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Is DS making a mistake with work experience - investment banking

52 replies

Theworried2 · 25/06/2023 19:44

DS will be studying economics at Uni starting this year.
He wants to aim for a career in investment banking in the future and got 1 week work experience at JP Morgan, though this is a generic one covering all divisions. He also got an 8 week summer internship at an Insurance firm in underwriting and he has decided to take this one instead because he feels that he can earn some money and have some significant work experience in his CV.
However would this put him at a disadvantage in applying for spring weeks and summer internships in IB at the future, as the work experience at JP Morgan would signal his interest in the industry more.
he can’t do both as the dates clash.

OP posts:
ModeWeasel · 28/06/2023 15:06

Better to have 8 weeks where he can show some transferable skills. 1 week work experience is not going to have anything worth a bullet point on his CV. He can show interest in the industry by joining the relevant club at uni or similar.

cordiality · 28/06/2023 15:21

My DH is in investment banking, equity trading in a huge American bank, and employs a lot of grads. He sees hundreds of identical CVs (they've all been through HR first so are already whittled down).
(I'm also IB but do something niche and don't hire).
He looks for applicants who have done interesting and original student/part time jobs, who've actually earned some money because they've needed to, who have a little bit of get up and go. He'd rather see Starbucks than JP Morgan on a CV. Or the local pub. Or a building site.
They need real people who are motivated adults... and definitely not kids whose mums found them an internship programme online!
The world of IB is changing rapidly. It bears little relation now to those programmes like Industry. The guys on the trading desks are now far more likely to be attending a diversity and inclusion committee than doing coke in a wine bar. My DH is a neurodiversity lead at work and will go out of his way to find original and interesting people to work with.
So please tell your son it's a great industry which is ripe to be challenged by bright young people, he's got plenty of time, he should certainly take the paid internship and also go do something completely different while he can!

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