How fucked am I on a scale of 1 to 10?

Hi,

In about a week I'll be starting my first finance internship, which will be on the research team at a boutique PWM firm in the mid-sized city where I live. The issue is that I am a junior, and want to eventually go into M&A or S&T, obviously most of the people in those fields are there because they got a summer internship while a sophomore or junior. I'm aware that I'm seriously late to the game in terms of skills and experience.

What is the best way for me to leave PWM after I graduate, and get into IB? If I'm offered a job at the PWM firm after graduation should I take that and try later, or should I network like hell over the summer and into the school year in an attempt to get some connections at a boutique in NY? Or, am I just totally fucked like other people have told me?

Thanks

 

Dude, get in and work hard. If you don't like that type of work, then just say so. You're not married to the internship. The company is well aware that you are a temporary indentured servant. If anything, your boss will be an alley beyond the internship hooking you up with coffee chats, interviews, and the like.

Why anyone would look down on this is beyond me.

 

I'm very, very excited for the internship, I realize I probably sound ungrateful but I know it's going to be a great experience. I'm planning on killing it and have been prepping for the last few weeks reading textbooks/going over fundamentals.

 

While I cannot help regarding IB I can however point to the fact that PWM research is a great place to start, especially if your looking for buy-side down the road.

If your school doesn't sponsor CFA working at the PWM for a few years while you get your CFA could be a great alternative assuming you don't make it to the sell-side.

 
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