Sophomore with no internship for this upcoming summer
Hey guys so I've gotten myself into a bit of a problem and I'm stressing out a lot. I'm a sophomore at a target school that still has failed to find an internship for this upcoming summer, but would like to eventually work in an MBB. My question is: what should I be doing right now? Is it too late to find an unpaid job at a small boutique i-bank through cold emailing? I've also been applying to a lot of general business/finance internships that I see open up at companies, but no luck so far.
Some relevant info:
3.94 GPA, finance club senior analyst, accepted to a selective certificate program at the business school
I'm in this position because of my lack of motivation this past year and the toll that the schoolwork has been taking on me, but I'm willing to put in the work I need to turn things around. I'm just wondering if it's too late for me to seriously be able to consider an internship/job at a MBB by the end of college.
Keep interviewing and applying for everything you can. Lots of boutique firms in various industries recruit later in the season.
I got 2 offers for sophomore summer internships in Mid May (and even had an HF I applied for ask for a phone interview in early June after I'd started my internship), so you definitely still have time to find something.
Stay on your job boards at your school and apply to anything that seems remotely interesting, and network to see if you can find any opportunities that aren't listed. With a high GPA, some relevant club experience and enough job applications, you should have no problem finding something.
Good luck!
I can't thank you enough for responding, I was really freaking out earlier.
Would a Sales, Planning, and Administration internship at a really big name-brand Fortune 500 company help me a decent amount for junior summer MBB internships? I just got an interview request for this summer.
I recruited for IB and not consulting so take what I say with a grain of salt. I'm not entirely sure what that internship entails, so I can't comment on it too much, sounds like a sales/business dev type job.
That internship will 100% be better than having nothing to show for your sophomore summer, I would recommend giving it your all in the interview so that you can use this as a backup to relax, but you should definitely keep networking and applying for roles that may help you develop a better story as to why you want to pick consulting.
Feel free to PM me anytime.
You could try your hand in a startup, or grab some volunteer experience! It gives you a cool experience, lets you own your results, and if you can make some decent revenue it shows that you know how to grind. You don't want to limit yourself to the heuristic that MBB only takes people with name brand internships or something in finance: At the end of the day, as long as you have the horsepower and drive (which, from your description, I don't doubt at all!) then showing that you're not cookie cutter is helpful. Junior year, absolutely go for it with bigger internships, but for right now, do something you really love. Could be some non-profit work out in Sub-Saharan Africa, or joining one that's scrappy and raised a seed round, or even doing your own. Don't stress at all, just work hard and grind, and it'll show. You've got this.
Thanks for the kind words, I really needed them. If I don't find something great this summer, say end up working at some non-profit stuff like you said or a more back office type job at a large company, is my GPA/school good enough to somewhat make up for it and possibly get me an MBB interview in the fall?
If not, then maybe a full time interview the next year, assuming I get something better next summer?
Working at a non-profit is a fantastic substitute to working an internship... if you're actually committed to the cause and would love to talk about it during an interview. I have friends at McKinsey who took their sophomore summer off to lead church services and educational programs for a homeless community in Chicago. If you're studying at a target with a 3.94, MBB will likely see this volunteering as you deciding to take on a passion and give back to a community rather than take a job that other applicants of your status might have placed into. They're humans too: they understand that college is one of the last times you might have a completely free summer. That being said, they expect to get this vibe from your responses during an interview with them; they'll detect bullshit answers very quickly.
Great advice, couldn't agree more!
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