Going from a non-target with low GPA to landing a hedge fund Internship

Hello all,

I'm writing this post because of others that have written some similar. Throughout my time applying to internships, I'd always come across articles that motivated me to keep pushing because the right opportunity will come. Well, I can thankfully say the opportunity has come for me and I am writing to encourage others to not lose hope.

Some background on me: I am currently a junior at a non-target school in Louisiana and I just accepted an offer to be a hedge fund analyst at a fund in Texas (~40bn AUM). I believe I have a strong résumé; Experience in real estate and private wealth management, a patent and 4,000 service hours are among the talking points. However, another would be my 2.6 GPA. To keep it brief, I've never been a good student. My school does not have a strong network of those in the industry so I was on my own throughout this search. While we do have career fairs, the only companies in attendance are the same insurance companies, financial advisors and Northwestern Mutual's of the world.

I began applying to internships in early August and I later realized that I was a little late to the party for most IB positions. This forced me to really scroll through the depths of LinkedIn, Indeed, Handshake, etc. I was on every platform that allowed me to apply for an internship. I started applying mostly to IB spots because that's the glorified and most desirable role, but I discovered the different opportunities the investment world offered after learning these positions were drying up. I began looking at PE, HF, VC, AM and all alike.

After receiving nothing but rejection letters for two months, I began messaging people on LinkedIn to just talk about what they do. As you could imagine, I didn't get too many responses but the few conversations that led to phone calls were really invaluable. Even though none of these connections turned into offers, I learned that there will always be those few at the top willing to help out those that are interested and motivated. I thank God for these people.

I applied to 288 internships. I had about 25 or so interviews. Although I didn't receive offers early on, I learned what interviews were like. After a few interviews, I learned how to prepare and carry myself during the interview, both very valuable to me in the long run. I learned doing research before the interview was important. I learned asking questions were important, and not just the cliché questions. I learned that the interviewers really appreciate honest, off the wall and sometimes blunt answers. Send them an email after the interview just to say thank you. The more you can set yourself apart and make them remember who you are, the more you'll stick out to them.

Earlier this week I accepted my summer internship position and it could not be more perfect. It's in a city I have always loved with a great firm and the exact role I wanted: hedge fund research analyst. I know it's not a BB (which seems to be the goal of everyone at times) but it's an opportunity, a chance. It's my shot at the "underdog" story. I didn't have connections with anyone on the inside, no target school on my résumé and no high GPA to flaunt... but I did it. HF roles seem to be few and opportunities among them even fewer but it's possible if you want it bad enough. I spent hours crafting my résumé, getting opinions on it and tweaking it to be unique to each internship. Hours adding small details to my cover letter to show I did my research on the company and explaining my interest in all the widely different roles of which I applied.

I say all this to provide hope to those getting doubtful and discouraged. There is no perfect formula to securing the internship you have your heart set on, but the right opportunity will come, I promise. Keep working. Keep applying. Stay hungry. Stay motivated. Stay confident in yourself. You are the only person that can limit what you are capable of. Anyone can do it.

With that being said, best wishes to all.