How to prepare for summer 2018 internship recruiting season
Hi, I currently am a Junior at a semi-target University with a cumulative 3.4 GPA and a 3.7 major GPA. I am majoring in international relations and minoring in Economics. Last summer I interned at small portfolio manager and this summer I am interning at a Hedge Fund in NYC. AM is something that really interests me and recently I have also been thinking about applying to some banking internships as well for next summer.
What draws me to AM is the ability to contribute to active investing decisions with research, analytical skills, and being able to look at the larger picture. Studying international relations, looking at a large playing field and seeing how world events impact the global landscape is something I find interesting. I could be wrong, but this is how I view what AM is like. Does AM sound like a good fit for me if these are the types of things I am looking for?
I am a little lost in terms of how to prepare for recruiting season as I am not in the business school at my University. Should I prepare for AM interviews as if I were applying for a banking internship? I have already bought the WSO guide to ib interviews and I am taking an online Excel course for beginners to boost my skills.
I have taken few business classes at my university, but I have learned most of what I know from my previous internship and doing investing on my own. I am a little nervous about finding an internship for next summer as I also will be studying abroad in the fall. Any advice or guidance for things I should be doing to prepare for an internship in AM at this point in my education will be greatly appreciated.
Read the WSJ and markets news on the daily, you should be able to talk about trends in the economy and how they affect different sectors. Know basic financial statements and ratios, and network hard before you go abroad.
Thanks!
Bump
A little late, but I'm kind of in the same boat as you. Economics and Biology major at Semi-Target going abroad in the Spring, and very interested in AM. From my understanding it would be a good fit, as I've been investing myself forever. I've been trying to network aggressively this summer but its tough sometimes when you are not getting responses. I enrolled in 2 classes on Coursera (Financial Accounting/corporate finance at Wharton) and they have definitely been helping get some of the technical stuff down. What I've been told is that the interviews are tailored to what you know to some extent; it wont be all questions regarding financial statements if they can clearly see you don't have as much experience with that kind of stuff.
Good luck its gonna be a long journey to that SA position!
Sophomore Summer - How should I prepare for upcoming recruiting? (Originally Posted: 04/30/2017)
I'll be working full time at my LAC's financial services office and the career center- What are some things I MUST do this summer to prepare for recruiting in the Fall?
BIWS, create a stock pitch, practice ib interview questions, mock interviews, and network. That's what I'm doing and I'm in the same boat as you.
I'm planning on completing courses from Wall Street Prep and Pillars of Wall Street as they're the only two I got free access to from going to some workshops, but I'm also looking at books to read up or practice from for valuation, modeling and interviews and also just the industry in general. I'm wondering if it would be worth it to purchase the networking guides that are up on BIWS/M&I/WSO.
How do I prepare for the upcoming recruiting for Summer 2017? (Originally Posted: 04/18/2016)
I am currently a freshman, and I attend a target school. I heard that recruiting is starting earlier this year in the Fall. What are some tips I can do to get an internship for the summer of 2017? Should I focus a lot more on networking leading to it?
Wow. You are really early, but that's great. I would think it's going to be very hard, if not impossible to get a finance internship as a Freshman, unless you are connected. There are a few opportunities in special programs as a Sophomore, but the big one is your Junior year internship. For prep, I'd generally read the Vault guide and/or the Wall Street Oasis guides. Joining a Finance club and taking finance courses as soon as possible will also help. I'd also go to the events on campus and talk to people who are recruiting. Get cards from them, thank them for any advice they gave you, and reach out periodically to let them know what you're doing.
@justcurious456 I have some good connections at bb's right now since I went to info-sessions, and shadowed them during breaks. I'm going to let them know when I submit my application this fall. But, out of curiosity, can those people like basically pull my name from the resume pile, and get me an interview?
Need some guidance - Preparing for SA recruitment? (Originally Posted: 04/06/2013)
Hi monkeys,
I had to quit my job in July 2012 due to my Visa expiring. I then moved to another country, studied for the GMAT, applied for a master's program and got accepted at a semi-target.
Currently, I have a family commitment that takes roughly 20 hours a week, and I'm also restudying my accounting/finance books to refresh my knowledge. I now have a 8 month unemployment gap.
Is there anything else I should be doing to prepare for SA recruitment?
Yes, take this time to network and meet as many people as you can.
Target Junior Prepping for IB SA Recruiting (Originally Posted: 09/18/2015)
Hey everyone,
I'm looking to get my resume perfected before the SA Recruiting season gets into full swing and wanted to run it by the WSO community. Sadly, I don't have as much experience in terms of internships, etc, in the realm of IB, at least compared to many of my peers. I'm hoping my GPA will counter that and that I can do a good job connecting with at least a few people per firm so I can make sure I at least get first round interviews.
In terms of formatting, does everything look okay? I included my linkedin web address at the top - not totally sure if that's good/bad/irrelevant. Also I currently list my high school in education so that I can put my ACT score in, as I've heard banks want to know SAT/ACT scores, but if you all think I should remove it, then I will.
In general any feedback would be really helpful, I've tried to quantify things as much as possible but I'm sure it could be much better. Thanks!
Eh I'm kinda on the fence about putting "excel and powerpoint" on there. That really is way too broad and just about anyone can learn it. Put something financial modeling related instead if it is applicable to you and you have some experience with it.
Agreed, it is definitely fluff. I don't know a ton about modeling though, so I didn't want to put that down as it may open myself up to too many technical questions. Should I just take out the Excel/PowerPoint and leave the basic coding?
I'll be at Cornell next year, let's ball up.
Also resume looks solid.
Bump, anything else I should edit/change/fix?
One last bump, there's gotta be other comments on it
Unless you can tell me what my favorite Excel shortcut does, whether it be a simple Alt EST or a curveball Ctrl tilde, I would not put Excel on your resume. Same for PowerPoint.
LinkedIn doesn't matter get rid of it.
Make the font Times New Roman. This is Wall St, not Madison Ave. Fit in.
Make the font smaller. Print this thing out and you'll be amazed how huge the text is.
Add another bullet point under each thing to extend this all.
The best advice is to start over and don't use a template.
Also, you have a hyphen in one date and an en dash in another.
Summer Checklist (Originally Posted: 05/05/2016)
Hey guys,
I'm a rising junior at a non-target. I'm trying to prepare for fall recruiting with hopes of getting interviews with BBs. I was wondering what are some things I will need to do over the summer. I will be doing the following:
-Interning at a boutique P/E firm -Completing WSP courses (Excel, Financial Statement, DCF, LBO, and M&A Modeling) -Beginning to Network -Studying interview questions/answers -Drinking beer and listening to "Views"
Is there anything that I'm missing? I appreciate any feedback.
Do all of that, just bump the beers and listening to Views up on your list and you're fine.
Beginning to network? Bud, you need to start NOW. If you start in the summer, you're already a step behind.
You're on the right track. I'd agree with Sil that it never hurts to begin networking earlier. However, I'd recommend you nail the important interview questions/guides before your initial calls with network contacts. This means you need to have your story/life pitch perfected and within 60-90 seconds, know how to build a DCF, and memorize basic accounting questions (e.g. depreciation flowing through the three financial statements). Those "5-10 minute chats" can easily become 5-10 minute technical sessions and you'll want to be prepared.
Also, TLOP > Views.
I don't agree with this. I've never had people I reached out to quiz me on technical questions. That's the domain of your actual interviews. If you're constantly worried about your technical knowledge while networking, you'll be less willing to reach out to as many people as possible.
Try to work on continuing to "rise", "rising" is key... Maybe one day you can add "Rising Incoming Investment Banking Analyst" to your linked in
SB to you sir.
Only thing I'll add is to expand your networking efforts beyond BBs if you truly want to do IB.
Ha. I would like to see you actually "complete" all of those WSP courses.
Go outside?
Five steps to a good summer:
1.) Eat oysters and lobster 2.) Drink seasonal beers 3.) Fuck shit up 4.) ??? 5.) Profit
Just one tiny tweak:
-Interning at a boutique P/E firm -Completing WSP courses (Excel, Financial Statement, DCF, LBO, and M&A Modeling) -Beginning to Network -Studying interview questions/answers -Drink 100 beers for every WSP course completed, networking lunch attended, and interview question studied
Insofar as networking goes, I'd develop a system. I found it helpful to have a spreadsheet with contacts for 4-5 people in every firm I wanted to meet someone - go to linked in, figure out names, put into proper format, etc. Then start cold emailing people until you've spoken to at least a couple of people in each target company.
Also, I'll second SECFinance in expanding beyond BB. This has been a tough year for BBs... people are getting fired, bonuses came in low, C-suite keep talking about downsizing in media... I'm not saying BBs aren't good places, but simply that they aren't what they used to be, and are closer to a dying breed than rising enterprises. I don't want to make this into a rant about the BB-or-Bust mentality - just giving you honest advice: when you pull a couple of 100s in a row, patting yourself in the back for being in a BB won't feel all that great if you're working on bad deal flow (like a few people I know).
During my junior summer, I set up networking calls as much as possible. You should get on setting those up now. I also scheduled out reading the Rosenbaum & Pearl book twice during my summer, that definitely helped.
Also, TLOP > Views
You need to chill out. Don't spend your summers inside on Excel learning lbo models which you'll learn on the job anyway. Go have some fun. By all means try and meet some people in the industry over beers or coffee, but your list sounds like an awful way to do summer. Stop worrying so much.
Preparing for Recruiting Season (Originally Posted: 07/01/2016)
Hey everyone!
I've been viewing content on this site for well over a year now but I wanted to post something that might be a helpful topic for a few people in my position.
I'm a rising junior at a non-target (3.9 GPA) and I'm trying to best prepare for the upcoming recruiting season. I'm wondering what the best approach for recruiting season is (apply to everything, apply to certain firms and network with everyone, etc.)
As far as prior internships go, I worked at a boutique investment bank freshman year and this summer I am currently doing PE in Chicago.
All suggestions, comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Lastly, I am always looking to meet new people, so feel free to message me and connect!
I'm in the same boat as you - except I don't have any IBD internship experience.
If you haven't already I would suggest volunteering for your local CFA chapter society. Whether or not you're interested in completing the CFA, it's a great experience for volunteering and I feel as if not enough students do this. I've volunteered at numerous events and I've had great success with expanding my network in all industries (HF/PE/IBD/ S&T etc.) and building relationships that will hopefully offer some sort of a return in the long run.
Definitely something I'll be looking into now! Thanks for the advice!
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