The Internship Hunt
Unlike KV and a slew of others, I have yet to line up an internship for the summer. The investment management field is a bit, well, stodgy for lack of a better word. It's no wonder so much $$$ has seen its way run towards hedge funds, who try to think different - or so at least some of them do.
There aren't a ton of spots available on the buy-side, so it is a bit of a struggle. It also justifies the "stodginess" to an extent, so I will cut the recruiters a little bit of slack on that line. With that being said, one of the interesting things is that typically analysts and Portfolio Managers are doing the interviewing for the roles I interview for. Are they qualified to actually know what to ask in personnel interviews? Or how about evaluating important criteria? It brings up an interesting point. Nevertheless, it's the game I am stuck in so I must play it. I'd prefer to go to a hedge fund that isn't trapped by rules and investing styles, since those rules tend to be what causes them to be worse-than-average investment vehicles, on average. However, if I feel like I will get the chance to learn from one or two far-better-than average types of PM's I would cherish the opportunity. So far I still have 17 potential places with applications that haven't been rejected (I've only received 2 official rejections but have had a few companies neglect to get back to me while interviewing other classmates). Not all of the 17 are buy-side jobs. One of them has to hit, right???? Right????
posted by rvb1977 @ 7:14 PM
9 Comments:
Good luck with this. Buy-side comps are just starting to come on campus right now so there is still a LOT of hope for you guys...
Why don't you look in London as well? With an MBA you automatically get a UK work permit.
Not entirely true. The MBA provision only applies to the top 10 UK schools and the top 40 international schools. The ranking is determined by a mix of salaries 3 years out and employability 3 months out. UW isn't on the list.
Good luck with the internship. I am an '08 applicant who appears to be following a very similar path: only applied to 2 schools (Indiana was one), hopeful career change to IM (with no professional experience), CFA Level I candidate. Your blog has been very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to keep writing.
The GF might kill me if I moved to London!
NOKEATING: One of the reasons for my blog is to find out about people like yourself and hopefully stay in touch with them. Feel free to drop me a line anytime...I think you can email me from my profile.
I get an error message when I click the contact link in your profile. My email address is smarolf@hotmail.com - I would certainly appreciate any thoughts or tips you may have picked up so far.
Yep, i had that messed up. it's fixed...of course, now that we've traded email it is irrelevant for you, but for the future it's fixed.
Thanks for pointing it out.
IM interviews can really be a pain in the butt. I've gone through two buyside interviews (extended offers both times) and it's not uncommon to meet the entire research team. The interview process is in many ways like meeting your fiance's protective family before you get married. "Fit" is an extremely important determining factor.
At the fund I currently work at, I went through 7 hours of interviewing and was asked to give 5 references (they called all of them) before getting the offer. In many ways, my background, interests, and life was analyzed like a stock before getting an offer.
Other than that, I personally find it best to get the interviewer to talk about themselves. good luck.
The most fascinating fact to me is that these interviews are more intense than the, um, government agency that I interviewed with. For sake of not saying which agency, let's just say I needed to be in good physical shape to perform the duties of the job. Of course, the process there was still more intense.
At any rate, the big paradox seems to be that these places want people who basically know all the material now, which obviously can't be the case, because, s------urrrrrprisssseee! We're students. Go figure!
I considered a career in clandestine services...until I became a dual-citizen and was issued a foreign passport lol. Oh well. Working in buyside is fine by me.
I definately agree with the experience paradox of many buyside jobs. Everyone wants you to have buyside experience to even be considered for a buyside job.
The key to getting your first buyside job is to have a story that resonates with the hiring manager. For instance, I wanted to work in buyside so badly I offered to work for free (think Warren Buffett's offer to Ben Graham) and called every local fund I could think of. Eventually, one of the PM's called me and gave me a shot (and actually paid me!)...I later found out that the PM who hired me essentially did the same thing (offering to work for free) when he was my age to get into the industry.
This is definately a mentor driven industry. Find the right person to take you under his (or her) wing and the sky is the limit.
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