What to do to get an SA job next summer other than this PWM internship?
I'm at a target, rising junior, and am really hoping to get a SA gig next year. My only problem is that I don't have much relevant experience on my resume, and because I only recently declared my major in Financial Econ and haven't taken any of the courses yet, I don't have much technical knowledge either.
However I will be taking the bulk of my finance courses this fall/spring (financial accounting, corporate finance, financial economics, to name a few) and was planning on trying to study some of the concepts that are tested/asked about during interviews on my own to prepare myself better. Will this be enough to get me through? If I grab one of the WSO interview/technical question prep guides, or a relevant Vault guide, would that be able to mask the fact that I will be in the middle of taking those core finance courses?
And I have a second and more important question. Do I even have a realistic shot at getting an interview for a SA gig, let alone being offered the job? I have one PWM internship from a couple years ago (took some time off from school) and I have another PWM internship lined up for this summer, which is the best I could get considering I haven't learned any financial modeling or excel yet. The majority of the IB internships seemed to be looking for people with some coursework/knowledge of financial modeling concepts and/or other related, so I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even be asked in for an interview at those firms.
I don't have a crazy high GPA either. It should be about a 3.5 or 3.6 hopefully by the end of this semester.
What should I do to increase my chances at getting a SA gig next summer? I know that a PWM internship is pretty useless in terms of where I want to go, and it seems like everyone has them anyway, but I thought I should do it this summer to at least prove my interest in finance. Is it possible for me to intern in another company/firm that would give me more relevant experience to IB, even though I don't have any excel/financial modeling/etc knowledge?
Sorry if these questions are a bit clueless, as that's pretty much how I feel right now. I'm trying to do all the reading I can on WSO and other sites as well, but it seems to me like my hands are tied for this summer because of my lack of relevant experience/technical knowledge. I would greatly appreciate any comments, constructive criticism, or advice on what I could do this summer other than this PWM internship which seems to me like it will not be very helpful for me next summer.
literally all you need to do is start networking like crazy, I am at a non target and only had a 3.6 gpa, but through networking landing a couple interviews with top BB and MM shops. Along the lines of financial knowledge, you will have to study on your own and be able to get through an interview. regardless reach out to family friends, alumni and even random MDs asking to chat, trust me it works
You've got a good start with the PWM to show some interest, as ct banker said you need to start networking hard now.
network, get to know the alumni in the industry you planning to go into.
Thanks, planning to start tomorrow. It's late, but better late than never, right?
I agree that the PWM internship is a step in the right direction, but I have one already from freshman summer at Merrill. I took two years off from school where I worked FT in a completely unrelated industry (web design) and got my shit together personally/mentally/academically, and now I'm at a target with a Finance major.
Is it worth doing another PWM this summer? I'm also taking summer classes for my major, but the PWM is going to be PT, probably 15 hours a week, and they're also paying me (although it's not that much). I'm hoping to cold call/email my way into a better internship, by which I mean something that deals more with institutional investing like IB or something similar, but chances for that seem pretty slim (again, because of my lack of technical knowledge). Is having a second PWM internship on my resume going to make a difference? Or am I better off not working there this summer because I've already got one PWM experience, and just focus more of my time on my studies?
And going back to my desire to look for "better' internships this summer than the PWM I mentioned, is there any hope for someone like me with no technical knowledge (i.e. haven't taken any finance/quant. courses yet other than silly Calculus 1, 2, 3, and do not know VBA/maro's in Excel just yet...am planning to start learning that asap)?
Any words of wisdom are much appreciated.
you'll be able to make both work. working is always better than not working. even if you bus tables, people like to see kids who take summer jobs. knock out your classes and work hard, you'll be better for it. good luck
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