How do you actually start your career?

I was recently accepted into a decent school, (one of the LACs that is considered a semi at least). However, I have absolutely no clue what to do from here. How do I start networking? Wtf do I put on my resume before my first internship? I know I should be touching grass instead of becoming a hardo, but I’m not trying to waste my time.

 
Most Helpful

I was in your spot a few years ago so I'll give my 2 cents for whatever it's worth. Don't worry about it now- you're still a senior and you should enjoy what time you have left in high school. In terms of when you start school next fall, I would use that time to get acclimated to college, being away from home, and making friends. I would recommend that when January, February, etc rolls around of your freshman year you look for any sort of finance internship for either the school year or summer. Search funds and PWM are great options for a freshman so you at least have something finance related on your resume, which will also help you stand out from everyone else. However that freshman year internship is not necessarily needed and in no way means you can't get an offer from a top firm. I totally get wanting to get a head start and optimize your chances but you should enjoy senior year rather than worrying about recruiting for 2026. Remember, there is absolutely more to life and college in general than just the job you have post grad; definitely have fun and build a solid foundation socially and academically before worrying about the rest.

 

I was in your spot a few years ago so I'll give my 2 cents for whatever it's worth. Don't worry about it now- you're still a senior and you should enjoy what time you have left in high school. In terms of when you start school next fall, I would use that time to get acclimated to college, being away from home, and making friends. I would recommend that when January, February, etc rolls around of your freshman year you look for any sort of finance internship for either the school year or summer. Search funds and PWM are great options for a freshman so you at least have something finance related on your resume, which will also help you stand out from everyone else. However that freshman year internship is not necessarily needed and in no way means you can't get an offer from a top firm. I totally get wanting to get a head start and optimize your chances but you should enjoy senior year rather than worrying about recruiting for 2026. Remember, there is absolutely more to life and college in general than just the job you have post grad; definitely have fun and build a solid foundation socially and academically before worrying about the rest.

I believe you're right that I should take some time to relax after a bunch of grinding. I think I'm afraid of falling behind smarter kids at better schools to get into top groups, so I'm trying to set myself up in the best way possible. My brother at Berkeley says a lot of the Haas students have been grinding modeling and interview prep since junior year of H.S. Glad this isn't the norm, it's reassuring to know I can start a little later though and still do fine. Thanks again for the insight.

 

Absolutely understand wanting to set yourself up for success and hit the ground running. I can promise you will not fall behind your peers as long as you are aware of the recruiting timeline, what you need to do, and making sure you have some finance experience on your resume. As for the Haas kids, that has to be some of the most retarded shit I've ever heard. Modeling and doing interview prep since HS? Why would they even do that when you aren't even modeling during interviews and most of it once you hit the desk is using templates provided or creating a model in the way your asso/VP want it. Most of the shit you need to learn for technicals you'll get a grasp of in your required accounting classes, assuming you're a business major. Behaviorals although far more important than people realize, can be quite easy as long as you're a personable and interesting person. Don't worry about what some Haas nerds are doing; they'll feel quite fuckin stupid when you end up at the same firm as them and started doing prep way later, actually had a social life/fun in school, and realized there's more to life than post-grad jobs far earlier than them.

 

Step 1. Freshman year of college, make friends with upperclassmen, they can really help you out with giving you advice on landing internships as well as helping you narrow down what fields you’re interested in. Step 2. Network. I personally used LinkedIn. Go to companies in your field of interest and find alumni from your school, or try to find people who share something in common with you. Ask them for coffee chats. Step 3. Don’t stress too much. I didn’t have an internship my first summer, my second summer internship was not finance related, yet I still secured my dream internship for junior summer despite being from a complete non target. Also, join any finance or investment clubs at your school and get leadership roles there. And keep your grades very high. Good luck!

 

God the American way of recruiting sounds so disingenuous and complicated. What if upperclassmen just don't want to help you? Unconscious (or very conscious) biases? So much better in the UK with tests, no networking, no campus recruiting, and strong HR presence (teams won't even see your CV until shortlisted by HR lol). Sounds like JPM and Co are moving towards this model in America. Hope you all get towards this as an industry standard soon!

 

Yeah it really sucks as a system and is extremely intimidating as a student to navigate it. As far as upperclassmen, a lot of finance hardo types are unhelpful assholes who look down on you but there are always helpful ones too. I personally was friends with a student a year older than me who really took me under his wing with basically walking me through the process step by step. Really helpful guy.

 
mullah123

Step 1. Freshman year of college, make friends with upperclassmen, they can really help you out with giving you advice on landing internships as well as helping you narrow down what fields you're interested in. Step 2. Network. I personally used LinkedIn. Go to companies in your field of interest and find alumni from your school, or try to find people who share something in common with you. Ask them for coffee chats. Step 3. Don't stress too much. I didn't have an internship my first summer, my second summer internship was not finance related, yet I still secured my dream internship for junior summer despite being from a complete non target. Also, join any finance or investment clubs at your school and get leadership roles there. And keep your grades very high. Good luck!

I see. It's nice to know I don't have to worry about networking until freshman year. I read somewhere that the top students network in their prefrosh stage, which sort of stressed me out, because I come from no place of connections or anyone to network with. I'm going to remember this tip about the upperclassmen. Thanks for the advice.

 

Nah I would certainly recommend networking ASAP. I consider myself really lucky because I was WAY behind my peers in the internship process, yet still landed a great position. If freshman me was asking the questions you are asking now, my life would have been infinitely easier. For now, I would recommend networking mainly to help you learn about different jobs/career possibilities in the industry. Later on you can leverage whatever relationships you might build to land internships and even full time positions, but for now learn as much as you can and try to narrow down what you want to work in ASAP. Society is unfair to make an 18 year old freshman have to decide their career for the next decade, but that's how it is, and this is the best way to end up in the field that is best suited for you. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. Good luck! Most importantly, take a deep breath, don't stress. There is more to life than your career, and you're not even in college yet. Personally, I don't think networking is really something you should stress about until the EARLIEST second semester freshman year, unless you're dead set on getting a freshman year internship. Like I said earlier, grades are absolutely crucial, and first focus on getting used to college life and acing your freshman classes.

 

Sed dolorum sapiente expedita quaerat numquam tempore debitis vero. Rerum sequi dignissimos debitis dolores quas ipsam reprehenderit. Illum facere voluptas officiis nobis facere et. Quia nihil aspernatur aut ad soluta quia.

"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

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $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

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
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...”