Is this a joke? - Northwestern Mutual

Once again Northwestern Mutual's internship was ranked as an elite finance/banking internship (#2 overall) ...I have only heard bad things about this internship and it really bothers me that they always get noted for having an illustrious internship program. Lets be honest selling insurance is not as good as working at a BB firm. Northwestern mutual basically only pays the interns based on commissions.

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mkl45mlfh/2-northwestern-mutual/

Does anyone else agree?
Why does forbes/ vault do this?

10 Comments
 

Who cares? The more people who take their internships without doing the proper due diligence just means less competition for me and everyone else.

/truth

And besides, it's still a F500 name on your resume. For the non-target college towns NW targets, it's one of the best (only?) opportunities a lot of finance majors have a shot at actually getting.

Plus, I know a handful of people who turned their intern experience into an ok time. It's what you make of it I guess.

 

I interviewed with them as a freshman. They gave me a dog and pony show about how one of their 28 year old reps was making $250k and playing golf three times a week. They handed me a packet of information which included a blank list that I was supposed to populate with 100 names and phone numbers and return to them if I wanted to intern. Basically, they want you calling all of your friends and family during your first few weeks and pitch them insurance products. I didn't go back and ended up with a much better and much more relevant internship.

 

I did exactly the same thing as kingtut. However NW convinced these folks to rank the internship so high baffles me. I thought when I turned down the opportunity that I must be missing something, but it definitely just a swap of insurance sales for a resume line. Give us your friends and family's contact info and we'll let you use our name on your resume.

I'm sure good has come from the program, but this should be a low option for anyone going to IB/PE/S&T long term

"We're not lawyers, we're investment bankers. We call you for the paperwork. We didn't go to Harvard, we went to Wharton, and we saw you coming a mile away."
 

Same thing happened to me. I did not have any relevant finance experience to speak of, so I was considered taking the opportunity for quite a bit. Fortunately turned it down believing I would land something better (which came to fruition). I would say more power to those who pursue the opportunity.

 

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