3 answers
Carmen
Student
1
Question
Updated
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#Fall24 What advice would you give to a prospective Financial Analyst? How should I go about finding internships? I am a college freshman as of Fall, 2024.
#FALL24 What advice would you give to a prospective Financial Analyst? How should I go about finding internships? I am a college freshman majoring in Finance, as of Fall 2024.
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3 answers
Doc Frick
Career Coach and Mentor
1942
Answers
California, CA
Updated
Doc’s Answer
The competition to get into a finance internship is intense, and staying well-prepared becomes a key to the process. Your success, tracking from before you join as an intern to when you move out of the same, largely depends on your resume, your performance in the interview, and the networking you form once in the position.
✅ MAKE THE GRADE
The first step to gaining an internship is to perform well in your finance courses and get good grades. Getting good grades can show employers that you're a reliable individual with a strong work ethic because you complete your coursework according to your instructors' demands and have a proven interest in financial concepts. Depending on the internship, some programs may set a minimum GPA requirement for candidates.
📝 READY YOUR RESUME
Your sophomore year is when banks will actively be recruiting for junior internships. Make sure you are set up for success so when the time comes, you are polished and ready to nail your interviews. You should build your connections, gain valuable work and leadership experiences, practice your story, and know your technical skills.
🖥️ KNOW EXCEL
For anyone hoping to get into investment banking, Microsoft Excel is extremely important. Junior analysts and associates use Excel almost every day for return analyses, data mining, and more. Learning Excel while you’re a freshman means fewer late nights teaching yourself later on.
Ⓜ️ MASTER QUANTITATIVE SKILLS
Finance internships are heavily quantitative and students hoping to pursue a career in the industry will need to demonstrate mathematical abilities. By taking the right courses and practicing technical skills, you’ll be able to build a solid foundation. You don’t need to be a math major, but you do need to be good with numbers.
✅ MAKE THE GRADE
The first step to gaining an internship is to perform well in your finance courses and get good grades. Getting good grades can show employers that you're a reliable individual with a strong work ethic because you complete your coursework according to your instructors' demands and have a proven interest in financial concepts. Depending on the internship, some programs may set a minimum GPA requirement for candidates.
📝 READY YOUR RESUME
Your sophomore year is when banks will actively be recruiting for junior internships. Make sure you are set up for success so when the time comes, you are polished and ready to nail your interviews. You should build your connections, gain valuable work and leadership experiences, practice your story, and know your technical skills.
🖥️ KNOW EXCEL
For anyone hoping to get into investment banking, Microsoft Excel is extremely important. Junior analysts and associates use Excel almost every day for return analyses, data mining, and more. Learning Excel while you’re a freshman means fewer late nights teaching yourself later on.
Ⓜ️ MASTER QUANTITATIVE SKILLS
Finance internships are heavily quantitative and students hoping to pursue a career in the industry will need to demonstrate mathematical abilities. By taking the right courses and practicing technical skills, you’ll be able to build a solid foundation. You don’t need to be a math major, but you do need to be good with numbers.
Katie Cooper
Auditor
4
Answers
Dallas, Texas
Updated
Katie’s Answer
Hi, Carmen! It's awesome you are already thinking ahead to obtaining an internship that would allow you to see what a future job using your Finance degree would look like.
The best ways to prepare for your future career as a Financial Analyst while in school would be to do the following:
1) Do well in your classes (especially related to your Finance major);
2) Get involved on campus in a couple of groups/organizations that interest you and try to take on leadership roles (builds your resume); and
3) Intern in a Finance-related role to see if you like the field and to find out what interests you most.
To obtain an internship, keeping up your grades and having a diverse resume is important. It's understandable that you won't have a lot of previous work experience, Finance classes, nor extracurricular involvement as a Freshman, but that's okay - that will come with time! I found my internships that I had in college through family friends, professors, and my college's career counseling center. I especially found the career counseling center to be very helpful. They were able to match me with internships that would allow me to use the classes I had taken and was in my desired line of work. They coached me on how to succeed in my interviews and how to improve my resume to align with the job posting - and this was offered through my college's business school free of cost!
Don't be discouraged as you apply to internships either. It's completely normal to receive rejections - I've been rejected more times than I can count - but keep applying and stay positive. There is a company out there and an internship opportunity that will see the talent and skills you bring to the table and give you an offer. You've got this - wishing you best of luck!
The best ways to prepare for your future career as a Financial Analyst while in school would be to do the following:
1) Do well in your classes (especially related to your Finance major);
2) Get involved on campus in a couple of groups/organizations that interest you and try to take on leadership roles (builds your resume); and
3) Intern in a Finance-related role to see if you like the field and to find out what interests you most.
To obtain an internship, keeping up your grades and having a diverse resume is important. It's understandable that you won't have a lot of previous work experience, Finance classes, nor extracurricular involvement as a Freshman, but that's okay - that will come with time! I found my internships that I had in college through family friends, professors, and my college's career counseling center. I especially found the career counseling center to be very helpful. They were able to match me with internships that would allow me to use the classes I had taken and was in my desired line of work. They coached me on how to succeed in my interviews and how to improve my resume to align with the job posting - and this was offered through my college's business school free of cost!
Don't be discouraged as you apply to internships either. It's completely normal to receive rejections - I've been rejected more times than I can count - but keep applying and stay positive. There is a company out there and an internship opportunity that will see the talent and skills you bring to the table and give you an offer. You've got this - wishing you best of luck!
Kate Lovejoy
Consulting - Finance & Technology
2
Answers
Charlotte, North Carolina
Updated
Kate’s Answer
Hi Carmen! First of all, asking these questions as a Freshman means you are already on a great path. You're thinking ahead and being intentional with your time. I think you have a great future ahead of you, and wish you all the best.
Great answer from Doc above. A couple of additional points I'd add:
1. JOIN COMMUNITIES -
1a. In person: Depending on your school, see if there are clubs / groups on campus related to your career aspirations - these can be great peer-to-peer learning opportunities and networking with alumni in the field who can help with referrals, interview prep, and resume feedback.
1b. Virtual: If you don't have any such clubs on campus, finding a virtual community can be incredibly effective. LinkedIn is a great resource, you can search for groups to join and leverage LinkedIn to find folks currently or previously in the positions you are interested in to connect and network with.
2. DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF -
2a. Unique Skills / Experience: Understand the bare minimum qualifications and meet those, and then find unique ways to set your resume apart from the crowd. That could be through relevant research, relevant volunteering (e.g., starting a financial literacy nonprofit / club on campus), getting unique certifications, etc. This is not to say that you don't want to excel in the key qualifications (e.g., GPA), but that those key qualifications are not everything when it comes to finding the best talent. Often firms are looking for unique talent to add into the mix.
2b. Competitions: I went to a non-target school for recruiting, but they had great competitions through the business school sponsored by big firms to compete in challenges, E.g. PwC xTax Competition. I wasn't interested in Tax particularly but used it as an opportunity to learn and network.
Great answer from Doc above. A couple of additional points I'd add:
1. JOIN COMMUNITIES -
1a. In person: Depending on your school, see if there are clubs / groups on campus related to your career aspirations - these can be great peer-to-peer learning opportunities and networking with alumni in the field who can help with referrals, interview prep, and resume feedback.
1b. Virtual: If you don't have any such clubs on campus, finding a virtual community can be incredibly effective. LinkedIn is a great resource, you can search for groups to join and leverage LinkedIn to find folks currently or previously in the positions you are interested in to connect and network with.
2. DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF -
2a. Unique Skills / Experience: Understand the bare minimum qualifications and meet those, and then find unique ways to set your resume apart from the crowd. That could be through relevant research, relevant volunteering (e.g., starting a financial literacy nonprofit / club on campus), getting unique certifications, etc. This is not to say that you don't want to excel in the key qualifications (e.g., GPA), but that those key qualifications are not everything when it comes to finding the best talent. Often firms are looking for unique talent to add into the mix.
2b. Competitions: I went to a non-target school for recruiting, but they had great competitions through the business school sponsored by big firms to compete in challenges, E.g. PwC xTax Competition. I wasn't interested in Tax particularly but used it as an opportunity to learn and network.