE firms may take interns as well. I recruited for an investment sales analyst position my freshman summer at Marcus & Millichap and networked with someone at the Federal Reserve so I had two pretty big-name options/resume builders right out the gate. Keep your mind open to everything this summer, you might land something just as interesting/cool as BB IB SA and expand your resume to more than just one type of finance job.
This reads like satire but I'm going to answer it as if it isn't. Nobody gets a name brand IB internship the summer after their freshman year. In rare cases, people will intern at regional botiques, which you can get by cold emailing. They probably aren't gonna pay you and the benefit you get from doing one compared to a PE internship is marginal. The reality is that you are at a great school and very much care about landing a good gig, which you will because you are part of a group of people who self-select themselves into being successful, just don't let it go to your head. You should keep getting good grades, stay involved in campus, do internships in areas that interest you, but over all it sounds like you would benefit from relaxing a little.
I don’t get what the obsession with doing freshman/soph summer at a bank. Are you truly that interested in sellside that you want to intern there when you have other options? At my target everyone I personally know who is going to top ib/rx/buyside had no prior sellside experience and did buyside soph summer and either buyside or something not finance freshman summer
I guess I am just insecure because I am not at one of the top targets (HYPMS) but at a school like Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown, Cornell type. I feel like I have to get ahead my peers to be seen at the same level as the top target students. Also, I mean, don't all aspiring IBs from targets/non-targets do Summer PE Analyst during their Freshmen summer? I don't know how I'm gonna differentiate myself from others. I know I come off as a hardo - sorry.
I don't mean that you're being a hardo, I mean that it seems to me like a random no-name IB internship is viewed less favorably (at least within my limited lense as an undergrad) than going somewhere buyside where you're more likely to be doing meaningful work at a place that people would assume to be more selective (and from your perspective, that is probably more exciting, pays you better, maybe potential for FT return if you really love it, probably better wlb, etc). I've always heard banks want smart people they're willing to trust and spend 80% of their week with, because they know they can teach them whatever they need to know after they start. At my school, at least, hf is viewed as peak hardo, and whether it be freshman/soph/term-time, small bank internships are viewed as kind of sketchy.
Quite a few people do freshman summer PE (though definitely 50%), but it's pretty clear what is a nepotism bs job (it's in the same middle-of-nowhere city you went to hs) and where you're actually contributing and learning something. Not all buyside internships are equal.
I actually wouldn't network with junior year banks (BB/EB) until you start sophomore year. People will think you're a bit hardo networking as a freshman, and you can easily get enough done if you're starting next fall.
It's difficult to get any freshman internship and the one you have is perfectly fine.
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