Gap Year: looking for internship

Hi guys! I just graduated HS and am on a gap year because of COVID. I'm planning to look for an internship closer to December when financial institutions hopefully reopen. I'm willing to sell myself as an unpaid intern or gofer boy or whatever else. I was looking for advice on how I might go about this. Anything recommendations would be greatly welcomed.

From what I have gathered rn from this site, I should be looking primarily at a PWM internship, and I should be cold emailing/calling financial advisors. I'm also thinking about doing the same for analysts from MM banks and regional boutiques, but I'm not sure if it'll be a waste of time.

My main concern is that I'm not even in University yet (semi-target) and so people won't even bat an eye. My resume barely exists after being loaded with High School ECs. Being Gen Z, I'm also not great on the phone.

As of right now, I'm working on a rudimentary understanding of investing and financial markets from an MIT MBA Financial Theory I class and the book I'm reading (The Intelligent Investor). I'm not sure what I should read/learn after this.

Thanks again. I really appreciate all the discussions on this site.

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Odds are it will be tough if not impossible to get an IB internship that early and right out of high school. I’d look at other financial services opportunities as those will still boost a resume for later opps and will have a much higher likelihood of having open spots for first time interns — maybe a small financial products company (think Innovator ETF size), a local wealth management company, or even something in consumer banking besides being a teller. Good luck out there.

 

Id esse labore qui quas nihil impedit provident. Et tempora porro sapiente aspernatur accusamus voluptate voluptatem. Animi occaecati laudantium quia ad nihil maiores cumque. Velit sint autem ab impedit a.

Aliquam quis autem deleniti voluptatem sint consequatur quia et. Incidunt consequatur omnis quisquam quod et. Et molestias quaerat voluptatibus iure. Et aliquid quae omnis nihil excepturi. Dolores odit sed commodi repudiandae ipsam. Quia harum et aut reprehenderit asperiores architecto provident.

Qui libero consequatur excepturi quia. Eius dicta et minus quos et est rerum.

Quis quod dolorum cumque voluptas ratione. Accusamus eos voluptate quia vitae. Aut qui vero rem. Qui et iusto dolor blanditiis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”