Incoming Freshman in Need of Advice
I'm an incoming freshman at IU studying finance/accounting. I have already had two internships, a tax internship at a large company last summer, and a smaller finance internship this summer. I'm a strong student and I want to prepare myself as much as possible for IB. What sort of finance-related internship should I aim to get after my freshman year and then after my sophomore year? I'm a white male so diversity programs are off the table. Are PWM or local boutiques the only thing that will be available to me? I would love any advice.
Hi IBprospect21, any of these threads helpful:
More suggestions...
Hope that helps.
Aim for HF/PE/VC and boutique IBs. Maybe even MM/EB if you are a killer candidate.
If you want to exit to PE after IB, having SA PE stints will look good, etc
How common are PE and boutique IB internships after freshman/sophomore year? Is it doable with my background?
Definitely doable. Make sure your resume is polished and network aggressively.
I'd go on LinkedIn and look at where freshman/sophomore at your school interned in the past and network/apply to those places but also apply elsewhere.
Bro you got two relevant internships before your Freshman year. Use this headstart to smoke your competition. There's tons of boutique IBs around the country, I'm sure you can find a place with your background that would take you. Aim for EBs like CVP/EVR/LAZ, HFs, or Private Equity. Even though IU isn't HYP, if you play your cards right, it may be attainable if you take your lead and run with it. Prepare for interviews now, learn all the guides like the back of your hand, start networking with people now, they'll come in handy later, don't even make this a fair fight, don't wait to prepare. And have fun doing it ofc and don't let it drown out your college experience. Mastering yourself is true power.
Thanks for hyping me up so much, I honestly really appreciate the advice. Should I just cold email as many boutique banks as possible and hope to get something for next summer?
Yes I would be cold-emailing hundreds banks, PE, VC, anything that would be good relevant experience. Lots of people are willing to help. There’s non-diversity people who get freshman internships in IB/PE, you might get rejected by 99% of people but you only need one to say yes to get an internship.
Awesome. Should I stick to emailing alumni first? Who's better to email- an analyst, associate, MD? And should I email like this fall or wait a little bit like next spring?
Start with alumni but randos and people not at your school can absolutely be incredibly helpful, I got my BB internship from random people who I networked with and left a good impression. I would say email all of them - analysts are more close to the work, often the most chill and willing to help, associates are more experienced, MDs can be either intimidating or chill but are ultimately the ones who have the biggest impact on you getting the job. I would email in the fall and in the spring, network continuously. To be clear, you probably don't need to do that much as a Freshman if you just want a mid-tier BB job, but if you want to push yourself to get the best job that you can get and continue your advantage of already having internships, I absolutely would. And maybe start with a few less relevant / less important people for practice, by the time you get to important alumni and MDs you'll already be a well-oiled networking machine. Networking is super fun and an incredible resource, this may differ from some people on this site but I say start as soon as possible.
Rising sophomore in a similar situation (no internships but startup experience) targeting EBs. I networked with some alumni from my school and based on their advice decided to go abroad rather than the traditional PWM internship/family friend's business.
It's very different this year with the COVID rules but really enjoying it. I've been told it adds a lot to interviews, gives you something to talk about and I already have some great stories to share. Just off the top of my head, some popular programs that I've heard about include LSE Summer School, schools in Paris, Spain you can normally do school, and an internship. I've had some massive personal development/learned a lot of lessons about city living in the short time I've been abroad already from how different it was from my home.
Let me know if you have any questions, happy to PM you to exchange more details of what I did
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