I am currently deciding between two fall internship opportunities. One is at a small, early-stage venture capital firm run by a nationally-renowned angel investor, ex-entrepreneur, and author. The other is in the wealth management division at MassMutual under the Vice President of Wealth Management at the local office. Given that I'm not really sure what area of finance I want to pursue, what advice/factors should I consider when making my decision?
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If you actually get to work on deals at the VC (due diligence, basic modelling, seeing cap tables, industry research, meeting with founders, etc.), that would be valuable experience. If you're going to be a "startup scout" (only looking for interesting startups) or just doing administrative work, it's not worth your time.
Hmm cold call grandma to let her know she's gonna die one day vs cold call companies, prospecting funding situations.
Tough one.
Hi Putin, thank you for your information. I have been doing an internship at a deal-sourcing company (no financial modelings) for two months now. Although I have been working on live deals, I feel that this is a little bit a waste of time. How would you recommend me to polish this experience on my resume? / What can I do to make this experience without financial modeling more credible? Thanks a lot.
What if, hypothetically, I took both opportunities in one semester? Would there be an ethical problem with that? Would it look impressive to employers in the future if I could pull it off?
No it wouldn't, because the implication would be that neither internship is useful by itself. I see people packing their LinkedIns and resumes with random positions that are individually and collectively weak. Quality > quantity
huge linkedin pet peve of mine
Even if it's just administrative work, I'm fairly certain it's going to be more marketable than wealth management (especially at MassMutual, which might just be cold calling insurance..?)
avoid mass mutual at all costs
If the brofessor says avoid MassMutual, avoid it
Just to clarify: I am aware of the Financial Services Representative internship position at MassMutual/Northwestern Mutual, which asks interns to call family and friends and cold call to sell insurance. However, this is not the internship I would be taking on. This particular MassMutual branch is shifting its focus towards wealth management, and I would be an intern under the VP of Wealth Management.
Let's say I interned at the VC firm Mondays/Wednesdays, and MassMutual Tuesdays/Thursdays. Is there a conflict of interest between these jobs? Would future employers understand that I'm trying to find the area that is best fit for me?
I'm no employer, but I feel they might interpret this as an attempt to buff your resume, rather than one in which you genuinely want to learn. The latter may be the truth, but they may not see it that way, unfortunately.
if both are paid, I think it's easy to explain. I've had up to 3 jobs at one time, internships included. if they're both unpaid, then yeah that would strike me as odd.
I would be taking on 3 jobs as well (2 internships and a part time on-campus job.) They are all paid.
bump
What are the "exit options" for venture capital and wealth management? Which has a higher chance of leading to portfolio manager (particularly hedge funds) or private equity? Is it even possible to get into these areas without starting as an IB analyst at a BB?
Do VC
VC, you idiot.
Rarely does WM add sufficient value to a resume. VC is much more interesting. From an interviewers perspective, I'd ascribe more value to VC than WM.
VC hands down, don't try to juggle both. Focus on VC and crush it
Venture capital. Does this even need asking?
VC. Sounds more interesting and it would be easier to change to WM if you decided to later.
Would getting into VC early in my undergrad career put me in a good place to transition into PE after graduating? or do I need the banking experience?
VC deals tend to be more focused on the tech rather than the finance aspect, while PE deals focus on the latter. Assuming that the VC is well known (as you mentioned) and that you have IBD experience before applying to the PE, name-brand VC looks better on a PE resume than MassMutual.
Edit: To answer your question, just outta undergrad is going to be difficult unless you're targeting small/lower MM PE shops. Now if you were at Stanford and interning at Benchmark or Sequoia Capital (for illustration only), then maybe Silverlake or AccelKKR (again for illustration purposes) might consider you
is this also the case with hedge funds?
also i wouldn't say the VC is name-brand,the CEO is just well-known. not sure if that's the same thing or not
It's hard to land a good job in VC, especially at entry level. So if you do decide to pursue that path after your done with school, you already might have an entry angle or at least some network there which you can leverage.
Take the VC internship.
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