WHICH LOOKS BETTER??

I'm a freshman at a community college, and I've been look for summer work opportunities; so, which looks better on a resume for finance and for transferring to colleges: a summer internship at the district office of my local congressman, or a gig at a small financial services company(mortgages, re-fi, etc.) through a friend of the family?
It would seem obvious that anything in the financial realm is great for a freshman, but what about for colleges? I'm looking at going to Claremont Mckenna or Amherst (I like the whole liberal arts things). So with that in mind, I'm wondering what you guys think....thanks

 

For what it's worth, I had two friends that did internships for senators or congressmen (I forget which) and they say it opened up a lot of doors early on. Now they're both at Goldman Sachs. I would've thought a political internship would be irrelevant for finance but apparently there's some x-factor to it that is beyond my understanding. Maybe if it's an exclusive internship it shows you've been pre-screened. As for getting into school though, I'd say the congressman internship would be much more beneficial than working for a small finance company. Take the political internship, it'll help get you into a better school and that'll give you an edge.

 
Best Response
wchris:
For what it's worth, I had two friends that did internships for senators or congressmen (I forget which) and they say it opened up a lot of doors early on. Now they're both at Goldman Sachs. I would've thought a political internship would be irrelevant for finance but apparently there's some x-factor to it that is beyond my understanding. Maybe if it's an exclusive internship it shows you've been pre-screened. As for getting into school though, I'd say the congressman internship would be much more beneficial than working for a small finance company. Take the political internship, it'll help get you into a better school and that'll give you an edge.

was that a congressman from a "target" state? I would imagine it has to be one of the northern states that has close connections to New York, not some states in the South

 

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