Insurance Internship?
you all know the deal, freshman yadda yadda. Reached out to just about every wealth management/asset management firm, and no responses. Did the whole networking thing but no responses on that front. I can either do this or do $15 (got a raise) at my shitty part time job.
thanks
What would you be doing in Insurance? A lot of the skills you learn can be applied elsewhere in finance (forecasting, modeling, etc.).
But if the role something like insurance broker/agent type role... you won't really do shit and will be a lot of cold calling....
Also, to add on, a lot of insurance firms have an Asset Management side. They hold a lot of cash on hand, similar to a bank and require in-house treasury services and investment management services. You could use this as an opportunity to network with the Front Office of those departments.
Nope, this is some broker/agent gig. I will probably reject in hopes of networking with a financial advisor or something who will actually respond.
Then again pretty crucial I do something this Summer but 1) No one in my state recruits for anything Finance 2) No one is looking for interns
So come around next year when I apply for internships they will ask why I don't have experience. Perptuality
You don't have to intern in your own state.
Yea but why don't any of these guys respond? I understand they are busy but I keep reading the success story with echo chamber type of advice that makes just doesn't make much sense.
How do I get a highly successful 40 year old take me on as an intern? I definitely will not ask for "time over coffee" because that is just flat out stupid. I don't think a very wealthy, older man wants to spend time over coffee with an college student.
Nobody ever goes online to brag about their failure. I failed many times before I succeeded. To be honest, I was a failure well into my 20s, then I broke in through luck and networking.
You'd be surprised how many people would want to get coffee with a college student. Just try reaching out to someone on LinkedIn and see how it goes. Looking for alumni that work in the industry you want is a good place to start.
If no one responds - just move on.
It's getting late, so try to be more aggressive. Have a pitch ready for a cold call, and call up the 1-5 man shops that you'd want to intern at. You may have to eat the cost this summer and work for free. You never want to lead with that in your call, but be prepared to consider that as an option.
Believe me I am being 100% serious and when I say this, I've pretty much reached out to all of the vice-presidents/branch managers at each PWM in my area. All I can do now is just reach out to the financial advisors. Really didn't think it would be this hard. I might have to just bite the bullet, and do insurance so oh well. I got a few emails back -- some have already taken on interns, others have said they would push my resume onto the recruiting department. Literally followed up with them today and no response. Extremely frustrating. I did reach out to some months ago but felt like it was way too early on. I do believe internships start around now or next month in general. I've even thought about even mentioning unpaid but this just screams desperation which I don't believe they would find attractive one bit.
EDIT: Regarding the cold calling, I'm perfectly fine being on the phone but something in my gut tells me it's not the right move to contact an advisors work phone and try to pitch him into giving an internship. Those numbers are usually there for clients. Again this is just my thoughts. I read this kind of advice on WSO but I don't know if they actually did such a thing.
You have to be more comfortable with the idea of getting turned down. Perhaps it is less likely now that we're so close to the summer and actual starts, but cold calling and being proactive in your search will almost always distinguish you from the crowd. Plus, as a freshman in college the bar is set pretty low; don't worry about appearing foolish when you start out.
Sure, it's possible to be overbearing, and mentioning unpaid does set a certain frame of mind, but what's most important is how you present yourself and your background and when you bring up that you're willing to temporarily work as an unpaid intern.
There are guides out there with more detail around how to find professionals to contact and even sample cold calls. With practice and persistence, knowing how to present yourself over the phone will give you a leg up.
So I was in a similar situation: 1.) I was in a state that had few options available 2.) I didn't go to a target school. 3.) I wanted to do asset management
I did an insurance internship with a F100 insurance company because it was the only thing out there. It wasn't about doing something I liked, it was just about getting experience to put on my resume. And this was definitely good because the company was a well known name.
To my surprise, the role I was working in required credit analysis which is a major part of corporate finance. A few years later, I was able to leverage that experience to land a FT offer at a major BB. I ended up moving out of my home state and now I'm in NYC.
The point is that it's the experience that counts. Insurance may not sound sexy but many of the skills can be very transferable. I consider myself lucky that I accepted the offer and wouldn't underestimate the doors it can open.
On a side note - be careful with the sales positions some of these insurance companies offer. They promise big bucks if you build your book and it requires a lot of cold calling. I personally haven't met anyone who was making as much as they were promised in the interview. It all seems very sketch to me.
PM me if you have questions.
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