Sophomore Investment Banking Summer Internships

Hey everyone,

Has anyone heard anything back from BAML, Citi, JPM about a superday? I applied to Citi and JPM early August, and BAML a few weeks ago.

 

Keep your GPA up - it's competitive given your difficult major. Keep in mind that coming from a non-target you need it as high as possible.

Also list your SAT scores - without it, BBs will reject you without even looking through the rest of your resume.

Lastly, contact alums from your school NOW in hopes of getting more finance experience under your belt.

The below site gives advice to students from all backgrounds (including Non-target), helping them land positions at BBs, with a few posts detailing the IBD experience. A lot of those insights would apply to you.

Good luck.


Chase Us, Break In!

Banking & Consulting: RESUME RE-WRITES AND COVER LETTERS http://chasingconsultantsbreakingbankers.blogspot.com/

 
breakingbankers:
Keep your GPA up - it's competitive given your difficult major. Keep in mind that coming from a non-target you need it as high as possible.

Also list your SAT scores - without it, BBs will reject you without even looking through the rest of your resume.

Lastly, contact alums from your school NOW in hopes of getting more finance experience under your belt.

The below site gives advice to students from all backgrounds (including Non-target), helping them land positions at BBs, with a few posts detailing the IBD experience. A lot of those insights would apply to you.

Good luck.

You're the first to tell me that SAT scores are really necessary, and I scored a 2010 which I don't feel is that competitive. What would you think seeing a 3.9 and a 2010 as opposed to just the GPA?

I'll give your site a good read, thanks. I'd be curious to know how I stack up against other sophs, given our general lack of actual experience - could you give me any indication?

 

I would change the bullets under the summer school section. Talk more about the two month program instead of stuff you "learned" it just sounds like fluff. (just an opinion though) I also think the skills section should be a little further up, before the experience section. I would delete the interests section and the mvp of the soccer tourney, (i would only keep it if it was like a national tourney or bigger) as an idea you can replace interests with school activities or professional organizations.

Just some opinions, hope it helps. You do have a great GPA for a difficult combo of majors.

Best of Luck!

 

King Ari,

For a recruiter who has less than a minute to review your resume, the most important information is not conveyed quickly and forcefully.

  1. Expand on your first two experiences - those are the most relevant. Give more context and focus on the results of your individual contributions.

  2. Put the first two experiences and the financial analyst experience under the heading "FINANCE EXPERIENCE"

  3. Put the remaining experiences under "EXTRACURRICULAR LEADERSHIP" -- also cut down on the descriptions or feel free to cut one of the least significant experiences to make space for expanding on above

  4. You need to put location/dates for your all your experiences

  5. add your SAT scores - many BBs will reject you automatically without them

Good luck, let me know if you have more questions


Chase Us, Break In!

Banking & Consulting: RESUME AND COVER LETTER RE-WRITES http://chasingconsultantsbreakingbankers.blogspot.com/

 

King Ari,

I have a contact in HR at UBS and he said they hate when they see things like "singularly managed $5M transaction..." on an intern's resume. Obviously as an intern you don't have that much resposibility (although if you really do- props to you). But in most cases interns (especially Sophomores) just do basic excel, powerpoint, etc stuff... So it looks like you're stretching the truth a little too much. Just my opinion though and from what I have heard.

 

hey bkobe516, that makes sense-i think ill take it off. i know it hards to believe, but I actually came on as an intern one day after the mandate was secured, and because the client side was in an emerging market where I was a native speaker, I was immediately put on the case and developed the investment memo alongside the presentational pitchbook for the consortium of vc's i arranged meetings with. however, when things did go further into the number talk, i was pulled from the talk and the avp's of the boutique took over. so i guess that makes sense...i didnt singularly manage, but I felt I was accountable for the sentence I placed in the resume.

but youre right-i feel it doesnt add enough value and it comes across badly

 

It is possible, but usually only happens through diversity / minority recruitment programs. If you qualify, I would look into this option. Otherwise, it's very unlikely and I would focus on getting something you like that is somewhat interesting and related to set yourself up for a junior internship.

 
Best Response

Sophomore IBD interns tend to be one of the following:

a) relative of an employee / client b) networking legend with a solid profile (great grades, great school, hustled to get in front of the right people [usually the staffer or people at the VP level or higher) c) finance rockstar (either great previous internships [one of the BB freshman internship {not externship, one-day camps} programs, or something else really recognizable] or perfect grades at a well-recognized school d) diversity candidate (and coming in through a program like JPM Launching Leaders, MS RBF, GS Scholarship for Excellence, CS Douglas Paul, etc.)

If you aren't (a) or (d) you can't do anything else except gun your hardest to be (b) or (c).

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

I just realized that my first post didn't answer your last question. I basically attended a few diversity programs during freshman summer and was in the interview process for BB scholarship programs in the fall.

In the end, I ended up signing an offer with my top choice after securing an interview purely through networking - not a formal diversity recruiting event. There are other avenues, but just keep in mind that they are much harder to come by. Refer to the comment above by APAE for advice on how to do this

 

My friends in finance are all ibanking analysts...soo....

Does this mean Trading Analyst positions are more exclusive/harder to get/prestigious/competitive?

As far as I know, all of my buddies only applied for IBD's and PE/HF and NOT S&T. I will ask why this is soon and post.

 

I've found that having some leadership or alternative business extra-curricular activities can be great e.g. be in an investing club (or one that gets good returns), START an investing club (always VERY impressive), be head of a student group on campus, etc. I've found that having something that shows huge initiative (like starting something up or reforming soething) or ~taking over something (like being a leader) is amazing on your resume. it doesn't eve have to be business- or finance-related.

 

Thanks for the swift reply nefarious -

Assuming outstanding EC's similar to those stated above, would the simple fact of Sophomore status make it more difficult / impossible to find an S&T summer internship at a BB?

Are there special programs at BB's for Sophomores who want to get into S&T?

***Also, if I techinically have Junior status through credits, is it alright to call myself a Junior (although I wouldn't be graduating as though I were a Junior - so I'm assuming it wouldn't be.)

+Hammy

 

There are less spots in trading because firms generally hire indefinitely and not for two year analyst classes. Plus, most desks have around one analyst, maybe none. Many have more directors than analysts. Most IBD groups have tons of analysts.

 

Is a trading analyst summer internship out of the question for a "Sophomore"?

Also, is the normal track something like:

  1. Trading analyst internship after Junior year.
  2. Trading analyst position after Senior year.

???

How many trading analysts will a BB hire for full-time positions each year?

Thanks, +Hammy

 

S&T is pretty tough to get as a sophomore.

I do know one guy who worked in GS FICC after his sophomore year of college. However, he attended a top 5 university and is truly extraordinarily bright, I'd say in the to 1-2% of his class (both in GPA and in raw intellectual horsepower). He also told them he was planning to graduate early (which was credible, since he took a very heavy courseload), though he always knew he'd be staying four years.

 

I'm gonna be honest with you, your chances are slim to none. Most BB programs for sophomores are diversity and the few non-diversity students who get in have killer connections. I know quite a few top tier target kids (gpa 3.9, finance internships, etc) who couldn't even get first rounds for sophomore programs, because they aren't diversity. As for EBs, the only one off the top of my head that has a sophomore specific program is PWP, but it's very competitive. If I were you, I would shoot for MM PE internships or boutique IB.

 

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