Should I put an SEC internship that I had on my resume? My work there was with a chief economist doing economic/quantitative analysis work. I'm afraid that leaving it would hurt me more than add value as banks would consider me to be a liability maybe? At the same time, leaving it off would make my resume look emptier as I don't have a ton of relevant internships. Any insights are appreciated.
Jul 04, 2016
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Wondering the same thing
Keep it. The SEC is a large, well-known government agency, and the banks like to hire people who've worked for the regulators. If you need any proof, just look at the hordes of people who've left the SEC and Treasury to go work at a bank (and vice versa). Obviously, how relevant this is well depend on what job you're looking for, but I can't see how this would really hurt you.
Hey, thanks for the reply. I'm mainly looking at front-office finance roles, targeting IBD in particular. I've heard people say that they'd cringe if they see SEC on a kid's resume/automatically throw it in the trash, because that's equivalent to "selling your soul to the devil" or whatever... And it kind of also shows lack of focus does it not?
Anyway thanks for your input!
I mean I don't work in IBD, but my job is similar to IB and I work with former investment bankers. Personally, if I saw that, I'd think it was a good sign of your interest in finance and an ability to think about things in economic terms. It wouldn't look quite as good as an SA stint in BB IBD, but it's still great. I actually have a cousin that's a MD at Accenture who interned at the SEC in college, so it can definitely be a good place to start out. You might get some questions about why you're switching, but I don't think you'd get any more of those than someone with other non-corporate finance or investing experience.
I have no idea who has been giving you advice on this, but they're probably inexperienced and are talking out of their ass.
I interned in the SEC back when I was in school and got interviews (admittedly in ER) because of that internship - 3 years after I got out of school. The interview was with a top 3 analyst in his field and he called out the SEC experience during my interview as something he was very interested in and that it made my resume stand out (he mentioned this without any prompting from me).
So yah, I'd be comfortable in advising you to keep it on, though with the normal caveat that there is some chance of your resume going in front of someone who hates the SEC personally. This however, is probably a very low probability event.
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