Off Cycle Internship Investment Banking Difficulty
Cold emailing is the key to finding an off-cycle internship. Our users all shared that the only road to success is to put out feelers at every bank that you can and then to also reach out to private equity shops, hedge funds, as well as venture capital firms.
How to Get an Off Cycle Internship?
These off cycle opportunities exist at all different types of firms and at all different "prestige" levels.
Top firms do offer off cycle internships, as many have said in this thread. Some will offer night shift internships, where you come in and help crank out whatever is needed by tomorrow. I have no idea when you'd sleep during these kinds of internships, especially if you're still taking classes, but I knew a few kids in college who did it.Also, don't discount non-IB firms, for example, PE/AM or ER shops, especially smaller ones. They operate a lot like boutique banks, hiring on a needs basis.
Not familiar with Off Cycle Internships - learn more here on WSO.
Cold emailing is an essential part of the process in getting an off-cycle internship. Read our guide to cold emailing here.
You can also check out a sample cold email below. The goal is to get them on the phone so that you can approach the topic of off cycle internships after introducing yourself more thoroughly.
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An off-cycle at a top independent definitely exists. I know a couple of kids who did it at Evercore. If I were you, I wouldn't rely on listings. Make phone calls. Create your opportunities.
I did two off-cycles, one at a no-name boutique and another at a lower-tier mid-market. Both were extremely easy, both from cold-calling/emailing. Not even an interview involved. Also got offers for equity research at no-name and mid-market but turned them down. Really, you just need to be brave enough to pick up the phone and call.
My primary response is to shake my head at the level of "tiers" present in classifying banks. Necessary evil, I suppose.
Thanks chic! Would emailing do just fine? Sent out a couple emails with no responses, but will pick up the phone soon.
The amount of time you are wasting thinking about the dichotomy of your perceived status of investment banks could be better spent emailing and calling bankers at those banks. Depending on your background and connections, you already know if you have a shot a places like goldman, but if you really care about the boutique or lower/upper MM (whatever that means) status of a particular firm, you are at least wasting time or worst, letting it show the person interviewing you is at a "lower MM bank". The reality is to get business you will see all sorts of industry groups from banks you've never heard of pitch against some of those you listed above. The industry has become very competitive and plenty of banks will "reach down" market for business and even lose. Its always nice to have a great name on a business card, but you want an internship above all else. You need to start calling and emailing a lot more than a couple. It is extremely difficult to find internships and FT positions now, and you need to broaden your search and the number of contacts you are making if you want to give yourself the best shot.
Thank you for this post. I appreciate your input.
I initially started this topic just to find out if i should focus my energy on boutiques more than MM banks since I have a limited amount of time during the school year to continue networking. Thus, i wanted to maximize my chances of getting an off-cycle internship.
I listed the other "tiers" of banks just because I thought it would be informative to other monkeys to confirm this information. Since off-cycle internships are usually not as common as summer internship programs. It would be really enlightening if some monkeys on WSO could share their process in getting an off-cycle at a generally agreed difficult (crapshoot) place to get even a summer internship at such as the regular BBs and elite boutiques.
I just happened to have a couple of MMs and Boutiques in mind and just wanted to know if it was even possible and how rigorous the process is. Again, I appreciated the feedback.
Any other opinions / stories / suggestions?
It comes down to three things - do they need help, can you add value, and are they feeling nice today.
Well put.
+1
Just landed an off-cycle myself. Set up an interview right before my "exit interview" from my summer internship, so I'm stoked. Boutiques are your best bet, and finding one really comes down to having some cajones, being likable, and having good prio experience certainly helps. Good luck! And don't be a shy pussy, that's my best advice.
Top firms do offer off cycle internships, as many have said in this thread. Some will offer night shift internships, where you come in and help crank out whatever is needed by tomorrow. I have no idea when you'd sleep during these kinds of internships, especially if you're still taking classes, but I knew a few kids in college who did it.
Also, don't discount non-IB firms, for example, PE/AM or ER shops, especially smaller ones. They operate a lot like boutique banks, hiring on a needs basis.
My firm (no name boutique, if I had to place it in a category) hires PT, unpaid interns that go to local universities. Most kids do it for course credits. If you want to shoot me a PM with your city we can see if it's a match.
My advice is to just just cold calling/e-mail all the places you can. That's what I did and I have two upcoming interviews. Check out this link: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/searching-for-a-summer-internship
so I have been cold calling banks but all of them transferred me to their HR's voicemail. Was this what you guys encountered as well?
Off cycle internships at big banks (Originally Posted: 03/19/2011)
Are there any banks/programs in particular that I should be looking at for an off-cycle IB (doesn't have to be FO) internship? Specifically for the upcoming fall semester.
I'm obviously keeping my eyes peeled on job postings and getting in touch with my contacts, but maybe there is a structured program already out there that I don't know about. Thanks
JP Morgan and BNP Paribas and Sogen all offer off cycle internships.
I have attached the link to JP Morgan internships below, however they all seem to be in Europe and most ask for you to know a second European language along with English.
https://atsv7.wcn.co.uk/search_engine/jobs.cgi?owner=5033867&ownertype=…
JPM has a number of off-cycle opportunities listed in my schools OCR bank. I imagine you ought to be able to get something similar, but come to think of it if you aren't local to NYC you may have some trouble.
I'm in NYC. You go to Stern, right? We've inboxed before. And i see those same JPM opps in my career website too. There's nothing that I'm too wild about/desperate enough for yet though.
Go for it. Brand-name from a semi/non-target will help you get places quicker than doing nothing and sitting on your hands holding out for GS/MS IBD as a junior. You can parlay the skills into a better internship elsewhere, or you can network within JPM (fairly easy, actually) for something you want more.
I am taking a year off to do some internships. How hard is it to get an off-cycle internship at BNP, SocGen or JPM? Is it easier than getting a summer internship?
Cheers
Phil
goldman off cycle internships (Originally Posted: 09/17/2010)
Has anyone interned at Goldman off cycle during fall/winter/spring in the US? If so, would you be able to tell me more about your experience (what division you were in, what the experience was like, when you needed to apply). There does not seem to be much information about it online and none of the offices take calls regarding recruiting. Also, does anyone know if London, which seems to have more off cycle internships, will sponsor a work Visa for applicants and/or if fluency in the local language is a requirement for other locations like Frankfurt?
also, you don't have to currently be in school for these internships right (unlike in consulting where you have to be enrolled in a degree program)?
im interested as well
If you have already graduated from college. These programs will not take you in. These are programs for pwople mostly in universities, and highly competitvie to get in. They only take a very few in every year. Work Visa sponsorship for off cycle internship such as spring internship is near impossbile to get. Not sure about language requirements.
Thanks for the reply, anyone else with experience? When you say these programs won't take me in, do you mean in both US and Europe and other places? Are you sure off cycle internships also work like this? I know summer internships are very competitive and regimented, but I assumed off cycle ones would not be as competitive because the vast majority of American students are in school during the year unlike in Europe (with the exception of a few schools like Dartmouth which has a unique system for instance). So are the off cycle internships also only for students currently enrolled in school (at least from the website it did not seem like this was the case).
Is it really this hard to find an off-cycle (spring) internship? (Originally Posted: 02/07/2013)
January 2013 graduate here and I've been trying to find some kind of internship for the spring for a while now and have had absolutely zero luck so far.
My credentials: Went to a good, well-known school in my area, prior internships at a no-name boutique in NY and a FoF (back office, though) in Philly. Coursework in financial modelling, have the WSO guides, read Rosenbaum and Pearl.
What I've done: reached out to every banking/PE/VC firm I could find via the WSO database, LinkedIn, and googling in my area (Philadelphia) to see if they'd be interested in taking on a spring intern. Most common response I receive is that they don't have the dealflow or just aren't interested in an intern at the time.
Note: I do NOT have the ability to work unpaid, unfortunately. Hell, if I had money I'd be travelling and partying as I already have a FT offer lined up to begin this summer. As a broke recent grad though I'm just after some experience and a little cash to support myself until then.
Any ideas? Anyone know a place in Philly or the surrounding area that wants a hard-working intern?
If you already have an offer for summer start, reach out to recruiting agencies for a temporary position or work part time somewhere. There's no use stressing over another internship if you already have a FT offer.
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