No-name boutique internship before MSF worth it?
Hi Guys,
I'll be attending a target MSF programme in 2014. I wanted to complete an internship this coming summer, but it appears that I'm a bit late to the SA recruiting party as I only got my MSF offer in late November (basically, if had applied before I got a confirmed MSF offer, no structured programme would have considered me as I was already a senior).
Now my problem is that the only internships that I feel that I can get are IB/AM internships at no-name boutiques. Before I get called out for being elitist, let me tell you that I have no issues with these internships and definitely appreciate any opportunity. However, I already have some good work experience and I feel that a no-name internship where I fetch coffee might actually hurt my prospects.
My work experience so far:
Junior Summer: MM IB (Very solid experience, lots of deal exposure and modeling, not exactly a household name though)
Junior Fall internship: BB Quant Research (5 months - Great experience, very math/coding heavy, tons to talk about in an interview if needed)
Sophomore Summer: Boutique IB (Decent experience, lots of grunt work but some live deal exp)
What's everybody's take on this ? Is more experience necessarily always better ? Would an unknown boutique internship even be worth it at this point, or should I do something interesting like go backpacking through Europe/climb Mount Kilimanjaro/achieve world domination or something ?
Thanks for your advice !
I took the time off before my master, as I had a lot of internship experience as well (not necessarily relevant to my first banking job). It CANNOT hurt you to do another internship - more experience is always better! This is your call on this. I know the market is harder to get into then when I was looking for a full time job. Maybe try to get an internship on the buy side, this is always a massive plus as you will be a lot more attractive to sell side firms afterwards.
Thanks for your input. Just wondering, did you taking time off before your master's degree affect you much in FT recruiting?
I will definitely do an internship if I get a chance at a decently well known firm where I'll get decent deal experience. However, right now all my leads are at tiny 5-10 man boutiques which have had almost no deal flow. An internship at these firms will now essentially 'headline' my work experience section, and I'm afraid having poor deal experience along with a no-name firm at the top of this section will lead to recruiters perceiving me in a negative light. Do let me know if this concern of mine is completely unfounded.
I'll keep trying for some better internships in the meantime - just wanted to have a clear contingency plan.
Concern is unfounded. As I said above, ANY internship experience is good.
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