Am I fucked for an internship?
Hello, I hope all is well with you. As you can see from the title, I am trying my best to do everything in my power to secure an internship within trading/markets, but fear it is not enough. Below I have outlined a little bit about myself, my experience, and my goals. Please offer any advice on networking, applications, professional trading/ market making, career advice, educational resources, etc. Anything is greatly appreciated! I have been obsessed with markets since I began trading at 14. Starting like any Degen 14-year-old trader I traded penny stocks, but as my passion grew so did my knowledge. I now mainly focus on trading derivates, mainly index options. I know retail and professional trading are two different realms, but I am certain I want to have a market-facing role where I can manage risk, positions, and hedges. etc.
I am a junior at a non-target with an awful GPA (High 2's). This isn't because of a lack of effort or competence. Throughout college, I have had to manage multiple family health issues. Unfortunately concluding with the recent passing of my father. I don't mean for this to come off as an excuse or to gain pity, but I want to offer context. I was balancing family, traveling home multiple times a month, managing family finances, etc. While being in school and participating in 3 undergraduate-run investment funds. I have a strong resume (I don't mean for this to be bragging, I am humble and know it's all relative.) My resume mainly consists of my experience in 3 undergraduate-run investment funds. As well as an internship after freshman year on a physical commodity trading desk (I didn't return this past summer because I wanted to be there for my family after my father passed.)
Now that I have given a quick overview of who I am and my story. I am heavily recruiting for an internship during the summer of 2024. Obviously, I missed a majority of the applications for Banks S&T. I am now trying to build connections at market makers, commodity trading shops, and proprietary trading firms. I started networking through the alumni of my university and investment funds. It is helping a lot, but I fear it is not enough. I have been applying to a lot of places, but of course, being from a non-Target with a low GPA I often don't make it past the screener.
Overall am I completely fucked? What are your suggestions for securing an internship that can act as a foundation for my aspiring career hopefully opening doors later in my career for a solid trading/desk role? Thank you so much for your time and advice.
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Apply to every single trading job you can find. Do you study STEM? If you do, that could be your way in as people select for that background now. Also maybe leave your GPA off your resume. Reach out to traders in products you are interested in and network with them individually to see if you can get your resume pushed. This approach probably works better at funds/smaller than the big banks tho.
Thank you for taking time to respond and offer advice. Unfortunately, my major is Finance, and I recently picked up a minor in Data Science. I have left my GPA off my resume and then when I asked I am honest, and just offer some clarity. The problem with the screeners is that you have to disclose it in the application. I will definitely take your advice of trying to build reltionships with traders before applying to try and get an edge. Thank you for your advice, have a great day!
So sorry about your dad.
I would try to get experience in your targeted industry, no matter the size of the firm. Keep networking, bringing unique ideas/opinions to the table, and potentially you could recruit for a bigger gig FT.
Thank you, I really appreciate your condolences. It means a lot. Thank you for your advice, I will take note of this. Do you have any suggestions on finding some of these more niche roles? Currently I use LinkedIn, Adventis, Glassdoor, Ziprecrutier, and Indeed to try and find roles. While also googling companies and potential internship openings. From there I try to find Alumni in the space or company, if there are none, I begin cold emailing (I know has an extremely low hit rate.) Do you have any suggestions on my current process? Thank you for your time and assistance!
I am probably not the best person to ask, because my focus has been in IB and Private Investing vs Public Equities. This article looks like a good resource and may be helpful to find different opportunities https://www.wallstreetprep.com/knowledge/sales-and-trading-roles-and-as…;
I would identify the cities you want to be in next summer and go through every WSO/Google Search you can find to make an excel list. From there, find the contact information of those that have common backgrounds, HR, or anyone in general. Craft a tailored email about why you are specifically interested in their firm, potentially pitch a few relevant ideas to their work, and ask if they have any time to talk more about the firm.
Biggest thing is understanding rejection and ghosting will happen. Do not be timid, you never know when your next email may be the opportunity. Best of luck, I know everything will work out.
This is great, thank you so much for taking the time to respond and offer your insight. Although you said this isn't your specific space, your advice really helped me. I will make sure to add this to my plan. I have an excel sheet with all the firms, roles, cities, etc. and any possible connections. My main struggle was finding the roles and then pairing connections to them. Do you have any advice on finding potential connections? I currently use LinkedIn to try and find the connections. Thanks again for your assistance! I hope you have a great rest of your week.
Hi, college is tough. And tougher with issues you mentioned. I will preface by good on you for not quitting. I will say, consider taking a fifth year.
Should money be an issue, consider targeting firms without formal internship programs. They won’t require gpa screen, network in and tell your story. It’s definitely one to be heard. Do stock pitches and show that although the gpa is tough you are smart in the right areas. Ultimately lots of ppl say they want these jobs, few show they want it. With product that is respected, no one will care. I would suggest grinding this alongside being hungry on the front of networking. If no fifth year, you can relax on gpa as increasing it to high 2s low 3s wont make a difference. Although I’m sure you are still having a tough time grieving pushing through to show your strengths, tell your story and work your tail off is only advice I can give. No one is “fucked”. Ultimately you are young. Many ppl in the industry started late. If no internship before grad ask to do an internship after grad to convert to FT. Strong believer good things happen to good people. With that said, assuming you come across as genuine in chats and work on a few pitches this shouldn’t be an
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