How good does it look to have an investment banking internship as a freshman?
Would it help me significantly more for BB or MM recruiting as a sophomore?
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If you do some real work, absolutely....
Would running comps and completing a buyers list be enough to say its "real work"?
I don't know what constitutes as real work honestly.
As a freshman intern, sure. Comps will be a large part of any intern/analyst role so definitely counts.
In my experience, a freshman internship in IB will be of the 9-5 sort, not the 'real' IB hours type. Try to take some time outside your regular duties to learn about the business, offer to do certain types of work you may be interested in that they could use help with etc - if you do that well, you'll have a bunch of solid experience for your resume that will place you miles ahead of most sophomores wanting to break into IB.
If you already have something lined up thats great. But, it's pretty unlikely that you would find a role that would value you over a junior / senior. I'm not trying to be harsh, but the reality is that summer internships in finance are essential a trial period for the employee and employer to see if it is a good fit. That makes it really hard when you know you can't actually hire this person for the job for another 3 years (over an entire analyst class away), especially when they haven't really dug into their coursework (you will be interviewing with at most 1 semester of grades) and really decided if it is for them.
Full disclosure, I did engineering as an undergrad and engineering internships are different since you will come in and contribute to the project (by doing your boss's b*tch work for him). But even then, you rarely see anyone intern until sophmore / junior year for the same reason.
All that being said, go try and network your butt off. Worse case scenario you still have met a lot of people and know more about the firms for the next year and even know who is looking for what (especially if they give you feedback!). Good luck.
As a freshman who recently spent a few months cold-emailing and setting up informational interviews, I can tell you it's bloody hard. I didn't end up getting a full summer internship this summer (a semi-guarantee for August, when all the real SAs are done for the summer). However, it can definately be done. The mistake I made was slack off at the start of the school year, and only started seriously reaching out to people in Jan.
To answer your question. You'll look like a rockstar compared to other freshman who worked at a summer camp and it'll tell future employers that you're actually serious and know what you're getting yourself into.
Has it really become so competitive that getting a freshman internship in IB? Damn, my freshman summer was... crap, prefer not to mention haha
I'm currently a freshman and have a boutique IB internship lined up for the summer. I'm pretty sure that it'll help with MM's and possibly even lower BB's, but in general getting a sophomore BB internship is by no means guaranteed even with this experience. A lot depends on whether you're female or URM.
Overall, if you can get a freshman IB internship, you are pretty set for most banks minus BB's and some EB's for sophomore summer. The way I see it is, even if you don't get that BB gig sophomore year and have to "settle" for an MM, you are basically guaranteed a junior BB SA internship.
Nothing is guaranteed. Having internships on your resume will definitely help you get interviews, but there will also be a good amount of people that will have comparable or better experience than you or better connections. Additionally, interviews can be a total crap shoot. An MD might not like you because of your hair or because you're wearing a suit with a ticket pocket, which results into an automatic ding.
You don't deserve anything. Do not get into the mindset that because you did XYZ internship last year, you're a shoe in at a better bank next year.
Boutique IB Internship Freshman (Originally Posted: 12/25/2017)
Hey,
I'm a freshman at Berkeley and looking to go into IB. I know it's very hard, but I'm trying to land a boutique IB internship for the summer. I have a couple questions about this:
1) When would be the latest I should reach out? Obviously, the earlier the better, but ideally would I be able to wait until around the beginning of February? I'm hoping to join some finance and consulting club and I'd like to put that down on my resume.
2) How would I go about finding boutique IBs, both in my area and others? I live in SoCal, so I would ideally like to find somewhere commutable. However, I would also be open to something in SF/Bay Area, as well as somewhere 1-2 hours away. I would probably find housing, but I'd like to be able to drive back home on weekends. Is there some database with boutique IBs or do I just go ham on google?
3) What kind of knowledge would I be expected to know? I've looked through many IB internship postings, and most seem to emphasize proficiency in Excel, Powerpoint, etc. and an interest in Finance, Accounting, etc. Since I have to apply to Haas I'm not really able to take any of these courses freshman year. What's the most important things for me to get down?
Thanks for any help! Really appreciate it.
my best advice is to email the MDs and VPs and don't send duplicate emails. you should be able to talk about the three financial statements and walk through a dcf, which will take you about max a week of studying
gl
thanks! so I should be looking to email the higher up bankers? I haven't looked into it too much, but I'm guessing many of these boutique shops may only have a few people. ill start looking into studying this material, thanks
md>vp>hr>associate>analyst in terms of recruiting leverage, my opinion others might differ
Freshman at non-target for boutique IBD internship (Originally Posted: 12/20/2012)
I'm a freshman at a non-target by experience, though I can graduate in three years so my graduation date shows me as a sophomore.
I also have experience interning at a law office that I took off because I didn't see much relevance.
Tear it apart! Thanks WSO
http://www.razume.com/documents/29132
Have you not had any kind of part time or summer job in the past? If so add it in there, as you have way too much white space at the bottom of your resume. IOH looks really weak for a non-target freshmen trying to get a IBD internship, unless you network your ass off good luck
You should be looking for a non-IBD finance position IMHO.
You need to specify what you accomplished. Such as, "generated 18% yoy on a portfolio" Increased efficiency by 15% and led a team of squirrels, etc..
You need to network and start building relationships. Get an internship this summer at a small/local place.
You seem very intelligent. Find something more to say about your kickass SAT and GPA.
You interned at a law office. Make it relevant! You can't be picky about work experience
If you are trying to get into IBD you need to show that you have worked before somewhere. The fact that you interned at a law office is great an shows that you are a smart kid so put it on there. Also putting that you are graduation in three years when you are only a freshmen is being shady. A 4.0 GPA looks a lot better 3 semesters in than just 1 semester, but this is just my 2 cents
Thanks for the responses, I've added the law office experience, created a version for a Spring 2016 graduation (only changing the major part), and added a bullet about results of an investment to the investment club section. Any help on how to better word the law office experience, which version looks better, or any other thoughts?
http://www.razume.com/documents/29135 (4 year graduation) http://www.razume.com/documents/29136 (3 year graduation)
Planning on sending out my resume on Monday, wanted to bump this to see if there are any other thoughts.
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