Lying about graduation year to get an internship
I am a first-year student at a low-target in the UK, and so far every single linkedin post i’ve seen and every cold email i’ve sent, the response is always something along the lines of ”we only accept students at their penultimate year”. What are the risks of applying to a small firm (which I doubt will do a background check) and saying that im an second-year student? If anyone else has done this may be they could share their experience? Thanks in advance
Bump
unless you are graduating in your junior year, 2nd year is not penultimate.
also, generally, no. don’t lie about something dumb like that. if you’re gonna fudge your resume, make up something cool
TIL uk bachelors only take 3 years
Only England/Wales/Northern Ireland do. Scotland is 4 years.
Did this for a F100 internship I finished this past summer. Doing a BB SA NYC next summer. To be fair though, I was able to graduate a year early if I wanted to. Although I was recruiting for banking during the internship and knew I would be pushing my graduation year back a semester if I got one.
DELTE
Do what you gotta do
Not worth it imo, and far too easily verified if they ever want proof of education. A common thing is in your second year to say it's your penultimate year when in reality you plan on doing a masters. There are lots of other possible things you can be doing instead of an internship, so just wait a year.
Im on a 3 year program so couldn’t I technically say I’m on my penultimate year?
Almost every firm will do a background check... grad year is like the easiest thing to verify... Also, they will find out when they give you a FT offer and you have an internship instead the next summer. Some schools will blacklist you from using their recruiting resources/on-campus interviews if this gets back to them.
You're also networking wrong, you need to 1. target places without a formal internship program who don't have strict rules on year and 2. hop on the phone with people, impress them, and ask if they'd be willing to let you come in and get some work experience, not just send emails asking for an internship
Really though first year internships matter very little... do something else instead. Don't lie just for this.
“I’m planning to do a 5th year masters”
”I’m no longer planning to do a 5th year masters”
kids at my school do this all the time
That would extend your grad though. This guy is trying to say he is graduating a full year early which is easy to find out is false
It will bite you in the ass later on, trust me.
You sound like someone who spends their career in compliance law
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Feel like everyone is being a narc about this. Say you’re graduating in 3 years or pursuing a masters. Plans change, nobody is going to sense malicious intent because you did/didn’t stay in school an extra year
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definitely a ton of kids lying about doing a 1-year post grad of some sorts at our school in order to finesse the grad year dates to apply as a penultimate in senior year. Too many narcs in this thread for sure
I didn't do this personally, but TONS of people do it. Ever wonder how people get fortune 500 internships sophomore year, when you saw the listing and it said juniors only? Yeah, this is why lmao. Most people have the card in their pocket of "well I COULD graduate a year early..." which is fair enough. If you're already coming in at a disadvantage of some sorts, it's somewhat prudent to do this.
A lot of the firms will require you to submit your first year uni transcript to verify your predicted grades on your CV. You don't have both as a first year..
are you confident that you are prepared for fit and technicals better than penultimate year applicants? just use an extra year to prepare better and apply when you're supposed to.
Literally no one cares if you do this. If they did find out, they might honestly be impressed that you were able to land the job with 1 year less experience than other applicants
I don't think there is really a need, I managed to get an internship in my 1st year. How? Lucky and sent 200+ emails to small firms and offices (some dot give af), the latter being the one I had the most success with. Had to move in the summer, but incredibly boosted my CV. I am unsure if they look at your current year, but they do ask for uni proof. Good luck!
Thanks man. Could I perhaps get a list of the firms u applied to? Would help a lot, merry christmas :)
I don't have a list but top of my head (as I said small offices or firms):
- Big 4 and other accounting firms.
- Private banking: banks and their subsidiaries.
- Family offices --> if your CV is crafted this could be an incredible opportunity.
- RE firms.
- Small consulting firms.
If nothing works just get a job, do some volunteering or something/anything interesting that you can put in your CV.
My internship wasn't fancy at all but I just used the firm's name and exaggerated what I did (ofc nothing was a lie). You have to invest time into this there is no going around that (unless you are lucky and get an interview on your first email which isn't going to happen).
Be ready to move for 1-2 months in summer. Hint: apply where (both firm and location) almost nobody else is applying (or they simply just cant be bothered to spend a month in summer there) and don't send emails to HR (networking is KEY).
Hope this helps and Merry Christmas!
ITT Americans ignoring that OP is in the UK where degrees are for the most part already 3 years long and people don't graduate early, just doesn't happen. School ain't setup like that.
OP as someone further up in the thread said, you need to be targeting places without formal programs. Small boutiques. Or spring weeks. If you fail all that then relevant extracurriculars from a target should still get you looks next year.
Any boutique that isn't background checking won't have an established program anyway so there will be no need to lie about your grad date.
I’ve landed a couple springs already at two BBs and a MM, but I want to recruit for EBs next fall and I think getting an internship is crucial to get an offer for SA
Eh not really. If you've got that on your CV you'll get looks.
But if that's what you wanna do that's fine. Just take the advice you've been given.
Everyone telling you its non-problematic or to say you plan on finishing early are probably American - fwiw this doesn't happen in the UK and due to how structured recruiting is, they absolutely will figure out at some point and be annoyed. In different circumstances, when you're a final year applying to penultimate schemes you can say you plan on doing a master's, do the internship, point out you wish to skip your master's, and start as soon as possible once you get offered FT. This is the only case you can feasibly lie about the year and also when applying to springs doing the same thing as a second year. Pretending to be in a year later just isn't feasible.
Would've yielded less conflicting advice had you solely posted in the UK forum.
yea sorry about that, the regions were pre-set when I posted
Worth noting that the majority of the BBs let final years apply for SAs now without lying about a masters. DB is a notable exception tho.
WTF is a low target? Is this Warwick?
BTW, you don't need a Y1 summer to recruit for summers. Just get involved in M&A soc.
seems everyday a new category is introduced on WSO. Global hypertarget was on a couple forums too. In reality, once you get to a certain level of school, no one really gives a shit.
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