How do I know what internship opportunities are good for investment banking?

Hello, I'm in the process of applying for my sophomore summer internship, but I'm unsure which internships I should look for if I want to go into IB. I don't have a great chance at getting one at a Morgan Stanley or a Goldman Sachs right now, but I have been getting offers at smaller companies for similar finance roles. For example, one recent offer was for Sazerac, which is a globally-known alcohol company. It seems to be a good company to work for, but would it look good on a resume if I want to get into IB in the near future? Or would it be better to solely focus on applying to banks?

7 Comments
 

I go to NYU Stern currently. I did have two prior finance internships, one at a startup and the other at a wealth management firm. I loved them both, but I feel like as I get farther through college I need to select my internships carefully.

 

Any finance internship whether it be asset management, FP&A, or private banking is good. Just make sure it’s a well known spot for “branding” and network a lot to land a junior IB internship.

From now until you get hired full time is a sprint. Afterwards it’s a marathon.

 

Got it. Many of my offers as of now are more geared towards general corporate finance. I feel that there is definitely some overlap between that and IB, so I'm wondering if that it might be a good stepping stone as well.

 
Most Helpful

You should have no issue landing an internship at a local boutique, or lower MM firm. Just start cold emailing all the ones in your area, even other states work cuz they’re all virtual anyways. There is legit hundreds, so get to emailing and try to write a brief and compelling email showing your value add and why you want the opportunity .. many of them don’t post opportunities out in the open on handshake etc so you’ll need to email.

Gl, personally I found a soph summer internship a day or two before my school year ended, I sent out about 50 emails to any firm around me. Good responses due to alumni but only two offered actual internships. You’re early so you’ll probably have better luck .

 

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