Mar 21, 2013
engineering major/ business minor with no summer internship. Should I take finance/econ classes this summer instead?
I am a sophomore at a target majoring in engineering and minoring in business. I applied for several finance/banking internships, but no luck so far, and I don't think it looks too promising since it's getting late. I'm thinking about taking two courses this summer --one macroecon and the other in either finance or another econ course. Is this a good idea, or should I just get any kind of (non-finance) job just for work experience? Is the minor in business enough for getting into finance/banking?
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Comments (7)
1 engineering and 1 econ or buisness; don't take 3.
I wasn't going to take engineering--I was just thinking of taking 2 courses this summer (in econ & finance) because I don't know if only a minor in business is enough to get into finance/banking. I'm just not sure if it's better to take the classes or try to get any kind of job.
If you have the network and financial support I would seek out unpaid internships with any sort of relevance to the field you want to go into. I know of more than a few kids from my school who were able to talk friends of friends into letting them do unpaid totally mindless internships in small HFs, boutique IB shops, etc.
You should look at this summer's work experience as the one that will set you up for next summer.
As far as the minor in business being enough, I can't really speak to that as I'm a current college senior, but I know in my limited experience I've seen it work out in energy trading very often.
Thank you Lerg. I just recently applied to a small hedgefund--maybe this last shot will work out. I agree that any somewhat-relevant experience is better than nothing just to set me up for next year.
I took a semester worth of courses (4) the summer between sophomore and junior year. It made my last two years manageable and allowed me to do an engineering major with minors in economics and management, but perhaps at the expense of getting a top internship this summer. I got a good position though so I think it was the best thing to do.
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so in other words, you think taking the courses instead of having an internship hurt your chances for a good intership during the summer before senior year? The position you got was after you graduated? So did you ever have an intership?
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