Summer Analyst Positions - Applied for many different positions

Hi everyone, I'm new here so I hope I'm posting this in the correct place and if not could someone please point me in the right direction.

Do you have a chance of getting an IB internship simply through applying on their website without having any connections? I'm curious to hear stories or peoples thoughts. I'm a Junior at a non-target school, in my honors business program, majoring in Finance, minoring in Math and Economics with a 3.90 GPA.

I've applied for IB, Equity Research, Wealth Management, and a plethora of other positions at every BB bank and a few MM banks. Do I have any shot?
Thanks for the help!

14 Comments
 

What would you recommend? Is work experience really relevant when going for an entry level internship? Or is it just that you need connections? I've heard stories of people getting interviews with no connections but I'm not sure, I'm just looking to hear about others experiences/thoughts.

Thanks for your response.

 

But seriously - its not necessary to have work experience to land that first internship. Usually the first job comes from a combination of GPA, networking, and displaying an interest. But mostly luck.

Your best bet would be to start hitting the networking trail hard. Reach out to professionals who have the job that you think you'd want, and just ask for some time to hear about their career, and any advice they may have for you.

It'll be a marathon, not a sprint, so don't be discouraged if you're not making any progress in the short term. Take the time to be proactive with yourself - learn financial modeling, read books on investing or whatever subject it is you're aiming for. School courses will only take you thus far. I can't really say my choice of courses has helped a single bit in my journey, but I can say with 100% certainty that the piles of books, articles, and countless conversations I've had with finance professionals played the most important part in me getting my first SA position last summer.

 

Thanks for the response. I have a library consisting of economic history, growth investing, value investing, accounting fraud, trading options, currencies, futures, ect. I do have a lot of financial knowledge and I've read a shit load of books, but I've slacked off on the networking. My ego has definitely got in the way, I've got this false sense that I'd know so much more than everyone else it wouldn't matter. This is clearly false, it's not what you know, it's who you know. I'm going to keep trying, and I do have a cousin in a hedge fund that I'll probably have to press for help if I can't get an internship on my own. One of my finance professors who's head of the masters program loves me, I'm going to reach out to him as well.

 

Of course you still have a shot, but I'm talking about maybe 1 phone interview out of 200 online applications. Not trying to be mean, but this kind of post simply shows your level of interest and dedication to the industry. The most successful non-target kids are flying out to NY to meet bankers on their own, crazily utilizing every contacts they have and cold-calling random people. Good luck.

 

Not mean at all, no worries. To be completely honest I don't have much interest in IB, I want to work at a Hedge Fund and I've spent last few years focusing on teaching myself skills that will help me succeed with that route. However, I've heard from all the Hedge Fund people I have connections with that the most common route is to start in IB, so now I'm trying to figure out a way to get into IB.

 
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