Are there different levels of internships?
Hey guys,
I just got a chance at an interview at what I assume is a very small investment firm. It's located in a small strip mall above a restaurant/bar. The manager mentioned they need help around the office, I'd be doing things like filing papers.
My questions are: Is this a good internship or a waste of time? Should I keep trying for bigger, more prestige banks? Is filing papers even considered a internship? Would this even look good on a resume?
Secondly, are internships at bigger banks like RBC *worth* more than a smaller one, like the one I mentioned?
Lastly, does it matter what I'll be doing during my internship? If I file papers, or I'm at a reception desk, or getting coffee, are there standard tasks for interns to do or is everyone different?
I think I'll end up going to see if they'll even have me, but I'd like if you guys could weigh in on these questions. I've only got this summer and the next until I graduate so I want to make sure I don't waste them.
Thanks guys.
Kind of. You have a Sophomore internship. Your employer pretty much knows that you won't really be able to provide them any meaningful work because you haven't learned anything in school yet. So the way that you can be useful is by doing mundane filing of papers and getting coffee. After you show your worth, you'll get more responsibilities that would be more in line with your future.
This internship may not be a direct link to getting you a full time position at a BB, but it can help you for next summer when your SA position will actually be important to your future.
Imagine your exact replica, but instead of taking this internship at the small firm, worked at a restaurant, which one would you rather hire?
To value worth, it really depends on the eye of the beholder. It will be "worth" more in the sense that it's a brand name, vs. a non brand name. But will you think it's "worth" more if say at the small firm you eventually got to be mentored by a higher up and learned a lot, or stayed at a bigger name and just fetched coffee the entire time and nobody even knew your name.
Likely though, this internship is a PWM type of internship, and that's usually all you can get at a freshman/sophomore level so it's good that you got one. For next summer, that's the internship that's really important, and if you can get any worthwhile experience in this one that you can swing for the next one.. all the better.
Lastly, no matter what position you have, do your best you can because you never know who your superiors know and their recommendation could do a lot.
Hey Skinnayyy,
Thanks for replying. Your answers always reassure me haha. You make some great points and thanks to you I think I'm starting to understand a little better how all this works. You need to be professional, kind and hard working no matter what hand your dealt, right? To be honest, all this is intimidating as h*ll, but exciting at the same time. I'm so eager to get into it all.
I have a few more questions:
If there were no opportunities for a SA position, but you found one for something along the lines of a financial adviser internship, would you take it? Would it also be a good internship to show IB recruiters?
If you want to work in IB at a BB or Mid-Market bank you should get an SA spot at at a BB or Mid-Market bank. People get hired without being on the typical track, but most people hired were on the typical track. When it comes to having a career it always about does this help me get to the next step. If not you will have further to go to keep moving toward your goal. Each job you have will have a high correlation to where you worked last and your first full time role, will be most strongly determined by your last summer before senior year. I've never worked in campus so i dont know if this type of role will make a different to getting into a SA slot, but it is probably closer than working at a camp or as a waiter.
Hi Doog37,
thanks for your input. Would a financial advisor internship work well for IB? There are hardly any investment banks in the city I live in (I'm not 100% sure about this still searching the net. It's taking me awhile since I'm still learning how to differentiate different bank sectors in my city..haha...) so I'm not sure if getting a SA position will even be possible for me. I could be completely wrong about all that though but I haven't been able to find any yet!
edit: Would you guys suggest I try to find a SA position in Toronto, about 5 hours away from where I live as a last resort? There seems to be a lot more opportunities there but I'm not sure if it's practical to live in another city for a summer for an internship or not?
Absolutely move somewhere else for an internship... That's practically standard procedure haha.
And Skinnayyy, not all soph/frosh internships are that basic, and it's certainly not because of what they think you've yet to learn in schools since not all colleges will teach finance/ib-relevant material anyway. A senior wouldn't know any more from school than a freshman.
A Financial Advisor internship would look better than nothing (e.g. being a waiter for the summer), but the 2 areas are barely related. I would not expect you can get a SA for this summer, but you need to commit to it for next summer if you want to be a banker. Unless you go to NYU or Columbia typically you have to summer in a different city which in Canada is Toronto. There are some skills you can pick up working with an FA, especially ones with high net worth or ultra high net worth clients. You might even make a valuable connection or two.
Hey Doog37, thanks for replying.
You're right. I did some research and learned that FA and IB are hardly related. As well, like you mentioned, a SA position seems only to be available for the next summer, so I'm going to try to find any job in a bank until then (better than nothing, right?)
Yeah. lol. I'm reading your response one sentence at a time while replying and basically agreeing every sentence hahah. These past few days I've learned exactly what you're saying. (By commit to it you mean I need to head over to Toronto right? It sounds like you might mean I need to do something I haven't already been doing..?? I could be wrong though).
I'm going to try my luck in either Toronto, Montreal (possibly, if I can find non-bilingual firms which seems doubtful at the moment), Vancouver and Calgary (not sure if these last two even have many IB firms though). My best bet seems to be in Toronto.
By the way, while we're on this topic could anyone answer me this question: Are these (http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/list-of-investment-banks-in-toron…) really the only IB banks in Toronto? - second reply
I called each of the boutiques mentioned today, and received a few e-mails and phone numbers which I left messages on/gave my resumes and cover letter. I'm not sure if I should call the "banks" and "international guys" mentioned, would I even have a shot? Well I'll try to anyways.
By the way I called the secretaries who forwarded me to either the branch manager, HR or gave me an e-mail to e-mail. Am I doing this right or wrong? Some seemed responsive, some weren't offering any positions, and some were out of business.
So my main question is, are they really the only banks to call in Toronto? Sometimes I think a bank is an IB and I call it and it turns out they are not, they are almost always annoyed when I ask . How can I know when a bank is an IB for sure? At the risk of sounding naive and dumb, I get confused when I see "capital investments, wealth management, risk management, etc. etc." I only have vague ideas of what each are (I'm studying economics not finance lol).
Anyways. If they really are the only IB's in Toronto, what do you guys do after you've called them all? What would you do in my situation? Or am I completely off? Are there really a lot more investment banks?
And after you read this, and BEFORE you judge me, READ MY NAME!! ahah :P
edit - I call and say this everytime "Hello, I'm calling to ask if there are any internship opportunities related to the investment banking division either this summer or the next. Optimally I would prefer a summer analyst position". I say that when speaking to the secretary, when leaving a message or when e-mailing with my resume/cover letter. Am I being insolent, or immature by speaking this way? Should I try a different approach or is this ok?
I think you're doing a great job. Keep in mind there is a whole world of information out there to help guide you.
In terms of your question, it sounds like you're in the same boat as me. You're a sophomore lining up your internship this summer, trying to position yourself correctly for the big SA internship next summer.
I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the SA internship after your junior year is THE most important internship/experience of your college career if you want to break into IB. Everything you do this summer and next school year is done in order to get that SA at a BB or MM bank.
Thanks! I'm going to try the best I can. Hopefully I can land an opportunity somewhere.
No, shit like "hopefully" and "try the best I can" doesn't cut it buddy. You're going to fucking aim for a fucking awesome position, network your ass off, fucking impress the shit outta someone and get it. End of fucking story. Stop aiming for pussy positions.
I don't care if you attend the University of Butt-Fucking-Nowehere. If you want something like Goldman TMT, you're going to fucking get Goldman TMT even if you have to fucking walk to the ends of the earth, go on 3-4 hours of sleep a night, have zero faculty/admin at school on your side, have certain peers spread around ridiculous bullshit about you, and ball your eyes out like a little girl privately throughout the process. This isn't fucking rocket science to figure out. Don't be a fucking pussy.
I'm sure you're not though. Good luck. :)
that internship sounds like such a retarded opportunity. would rather spend my summer lounging at home doing fuck-all.
Agreed. If youre gonna file papers i would just chalk it up as a loss. Yea you might get paid but probably around day 3 youll figure out how awful sitting around for 6 hours a day doing nothing is.
If you really want to be in IBD you need to be prepared to move and put in the time and effort. It shouldnt matter that Toronto is 5 hours away because its not that you want to live in Toronto its that you want to work in IBD. You need to stop asking people here if you should be doing a Financial Adviser internship and start sending out resumes and cover letters with reckless abandon. Anybody else on here will tell you that you pretty much have to have tunnel vision and go all in if you want to get an IBD job. I realize that you are a sophomore and you are looking for advice, but that was it. Stop asking and start doing.
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