Trying to get an internship this late in the process (almost March), any advice/strategy? (soph, non-target)

ALF.:

Thanks FSC. Good to hear that there is still some shot. The fact that I'm willing to work for free will hopefully help.

I am a little worried about the point that you brought up. The smaller the firm the less I'll know about them/be able to research them, so I don't want to be in a sweatshop.

In my ideal mind/world I was thinking since I'll be a late intern who is working for free, so the firm must not be huge/crazy deals...meaning only 60-70 hour work weeks. hahahaha I can dream right?

My other nightmare is getting one and setting up housing and everything and then like a week before I start I get a call and they are like "LOL jk, we don't have room for you to intern with us this summer, good luck"

couchy:

didn't land one til june but FYI - if you can cold call or email your way in, the bank might be desperate themselves...

What exactly do you mean by this? Similar to the above?

Thanks for the responses guys.

Here's what I think:

First, to address what couchy said: firms aren't "desperate" for interns PER SE, however some firms will hire anybody they can just to say they have interns, and subsequently proceed to giving them/you garbage work or no work at all. I think that's what couchy meant. When I say garbage work, I mean shit that doesn't include modeling, actual research, client interaction, or anything that eventually impacts the bottom line at all. I did an internship at a firm where there was literally no work for interns to do, and though I did turn it into something useful, believe me when I say that you'd rather avoid that situation in the first place.

Then there are those firms that just want kids to do their cold calling busywork. I was misled into thinking I had an awesome internship after interviewing with two "MDs" and being asked about my consulting experience, finance knowledge, etc. When I walked in to the office, it was the two "MDs" trading away with a bunch of other interns sidelined by hundred of pages of leads to cold call. I didn't even put my stuff down - I walked out the door before they could even close it behind me. Then I proceeded to take an offer with the previously mentioned internship doing nothing lol. It was definitely a tough time to find work as a student, and it was the first and (hopefully) last time I had to do something so shitty.

To wrap this up, I think you should understand that it is still possible to land a good, paid internship (which I highly, highly suggest you muscle up and do), and that the world of unpaid work is significantly different from that of paid programs and summer internships, etc. Your hunt will encompass a broad spectrum of good, bad, and weird companies, and it's important for you to know exactly what you're getting in to. I think unpaid positions are significantly more risky than the paid ones only because people often just don't understand what they're committing to.

Make sure that whatever firm you sign up to work with has people from a good background (top schools and experience), has appropriate business of the type you want to do (if it's M&A, ask about what kind of deals they're working on during the interview), and do some research on the company's alumni. If people go from that company to someplace good, you're golden. But if you see that they all move out of banking or are just unheard from again in business, take heed of that.

And finally, ask good questions during interviews. Don't sound like a douche (obviously), but don't be afraid to ask questions pertinent to their business either. "So, if I might ask, what are some things you have in the pipeline for your banking team?" "Okay, so you mentioned yada yada type of work. I'm curious about what you're mostly expecting - might my work be 50% modeling, 40% supporting analysts, etc?" Questions like that are not too overt (they're translated as: "What's your deal flow like?" and "What will I do all day?"), and answer some important facts for you.

So, to really wrap this up, good luck. The sooner and harder you commit to finding work, the more likely you are to get something good. And shoot for that paid position, there's still a shit ton of time to find something.

Disclosure: this is all from my experience in NYC. There are literally hundreds of boutique firms both good and bad here. Other cities may be different / less diverse.