Should I give up my internship?
So I have a dilemma. I want to go into IB after I graduated, hopefully by landing a solid internship at a BB next year (my junior year). However, from what I've read on the forums, PWM internships are bs. I won't learn anything legitimate, I'll mostly cold call and do administrative duties. People are also saying that it's something I should have gotten as a freshman. Now, I currently have 2 BB PWM offers in branch offices in a large city. I have about a week to make a decision. The problem is, I want to work in something that will teach me more relevant skills for IB. I feel that I am a strong interviewer, and if I were able to land an internship with a local IB, I would have a pretty high chance of landing the job. However, I have no interviews so far with local banks. I go to a semi-target, sophomore, and live in a big city.
Should I just go with one of the PWM internships and be happy that I actually have a job? Or should I take the jump?
Your either and or are the same thing here really - they both say to take the PWM job. Which is what I would say as well - as a sophomore, PWM is fine, especially at a BB's branch office. The key factor you should use to pick between your two offers is, IMHO, which FA is more likely to "go to bat" (sorry HW) for you when it comes to IB SA interviews - it's these guys' job to have connections/contacts, the only question is whether they will leverage them on your behalf. Also, not all PWM jobs are equal - most are as you described, but some involve more substantive skills (which tend to be more relevant for S&T than IB, but substantive nonetheless).
DaCarez makes a great point. I worked in Private Banking as a SA for a BB branch office. Their job is to be well-connected, and the top private bankers are more connected than you can imagine. I kept my head down, performed well, and towards the end, my MD wanted to have lunch with another SA. She asked us if we wanted to explore the bank, and got me an interview/offer, no questions asked.
Def take PWM and try to leverage. Your only a sophomore; it's not even expected for you to get anything legitimate until junior year, and pwm is legit.
I did a PWM internship at Merrill. I did a lot of HW there, which was nice, and I got a 4.0 GPA that semester. When it came time for references for my ER job, they really came through for me and gave a glowing reference, even the resident director chipped in. Did I learn much? No, but somehow people really liked it on my resume. I would say go for it, it will really help for your next internship. Also, those people have good connections--I was emailing an MD in ER at Merrill (no positions available in my area at the time) based on thier reference. Tell them what you want to do and they might just hook u up with a viable network.
Yea, i did a PWM internship @ merrill too. you enjoy ur summer, and show that you're interested in finance. learned alot cos I was a freshman and didn't know squat about personal finance, and some of the FAs used to be analysts/associates, so they knew people. I networked and found a better internship for my sophomore year.
It's also about how you spin it on your resume. Try to make it sound more analytical, meaning when u're working there, ask for more "analyzing securities", calculating "return on investment", etc... worked for me :)
Thanks so much guys, I have a clearer idea now. There is also another unusual part to this. What if one of the banks expects me (and has told me upfront) that they expect me to intern this summer AND return next summer? If i were to work this summer, then turn them down for next summer (despite what they expect) would this ruin my chances of the MD "going to bat" for me? (this is considering that I work hard and impress them)
dude, everyone has PWM on their resume and no one puts "cold calling fools" on it. everyone writes something about securities, asset classes, blah blah and a bunch of BS.... but the thing is the guy scanning your resume and even interviewing knows that this is BS and will not ask you about it.. well they may, so at least be a little truthful and maybe that you helped out with 'marketing' or some masked name liek that. but def. throw in some quant analysis BS
Take one of the jobs and keep working hard. Developing the interest and selling the story is important as you move into your junior year interviews.
yeah man...dont give up the internship. Most people dont have one sophomore year and still get into IB junior year. Just tear the internship into pieces and kill it! And then network within the firm for the position u do want...if you are good they will accommodate you.
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