Intern AM United States

Hi everyone,

I'm a student of a Swiss University (one of the most known for Master in Finance). Next year will be the last one of my Master and I want to find an internship (at least 3 months, 6 better) to complete my studies. My goal is to get an internship abroad, in particular in the US. It would start from the beginning of March 2019 approximately.

I have no specific working experience in the industry, but I will work two months during this summer in one of the main city in Switzerland for a small Asset Management firm. I have not a stellar GPA, even though above average. My Master is deeply quantitative, it has been a Master in Financial Engineering until a few years ago. In September I will undertake the CAIA Level I exam and my intention is to study for CFA Level I (December) and CAIA Level II exam (March).

My question is this: how can I increase my chances to get an internship there? Networking will be useful for sure, but is there something else that I could do to not be rejected only at looking at my CV? What are they looking for in a candidate? How could I really differentiate myself from the other candidates? On what I should focus more: GPA, CFA/CAIA, networking, else?

Any advice would be extremely appreciated, thanks!