Unpaid internship - to continue or not?
Hello all. I am an incoming analyst at a BB in NYC covering a specific industry, but in an M&A role. I am ultimately interested in pursuing a career in PE covering my specific industry, but the industry has been hit hard by commodity prices/political climate. Only the super large players are healthy now and, more importantly, the only places with any type of longevity. My firm does not have a “lights out” history with placement with MFs, but it does well and have seen files titles “Warburg Pincus interview prep” hidden deep within our shared file systems, and numerous senior bankers at other firms said that if I choose to stay at my current firm for full-time, I will not be at a disadvantaged for PE recruiting. I graduated this past December, and have been looking for opportunities to continue to learn. I figured that if I joined a PE firm as an intern,
covering my industry, I will be able to have a leg up in recruiting. I landed a remote (ideal because I can still stay in my College Town in the Mid-West and train my collegiate sport) internship with a start up PE firm. Here are the the negatives so far: unpaid, sporadic hours with emails at 1am on Christmas, somewhat stupid tasks, am not learning anything that I cannot learn in ~a week on the job, they don’t seem to have any AUM just co-investment agreements, only 1 full-time employee (founder) who also has other business interests, and he wanted me to work over my family vacation this past week (which was a surprise gift from my parents so I could only give him about 2 days notice). Here are the Pros: I am learning about my industry a bit, the founder has connections with one particular fund that I would not mind working at in the future (also my firm has sent somebody there in the past before too), not in my ideal subvertical, better than drinking and hitting on women, has one potentially active deal, guy seems vested in my career to some extent (perhaps just for show), could look good on resume for PE recruitment, and is remote. The alternatives are to travel, spend time with my family, finish up CFA L2, learn a new language fluently (already intermediate proficiency), continue to train my sport, and enjoy one last ride with my friends and all the beautiful women on campus. Is it worth it to continue the internship unpaid with horrid hours, or should I cut my losses now. Is it worth it in terms of benefit to recruiting? Thanks in advance.
Going to give you some advice that I would not have taken when I was in your shoes because I was too eager to "be as prepared as possible" before I started, but I hope you will: Quit this internship.
I definitely appreciate the idea to continue learning before you start, especially since you graduated college a semester early (congrats!). However, your life is about to change big time once you hit the desk at your BB. You will have ~no free time during the week, and will always have to be "on" on the weekends. Work will likely cause you to miss holidays with family, cancel on plans with friends/girls, and two weeks of vacation feels like nothing compared to the time you have off as a student.
Make the most of this time now while you have it. Screw around with your friends, chase women, travel around the world, practice your sport, read about finance on the side if you're genuinely interested; but don't waste your time by giving it away for free to someone who sends you 1am Christmas emails, gives you low-value work, and doesn't even pay you for it! I hear what you're saying about getting a leg up for PE recruiting, but the truth is PE funds won't really care. Sure having a boutique PE internship on your resume may add a bit of weight, but it's not going to move the needle at all. Having gone through PE recruiting myself, I can tell you that you get interviews based on where you work (and it sounds like your BB places relatively well so you're set here) and you get offers based on how you interview (which it sounds like this internship isn't helping you learn much). In total, the value you're getting out of this internship sounds minimal whereas the value of your time, which will soon become precious, is significant.
If/when you decide to quit, you'll want to be delicate and try to do it in a way that preserves your reputation with the founder. It sounds like he has connections in the space, so it would be great to not totally piss him off if you can avoid it. Tell him you appreciate the time he's invested in you thus far, but due to other commitments you have (sports, CFA, family plans) you realize you won't be able to dedicate a sufficient amount of time to his firm. Rather than half-ass it, it's for the good of everyone if you part ways now. Thank him for the opportunity, etc.
Okay, thanks for your opinion. I will likely continue for about a week, then give him a notice for 2 weeks, then leave.
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