Hello CCer’s,
I am entering sophomore year as a combined medical applicant. I am interested in pursuing an investment banking internship for a summer. I think that it is a cool experience that I can relate to even as I continue on my path to becoming a physician. My summer after junior year is the only summer that has me stay at school. I am free the rest of the summers to do what I want. Please give me a timeline of what to do and when to do it.
Well that means your only summer is next summer. Are you a URM? Most IB internships, other than for certain minorities, are for the summer after junior. What college do you attend? Are you in a “feeder” school - Ivies, top LACs and highly regarded undergrad BSchools of flagships? Also what do you define as IB? Are you talking about a company/division that handles corporate financing for companies, sales and trading of securities, investment management for institutions, M&A advisory or anything in finance, including individual wealth management and commercial banking?
I mention feeder schools because banks will come out to recruit interns at those school beginning late summer early/early fall. If you are not at a feeder school, or get shut out because you are not in the BSchool, you’ll need to come up with a list of institutions now, get on their hiring website and make your application submissions as soon as they are open for next summer (probably should do that even if you are in a feeder school to get on their “invite” list when they do go on campus).
If you aspire to one of these big name/big compensation firms and you are not a URM (from a feeder school with great grades), chances are basically nil for a summer after sophomore year internship. If you are considering smaller regional firms, it will still be very difficult as a person on a medical track. Private companies don’t provide internships to give kids an “experience”, they are trying to hire/prescreen full time employees down the road.
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Agreed, these companies are using internships as an extended interview for new hires. They are not looking for kids wanting an experience. I would use your summers to gain skills and experience that will support your chosen career in medicine.
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Several years ago, the competition for top finance students became so intense that summer internships for rising juniors became quite common. However, the internships seem to go to students from the primary IB target schools.
Agree with the others that it will be nearly impossible to find a firm that will spend the money and training time just to give you an “experience” - plus you’ll be competing against finance/IB majors from prestigious programs. When my daughter interviewed for her IB internship, she spent days studying and preparing, and had to engage in industry-related conversations with top IB professionals. Not something one does on a whim.
This is the case among my D and her friend group that is ultimately targeting finance jobs (broader than just IB). They are rising juniors at a top LAC and nearly all of them have internships this summer…some in IB, but some in asset management (both traditional and alternative, debt and/or equity), other functional areas within banks, even consulting.
OP, I would spend time getting patient facing experience that will better prepare you for med school, rather than an IB internship.
OP, there is some bad information in this thread. Can you get an IB internship? Sure you can. Should you? Probably not. Most of the sophomore IB internships are in fact for experience and do not result in full-time or return offers. They are mostly not at the bulge brackets, elite boutiques, or middle market firms, however. And landing one will be competitive. But you could land one if you put in the work. But why? If you are focused on medicine, traditional pre-med patient-care activities would serve you better.
I agree that there is some bad information in this thread. I disagree with the post above. Easy to verify with a quick google search.
For example:
“An investment banking internship is an extended job interview.”
“The main reason that getting an investment banking internship is so important lies in the statistical fact that a large percentage of all full-time offers go to interns who are hired back.”
Also, Bank of America has a current ad on indeed seeking sophomores & juniors for IB positions in 6 specialties. The Bank of America ad states:
“At completion of the summer program successful candidates are eligible to be offered employment in a 24 month credit analyst program.”
Your post isn’t even clear whether you are responding to me or not. The fact is very few big banks, including BOA, hire sophomores who aren’t coming in through diversify recruitment. OP didn’t indicate they are diversity. You may find a few who aren’t. Full time offers generally go to junior summer interns — facts gotten from personal knowledge and not a quick Google search.
https://www.internships.com/posting/bug_38990266791
“For students seeking full-time jobs in investment banking after graduation, a summer internship after junior year is an absolute requirement, as the vast majority of full-time positions are awarded to summer interns.”
OP: A couple of banks (including either MS or JPM–I cannot recall) were recruiting so early on elite target school campuses (such as Princeton & Penn), that the schools pressured the IBs to delay recruiting. The competition for the best talent is intense.