Sterne Agee DCM internship or Goldman Sachs operations?

I'm a junior in college making an extremely important decision for my future. I come from a non-target school, and it was a miracle that I got an interview and then an offer from GS in Salt Lake City. On the contrary, Sterne Agee recruits from my school, and the internship is in Birmingham, AL. I have no intention of staying in operations after I graduate, and I'd really like to get into investment banking. Which should I accept?

8 Comments
 

This is actually a tough one.....lets see what happens.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

Sorry OP not familiar with Sterne Agee, is it a boutique?

Boutique --> MM/BB (fairly easily doable after 1-2 years when the existing analyst classes clear out) GS Back Office --> Front Office Anywhere (close to 0 chance)

I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who has made mistakes in his career. Relevant experience beats irrelevant brand anytime.

 

London-Monkey- Would you say I'm cornering myself by accepting the GS internship? Are exit ops for the post-internship period just as bad as the exit ops for an analyst that's been in the field for a few years?

 

Ops is a bad idea. Unless the full time recruiting season is very hot, your resume will likely get passed for someone with more relevant experience. London-Monkey's comment was spot on in my opinion.

 
Best Response

Ops is Ops. Sterne Agee is a boutique, but they have offices in NYC and other states. Being a junior I would say you have another bite at the apple after this. I'd do this internship and start networking with banks like Harris Williams, SunTrust, BB&T, etc. HW would be king, but ST and BB&T all have decent capital markets groups. I mention these places because I think they would be the easiest and more geographically logical next steps. But of course keep reaching out to other places, etc.

 

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