No internship Junior summer help!

As the title says, I'm a rising senior with 0 internship experience.

I'm in a second tier city cold calling firms left and right hoping to get a last minute summer internship.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do differently to get that last minute internship?

 
yig:

Start thinking about contingency plans on if you can't get an internship

Yep.

It's a little late friend. If you're not already offering to work for free, that might help (although not an ideal place to be in at all as a 20-21 yr old). Would also recommend reaching out to firms not just in IB/PE.. depending on where you are VCs RIAs and PWM would be open to having late interns. Good luck and feel free to PM me if you're near the greater Detroit area

 

Utilize your career center and see if they have any more OCR opportunities, keep talking to contacts and ask for referrals. Talk to some of your friends as well who might be able to connect you to their contacts. Essentially maximize your network and focus on strengthening your resume with whatever school clubs, jobs, etc. you have had and focus on transferable skills.

For the lead! Sipag, tiyaga, at lakas ng loob!
 
Best Response

I'm a senior at a semi-target and I had no idea what IB was until April.

I decided to go for it (in April, as a senior, mind you) and started cold emailing all the firms in existence in my state asking for an internship. I applied through my campus career centers also.

By late April, I had a boutique IB internship going on and I'm currently using that as a launch pad to interview for SA/intern positions for the summer. They're all looking solid for me.

I'm a humanities major with zero experience in finance and a GPA well below 3.5. If I can do it, I'm sure you can too.

  1. Cold email like crazy. I'm talking around 50 emails/night. Personalize them and be humble/sincere.

  2. Try to talk to some alumni that have gone to IB/PE/VC. They might vouch for you or at the least keep you in mind.

  3. Don't be picky at all. Your job is to get whatever experience you can right now. The name or bracket of your firm is irrelevant. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you're learning something about IB.

  4. Be persistent but not annoying. Follow-up on unanswered cold-emails weekly/bi-weekly. Usually boutiques don't have an HR gatekeeper and the info email goes straight to an MD or VP (this will help you).

Good luck and best wishes

Everybody's gonna have problems. I'd much rather face problems in a Ferrari than a Honda Civic.
 
Henderson:

As the title says, I'm a rising senior with 0 internship experience.

Meaning you've never had an internship throughout college? That may be why you're having so much trouble. If you're a junior they expect you to have at least something on your resume. Would second what the above comments said. You're probably going to have to work for free if you want to have a shot with no experience.
 

@wilder01 The only work experiences I have are from high school-I interned at a tech startup and during college, I worked since freshman year at a student bank and will be holding a board position. The main problem is that I'm afraid that these experiences won't be highly regarded with one being from high school and the other being something similar to a student club, even though we are essentially the same as a local bank.

@astfin-juki Even if the experience is not related to what I want to do-wealth management-do you think it's worth it? Also, how would you recommend that I convey that I'm willing to work unpaid? Unfortunately, it seems that some places seem to be hesitant about accepting unpaid interns in light of several lawsuits in recent years.

 

Ditch the triple major and get internship experience, assuming your triple major requirements are forcing you to take summer classes.

No one gives a shit about what your major is. Choose an econ/risk management double major or pick between the two. I've taken difficult classes just to broaden my "intellectual breadth," it was not worth the hassle a single time.

 

If your goals is Big 4 accounting (and not MC/IB/etc), you're going to be completely okay. Just network all summer, and try to keep your GPA up. People at the big 4, especially alums, are very receptive to networking.

That said, you'll be much more competitive for any position with a solid experience this summer. There's no real advantage anywhere to having a triple major.

 

Thank you both for the advice. I'm actually taking summer classes so I can be qualify for the one year master of accounting program at my school.

I'm am looking into the consulting internship at Deloitte/PwC. Will having a triple major help with that?

P.s. I totally know what you guys are saying about triple marjoring. But at this point it wouldn't make sense to give it all up. I'll still graduate on time.

 

Does your school have OCR for Deloitte/PwC? If they do, they probably recruit enough people to have a dedicated recruited for your school (they do at my non-targ, state school), and it's be EXTREMELY advantageous to get to know this person. She will probably do all of the initial resume screening, can give you updates on timeline, put you in contact with people within the firm, etc. Also, if there's OCR, there's also probably office hours and career fair events that you can go to network.

Like I said though, those positions aren't exceptionally competitive compared to banking. If you show a lot of interest through networking and impress a couple people, tick the boxes for the CPA, etc - you're going to be golden.

 

Your triple major isn't going to help you. Most people get the job with one major, a few do two. You'd be much better off volunteering, doing a sport, joining some clubs, internship etc. than maintaining the third major.

As far as your internship question; it's not expected that you have an internship your sophomore year. Most places don't have a sophomore internship (exception for diversity programs); taking summer classes is actually a pretty good way to spend sophomore summer. A lot of students are just working summer jobs.

Your best path forward is to spend some time this summer getting know other students at your school that have landed the internship you want, or who landed FT roles at the places you are interested in. Use them as a gateway to talk to current employees, and hopefully the people involved in recruiting.

 

I was told having a "master" at a young age helps with my resume. Plus if I stay for the 5th year I will have two more semester to intern. I already have over 120 credits, so I not too worry about that requirement .

Being from a non-target, I know how competitive consulting will be for me, so wouldn't having a well-rounded education (risk management, economic, accounting, and history] help? On my current path, the highest my GPA will be is 3.7. By senior year, I would only have one relevant internship [hopefully a good one]. I am just trying to give myself more time to improve my resume.

I guess I am kind of lost. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

p.s. I know an art history degree is not useful but it's a personal interest of mine, and it gives me a lot of opportunities to conduct academic research.

 

Focus on your grades. Seriously! It doesn't matter much right now. If you can, get a spring or fall internship somewhere. But, you don't need an internship. And if you are applying and keep getting denied, it is not because they do not want you! It may be because of your "inexperience" and your class level.

In my sophomore year, I got denied EVERYWHERE. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, MS....EVERYWHERE.

But, I didn't stop, I focused on my academics, got a spring internship at UBS and BAM. I came back my junior year, and errybody wanted me. Don't stress, focus on the academics, being involved in school, and kick ass next year!

 

You can break into your local branch. I hear teller oozes prestige with the ladies at the local sports bar.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 

Cold-call/email more and more. Network. Do something others will not have on their CV.

Its possible to land SA positions as a senior yes - apply for a masters or something, get the internship, do well, get the offer and start early.

In a pretty similar situation to you btw so chin up!

 
Charles-perry:
Cold-call/email more and more. Network. Do something others will not have on their CV.

Its possible to land SA positions as a senior yes - apply for a masters or something, get the internship, do well, get the offer and start early.

In a pretty similar situation to you btw so chin up!

Thanks man, yeah its a pretty tough spot to be in but its not the end of the world. Would you suggest I apply for a Masters even if I had no intention of doing it (can't afford it) just for the sake of sending of SA apps? What are you planning on doing this summer?

 

Yes apply for masters as a back up plan. You don't HAVE to do the masters.... but its better to apply then do nothing.

Tbh - a lot of people in London getting offers are 3rd years (3 year degree) and are doing a Masters. I have yet to meet someone whose scored an internship in their junior year in London.

You can try for off-cycle internships. One of my friends graduated, applied for an off-cycle internship, and he's now working at a BB. Sorted. Its all possible.

What am I doing this summer - no idea! Sorry.

 

Does your college/university have any respected finance-oriented programs? I go to a semi-target and we have a very selective program which prepares students for internships/full-time jobs in finance. I learned a lot from that program. If your university has something like that, definitely join the program—you would be surprised how many people get into firms through alumni connections through these programs.

Other than that, I'm just reiterating what Charles-perry said. You should definitely network more and meet professionals for coffee. Ask them what they look for in resumes (most don't look at a resume for more than 5 seconds here in NYC when they have hundreds to look at during recruiting season), so you know what words will pop out on your resume.

I was in your position as a senior, and I went through many interviews/final rounds and got rejected everywhere. Just this week I got an internship offer at a big firm, so I am very happy that my hard work paid off. Just make sure you meet more people and try to take advantage of all the resources and opportunities at your university.

 

Without relevant work experience or internships it will be hard to compete against your classmates at a target MSF even if you do get in. Be prepared to be out-shined by your classmates who have loaded CVs and UG's who eat, sleep, and breath finance. You need a relevant experience ASAP.

'Before you enter... be willing to pay the price'
 

Working should be priority #1, especially if you don't have much work experience in general. Keep trying. The harder you work the 'luckier' you will get.

If you can't find a job, go volunteer. Who knows, you may be able to actually convince some interviewer that your goal was to save Africa before you had a change of heart and decided to chase the money. At least it is a unique experience.

 

Either way don't wait till 2010 that is stupid. Go get the best job you can get. It should not be BB or bust, there are plenty of good jobs out there. CFA is also going to do little for you, likewise with the financial academy. Keep trying for a job this summer or do some sort of research for a finance professor. Can you work unpaid? If so, there should be lots of places willing to hire you.

 

Different people have different opinions. When things almost didn't work out for me, I was dead set on extending my graduation to have another shot at BBs and IBD in general. Thankfully it did so I won't have to. However, I can think of a number of people who extended their grad by a quarter/semester and landed sweet spots and great offices/banks. That extra time off is pretty great too.

 

Thanks for the replies. I am probably going to continue interning for the FA I currently intern for and go to the finance academy. It's a 3-week IB program. so, I guess it will help. I should also make my decision this week on whether I want to take the CFA L1 exam this December. Hopefully, that will strengthen my resume a little bit.

GL to all.

 

do the FA gig for now but I wouldn't count out an internship just yet. It's only May. All you need is something to put for June-August/July-August in terms of work experience, so you still have 2 months left to network. Reach out to alumni there must be some.

 

Dude you have plenty of time to get something for the summer. Yes, it will probably suck, and yes, it will probably be unpaid. But you have time to work for a PWM shop, small investment advisory, etc. Just do SOMETHING. The first time I interviewed I'm pretty sure I got dinged because I had a gap for my freshman year. The next year I interviewed for the same 2 spots with the only difference being I had an unpaid IM gig where I didn't do a ton, and I got offers from both. Don't give up.

 

1) Change your pussy nickname 2) Suit up 3) Print resume 4) Comb Hair 5) Go pound the pavement / cold call every local shop that has even a hint of relevance

"Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old"
 
RichardPennybags:
1) Change your pussy nickname 2) Suit up 3) Print resume 4) Comb Hair 5) Go pound the pavement / cold call every local shop that has even a hint of relevance

Especially 5. hit the ground and work yous ass off

And so it goes
 
futurexreject:
I mainly want a 60k job upon graduation
that's your problem
"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
futurexreject:
I mainly want a 60k job upon graduation.

Let me fix that for you:

futurexreject:
I mainly want a job upon graduation.

There, now you don't sound horribly entitled.

"My caddie's chauffeur informs me that a bank is a place where people put money that isn't properly invested."
 

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