Landing the Coveted BB SA Internship in Australia

Hi all

I'm here in hope of some criticism and opinions on my candidacy and competitiveness for obtaining a summer internship, preferably with a bulge bracket.

In terms of education, I attend a target school in Australia (one of the G8 universities) and have a 3.5/4.0 GPA - nothing flash, but my weighted average mark is a very low 80. I major in finance as well as engineering geology (I chose this on the basis of Australia's landscape and affinity for natural resources / mining and metals. It's worth noting I previously attended a non-target (since discontinued upon transfer) and am in my 'first year' of studies, penultimate and ready for internships next year.

In terms of experience, I have a few internships. I've interned at an asset manager (family office) which nobody has really heard of. I've also done some research at a fintech firm and was an intern over the summer at a very lean, boutique advisory shop (think regional that nobody has heard of). All three of these were sourced through tenacious networking over LinkedIn - none of the firms run a structured intake program.

In terms of my extracurricular involvements, I received a bursary / scholarship to attend a conference held in Asia focused primarily on economics. I also have some more random like charitable involvements and strategy-driven student club participation.

What can I be doing to best improve my candidacy? Should I be applying to Big 4 internships and then (hoping to) leverage that for a bulge bracket internship? That seems to be the path of least resistance in Australia, only complaint is that it would delay my graduation yet again (for then getting into a bank).

I am apprehensive to apply to the banks if I don't yet have a shot in fear of been auto-dinged the following year - is this a thing? For those outside of Australia who may be unaware, investment banking really is a backwater here - a summer analyst class of 10 would be considered big, with some firms only hiring 5 or so. Worth noting there are 8 target schools which are feeders too (which I attend one of).

Thanks in advance

 

Hi John Tuld, the silence is deafening, sorry about that.... Any of the threads below helpful?

  • Local Bulge Bracket Internship at an Overseas office or Local Internship Bulge Bracket in my region but not a Bulge Bracket or 2) A local internship (Equity Sales-Trading, more of ... execution trading) with a Bulge Bracket locally. Note: This is not SA, just a professional attachment summer ... Bracket and perhaps leverage on it Kindly advise this confused junior monkey =// Bulge Bracket
  • What do I need to do now to get a Bulge Bracket Internship? intern at a bulge bracket this summer, but I will apply for next. I also have connections through my ... close proximity and a good intern track record. Is it feasible to get a B.B. internship next summer ... intern analyst at a mid-market M&A firm in my home city. In addition to my work
  • From <2 GPA, to Bulge Bracket and Hedge Fund sent over 300 emails during the semesters to look for summer internship. However, obviously I was too ... their office to the new location across the street. And me, as an summer intern, has spent a sweaty ... summer packing all the documents and stuff in the office... Year-3-and-4...and year-5 in
  • Top REPE (Real Estate Private Equity) to Bulge Bracket Investment Bank during OCR Fall 2012 FT recruiting is not too far from today. I have been working as a summer analyst /summer intern at ... a top REPE in the west coast. I was paid a low hourly wage; however, I found it to be a very valuable ... have been offered to extend my internship to the Fall. I have been working for ~60 hours/wk, but the ...
  • Non-Target to Bulge Bracket IBD a summer internship offer at a BB IBD, and will be going back full-time after accepting the return offer. ... interested in pursuing an internship / full-time job on Wall Street. I was an arts and sciences major my ... networked quite a bit to land a lower middle-market PE internship my freshman year (just shows you that with ...
  • Wealth Advisor Salary at Bulge Bracket Banks I have heard from a MD at a top BB that the average annual compensation for a Private Wealth ... which is easily on par with senior BB MDs in IBD and S&T. If you manage lets say $2 billion and ... charge high fees (basis points) is it likely that you can make in the $3-4MM range? Senior Private Wealth ...
  • What are my chances for landing an entry level job at a bulge bracket bank? GPA. I could not get the big time internships at the largest firms/banks that lead to a full time ... offer. However, I have interned at 2 local investment firms (One had $350 mil AUM and the other had just ... shares to make Buy, Sell, or Hold recommendations. Do I stand a chance at landing an entry level job in ...
  • Thoughts on these Non Bulge Bracket Investment Banks about me. I'm a junior interested in a summer analyst position in investment banking and not ... trading. While I'm throwing apps out to many of the bulge bracket banks, I've been targeting ... GPA, and the fact an internship at a solid middle market would put me in a good position for full-time ...
  • More suggestions...

Or maybe the following WSO members have something to say: hpanz Jonathan-Freire spur5

Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 
Most Helpful

I'll bite, I'm also an Aussie.

I'd be applying for Big 4 TAS/M&A and then networking like an animal. I had similar, albeit probably worse, marks/experience than you but because I could front up to people as an actual human being they were willing to take a gamble. I'd also highly recommend doing some case competitions (UBS, CFA, Stock Pitch) to get some modelling skills up and also to learn stuff they just don't teach you in lectures.

Worst case scenario you end up doing a year or two in TAS at Big 4 then lateralling over. Talking to people in industry this is often seen as much more favourable that just going straight into IB after undergrad as you develop better accounting skills earlier on.

 

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