<p>I have been reading a few posts over the past half hour and am curious to know the decisions I should make to maximize my chances of landing a job in IB. I am currently a junior that is transferring into the University of Tampa with a 3.85 GPA. Obviously the school is not top tier but reasonably speaking I have heard they have a pretty strong program overall in regards to finance. I recently developed my passion for trading and the investments side of finance and have no prior internship/work experience. Where are the best places to land these internships at the major banks? Considering I don't have an Ivy under my name yet my original intention was going straight for my master's, would that be a good idea? Thank you all for the help!</p>
<p>Also considering being a trader for banking firms. I have a paper-trading account with ToS and have developed a sound strategy for day-trading Forex over the past couple months.</p>
<p>IB will be tough since you’re at a non-target. S&T can be more results-based so it might be a bit more doable if you can demonstrate consistent returns in your accounts.</p>
<p>So using my paper trading account consistently and building on it would be a strong asset to landing the job? I don’t have real $$ considering my family is broke so building my talents on the ToS software. I have been day-trading and up 15% over the last month and a half with consistent winning trades. Got my technical analysis down packed for the Forex markets and really want to land a strong internship in the field. Where are the best places to search for the right internship? Considering I am in Florida it seems to of been tough for me to find a good internship in that field. Thanks again for the response.</p>
<p>Apply to some target schools for your Master’s, if not then just work hard, network hard and surprise people at interviews.</p>
<p>Sorry, I was skimming your post and missed the fact that it’s a trading simulator. I’m not sure how much credit they will give you for that. Your emotions really affect your trading decisions when you are using the real stuff, which will then change the results. It’s definitely better than nothing but just be aware you’ll probably be up against kids who have real accounts.</p>
<p>Thank you guys. I trade purely technical based and stop limits. I try my best not to let emotions have any say in the trades. Definitely when using real money things change. Just trying to build a confidence in the strategy so I don’t question it. I am a complete “noob” as they would say. Where would you suggest on going to build strong networks and land a good internship in the field? I would be fine with S&T or investment banking.</p>
<p>Career fair…talk to everyone</p>
<p>Career fair will give you the best chances, see who will being coming to campus this fall. Otherwise, I would be cold calling trading firms in December-January about summer internships. If all else fails, go for PWM and try to transition to trading later.</p>