Two Internships Later: What I wish I Knew While Recruiting! (Toronto)

Hey everyone,

I've been reading WSO forums since I was a freshman. Now that I am a senior about to graduate, I feel like I can provide some helpful tips for recruiting and what the environment is like in Canada, specifically. To provide a bit of background, my degree is in social sciences and is totally unrelated to finance. I have no family connections to the finance industry. The summer following my sophomore year of university I landed a S&T internship at a Big 5 bank on the corporate FX desk. After my junior year, I went back to the same Big 5 bank but for a corporate banking internship.

  1. NETWORK. NETWORK. NETWORK. The biggest misconception I have seen on here (and that I had) is that your grades are all that matter. Sure - they definitely factor in. However, networking your a** off is far more beneficial in the long run. Regardless of whether you've got great grades and a solid resume, you need someone who can at least say they know you to pull your resume out of the stack. These internships are competitive, and unless you can network and make connections you're unlikely to get your foot in the door. As an intern, people want to know they're going to be able to stand working with you 8-12 hours a day. When talking on the phone or meeting for coffee, go prepared with a few questions you want to ask and allow the conversation to flow from there. Do your best to keep the conversation light and casual - if you can find a way to connect with the person you're speaking to on a personal level beyond work, even better.

This leads me to some advice on networking...
Cold email. Message people on LinkedIn. Use Hunter.io to find out how businesses structure their email addresses and plug in the name of the person you want to meet with. My typical cold email/message looks like this:

"Hi ___________,
My name is ___________ ___________ and I am a sophomore at ______ University. I am very interested in learning more about your career trajectory to your current position at _________. I am pursuing a career in finance and am looking for advice. If you have any availability, I would appreciate the chance to chat with you.

Best,
___________"

I have found a quick message like this to be effective time and time again.

Additionally, I have always found campus recruitment events to be a waste of time... My university is a target and has large events hosted by global BBs and Canadian banks for IBD and capital markets broadly. These events are helpful if you want to learn about the career paths available, not so helpful for actually networking. The key to making large recruiting events worthwhile is ensuring you follow up with the people you speak to and have an individual chat with them later on to ensure you can make an impression. If you're in a circle of 8 people talking to one VP who probably just wants to go home, it's not going to be very effective for obvious reasons. Go out of your way to reach out again.

  1. BE AUTHENTIC. Show that you have interest in finance by joining related clubs and doing case comps, etc... but for the love of god please have some diversity of interests. Every decent candidate is probably going to have some capital markets related university club on their resume. The other stuff - the stuff on your resume that is unique to you - is what sets you apart from others and can allow you to differentiate yourself. During my most recent internship interview, I was asked what book I had read recently. I answered honestly. It was some fiction book totally unrelated to finance. The interviewer thanked me for being honest and said I was the only candidate who hadn't answered with a finance related book.

The experiences I most often get asked about in my interviews are things that I have done outside the realm of finance. Don't be afraid to talk about the other things you enjoy.

  1. CONFIDENCE. When networking and searching for a job, be bold. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by sending a cold email to an executive or asking a connection for a reference.

  2. LIKEABILITY. It's not what you know, it's who you know. Forming relationships while recruiting, and becoming friends with your coworkers once you do secure that internship, is crucial to your success. If they like you, these people will be able to vouch for you and provide a reference later on. Additionally, fit is becoming increasingly important for hiring.

  3. READ. Reading forums like WSO and going through websites like Mergers and Inquisitions can be super helpful to learn about the jobs out there, get information on salaries, etc. I have literally spent hours scouring WSO at times - and it's super useful. Also, get in the habit of reading the news daily. Without a doubt for any capital markets internship you'll get a question about recent news. Newsletters like Morning Brew or podcasts like WSJ What's News can be super helpful for staying on top of things. Knowing broadly what markets are doing and what impactful events have occurred recently will only make you sound more well read and like you have a real interest in the career.

Everyone says you have to be a cookie cutter robot who eats, sleeps and breaths capital markets to get a good job... but I vehemently disagree with this. Yes - read finance related books. Work on your technicals. Join your university's investment club. Have the standardized one page resume. All these things are great but it's important you continue to develop your skills, character and interests beyond all of this if you truly want to form a meaningful network and recruit successfully. Behavioral portions of interviews make or break the success of a candidate. Employers can teach you the technical aspects of a job - they can't teach you how to be a good fit.

If anyone has any specific questions about my internships please feel free to ask. I hope someone finds this helpful and encouraging.

 

Awesome sharing! I used to join the career fair for networking but seemingly doesn’t work. May I know what major topics u always cover when networking with a ‘strange’ banker? how can I make it casual? Thanks Bro

 

Major topics I’d say are career progression/development, why the person stayed with the bank their at, the aspects of their job they enjoy/dislike. Prior to my S&T internship I talked to a lot of professionals about where they thought the industry was going in regards to how the necessary skill set is changing, and tech is becoming more involved... every banker has an opinion on this so it’s always a good way to get to know the person you’re speaking with.

When I sit down with someone I haven’t met before, I basically reiterate what I say in my original email. I say that I’m a student, interested in working in the field they’re in, and want to know more about how they became successful and if they have any advice. Additionally, I always go into a coffee chat or call with the purpose of getting something out of it. If you feel like it went well, make sure you ask if they think there’s anyone they know that would be beneficial for you to chat with.

As far as keeping it casual, I think a lot of it is about how you speak and your body language. A mistake students make too often is just listing off a bunch of questions as opposed to just trying to have a conversation. Like I said in my original post, go with a goal in mind and a few main questions to answer and let things flow from there! I know it can be difficult to relax when you’re meeting someone for the first time but it definitely gets easier the more you do it.

 

Hey, thanks for this post! I had a question regarding summer internships. Its late in the game and unfortunately, I don't have anything so far for the summer. I've networked a lot actually, preparring for IB roles for next summer, but for now, I got nothing.

Im a sophmore at a non-target in the GTA and Im sure you know of the countless boutique banks across the GTA without formal internship programs, especially Wealth Management firms. How can I reach out to them during this pandemic?

Should I directly email boutiques asking for internships while attaching my resume or use a similar email template as you did above? At this point, I will be happy with a Wealth Management position, anything to get my foot in the door.

Thanks again, and would be appreciative for a reply and any helpful tips.

 
Most Helpful

Hi! I'd say your best bet is to cold email. I wouldn't recommend attaching your resume and asking for a job right off the bat. It seems greedy and people will just assume you're firing off emails like that to everyone and seeing what sticks. I've tried it before and did not find it effective. Start with setting up a call, then if you feel like the conversation is going well, ask if there are any available opportunities at the end of the call and explain why you're interested.

Since your a sophomore, don't sweat it if you can't find the perfect internship this summer. It is an especially tough climate right now. From what I've heard, most of the banks have frozen hiring for the time being. I imagine this would be true with some WM positions too.

The best advice I could give is to keep networking, and don't feel discouraged. You won't click with everyone you talk to, and not everyone is going to be willing or able to help you out. Just keep trying and you'll find the right person eventually who can give you a leg up.

Last I heard RBC still had some internship spots open, not sure about others. Best of luck!

 

Damn, just got the notification for this! Thank you for the helpful insight, really means a lot to hear from your experiences. I have begun reaching out to some firms, but no reply yet. I will still continue to reach out though.

But, there's been positions I applied in January, February that still says "assessment in progress" or "under consideration" for a number of positions at multiple banks. Like you said, hiring is probably frozen during this unfortunate time, but do you think possibly reaching out to individuals in those positions would be beneficial to try and secure a spot somehow this late in the game?

I interviewed last year in March for a WM position at a top bank, and want to use that to land me another interview this time around as my application is still under consideration with this bank.

Thanks in advance man.

 

Hi, thanks for the post! I'm still looking at a Canadian target, but looking to get into IBD next year. Have you found that talking to analysts/associates or VPs more helpful during your recruiting? I am not too confident about who I should reach out to.

 

Hey, both if you can! Talk to MDs and analysts/associates. In my experience, senior people have been more helpful... but I have friends who have gotten their food in the door via analysts... So it really depends. For Canadian Big 5, it'll be associates most likely doing first round interviews so if you can get to know them that would be good. But the more people the better honestly. Putting lots of effort into networking shows your interest

 

Hi there, I’m an incoming freshman at a semi target (think u of t, Waterloo) and I was wondering if you had insight into what kind of financial internships or other work opportunities are realistic in first year that will help set me up for a potential internship at a BB or EB in junior year. This was a mad helpful post btw.

 

Hey. I remember being in this position and being super stressed about my first year internship. I used to hate when people told me it wasn’t important because when you’re going into university and know what you want it’s hard to wait. I will say it is really, really hard to get a first year internship anywhere unless you know someone. I didn’t have any connections, and I ended up working for a large logistics company in their accounting department. Anything that will help you develop client facing skills (customer service type roles) or any business related roles you can get will be helpful!

Even if you don’t land a “brand name” first year internship (almost no one does) just try look for something that will make it easy for you to talk about in interviews later on...

if you don’t get a good first year internship don’t be worried, just network. I would also agree that Waterloo and UoT are definitely targets for S&T if you’re in a business or computer science program!

 

Thank you so much for your insights. 100x helpful post. I am from a non-finance background and will be joining Masters program in Finance in Fall @ a semi-target in Canada.

Can you please tell me what should i be looking into? How inviting is the industry for masters level students. are SA and Internship opps also available to grad students?

I am a novice. If you could please lead me to a better place in terms of knowledge i will be very grateful to you.

 

hey! glad to hear you found it helpful. There are definitely a ton of opportunities out there for masters students. S&T, Corporate Banking, and Investment Banking all often take Masters students. In most cases, CB almost exclusively recruits from Masters programs in my experience. There’s definitely a ton of opportunities out there. I’d recommend getting in contact with campus recruiters from the banks/companies you’re interested in working for to learn more about what is available!

 

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