First Year Summer Internship Enough for IB?

I am a first year at UVA and this summer I have landed a part-time internship at AXA Advisors. Furthermore, I am working with a start-up and creating their deck and financial model. I thought that I was ahead of the game until I spoke to some of the other kids I know. Some of them are working at private equity firms and boutique investment banks. I honestly thought this wasn't possible first year. Most people that I talk to tell me that I am ahead but looking at what other people are doing I feel like I'm behind. Have I already screwed myself for IB? Will either of my opportunities this summer look good to investment banks when I apply for internships next year?

 
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AXA Advisors is essentially a scam...pretty well known by banks as a place where you’re just selling insurance like northwestern mutual or Primerica. Plenty of threads on this or a google search. Hope you’re not putting it on your resume for IB SA.

 

Can confirm along with most of the Internet. Had a friend who took one of these “roles” May be worth mentioning that we were at non-core uni so didn’t really have any other choice. But yes, I would surely leave it off the resume. Make the most of the start up position, join finance orgs, and network hard. You will know when things begin to fall in place

 

The fact of the matter is is that if you look at other people, you will always find people better than you, more qualified or have more experience. Take confidence in yourself and your abilities. You've done the best you could (I'm assuming you didn't have other offers). Confidence is key. I did not have any internship opportunities this summer (also a rising sophomore). I can tell you without real connections its pretty hard to find an internship as a freshman that isn't just scanning/ doing some random work that is more of a job to pay gas then to learn anything. The point I am trying to make is (1) yes you are ahead of others and (2) yes you are behind others as well. Your attitude will no doubt play a role in whether you get an IB Internship or not.

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As others said, AXA isn't the best and doesn't have the best reputation. It depends where you end up there, but a lot of the time you're just an insurance salesman with a different title. However, I don't agree that you shouldn't put that on your resume. You're in finance and having some experience under your belt your freshman year summer is good.

Depending on the startup and what you're actually doing, you might be better off focusing more of your attention there, if not all of your attention. If you can go full time for the summer at the startup, that will carry a lot more weight than AXA in the IB recruiting process, but you're still ahead of the majority of people for their freshman year.

Also, while AXA doesn't have the best rep for what their interns do, people know the firm and what you did there, so if you can spin your sales experience, it's not really a bad thing. After all, IB is a lot of sales and marketing. Still probably better off with the startup though.

 

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