How important are internships?

[Eric.Z]

Hey guys...How important are internships compared to a first job from admission's perspective?

I have done one quantitative finance internship in a small firm in China and two actuarial internships in a consulting firm in the US. Although I doubt how much overlap there are between an IBD position and a quant job, it seems that the MFE programs like students who have banking experience. Is it important to get an IBanking internship , which i know is not easy to get in, from admission's perspective? How about a full time job?

 

[JulianT]

What is IBD?

 

[Eric.Z]

What is IBD?

Investment banking department I suppose.

 

[pplstuff]

I was thinking Investment Bank Developer. A full-time job will always trump any part-time work/internship. Not only does it show maturity/professionalism, but it also would imply that you have learned more about yourself and you have a better idea of what you'd like your career path to be.

To answer the question: Yes, an IB internship is important, and full-time financial work is better.

 

[Eric.Z]

I was thinking Investment Bank Developer. A full-time job will always trump any part-time work/internship. Not only does it show maturity/professionalism, but it also would imply that you have learned more about yourself and you have a better idea of what you'd like your career path to be.

To answer the question: Yes, an IB internship is important, and full-time financial work is better.

i have no doubt that an IB developer position would prepare one for an MFE program. As for now, I have a full job offer in an actuarial position from the company where i interned. Would you recommend me to stay one more year in college and try looking for another job offer?

 

[pplstuff]

I'm in an MBA program at the moment (looking into MFE for after), so I may not be the most appropriate person to take recommendations from.

Are you saying, "I can graduate now and take a full-time position. Or, I can postpone graduation and keep looking for more relevant experience. Either way, I'm applying in the fall."? If I'm understanding this correctly, here is my opinion.

It would be beneficial to delay graduation only if you will be improving your MFE application in some way (improving GPA, taking more relevant/advanced coursework, working on special projects, joining financial clubs/organizations, networking, getting stronger recommendations, etc.). At the same time, you probably wouldn't want to have holes in your employment history on your resume. So, if you decide to stay in school, maybe you can extend your internship another semester and look for a stronger/better fitting internship for the following semester. All that said, if you don't see any way to significantly improve your application on paper through school, take the job. By taking the job you'll beef up your resume and (in theory) be able to write a more practical/"real world" statement of purpose.

Also, by taking the job you'll develop more skills which means you could add value/prospective to an MFE program. You can have all the degrees in the world, but if you can't do anything no one will hire you (or accept you into a top program). You have to be able to add value somewhere.

 

[Eric.Z]

I'm in an MBA program at the moment (looking into MFE for after), so I may not be the most appropriate person to take recommendations from.

Are you saying, "I can graduate now and take a full-time position. Or, I can postpone graduation and keep looking for more relevant experience. Either way, I'm applying in the fall."? If I'm understanding this correctly, here is my opinion.

It would be beneficial to delay graduation only if you will be improving your MFE application in some way (improving GPA, taking more relevant/advanced coursework, working on special projects, joining financial clubs/organizations, networking, getting stronger recommendations, etc.). At the same time, you probably wouldn't want to have holes in your employment history on your resume. So, if you decide to stay in school, maybe you can extend your internship another semester and look for a stronger/better fitting internship for the following semester. All that said, if you don't see any way to significantly improve your application on paper through school, take the job. By taking the job you'll beef up your resume and (in theory) be able to write a more practical/"real world" statement of purpose.

Also, by taking the job you'll develop more skills which means you could add value/prospective to an MFE program. You can have all the degrees in the world, but if you can't do anything no one will hire you (or accept you into a top program). You have to be able to add value somewhere.

Thanks for your advice. You are exactly right. I can either graduate in December this year and work in the actuarial position I interned at or transfer to a more prestigious college and finish a double degree in CS and math(which i cant do in my current college). Ideally I will do another internship in banking, hopefully quantitative finance after the transfer. I am not sure how hard it would be to find a quant internship as a undergrad student and how important an internship would be.

 

[pplstuff]

Depending where you live you'll have a hard time finding anything in an IB. I live in one of the large cities in Florida, and there is really nothing in the area. You really have to go to NYC/Chicago/etc. I was offered an internship at a Merrill Lynch (wealth management) branch in town my senior year, but I turned it down for an IT position instead. Wealth management is just pleasing clients, sweet talking them, and taking them to dinners/sporting events/etc. (nothing to do with finance). But, you may be able to find a more corporate finance job in any city (although, I'm not sure how much corp.fin. will help an MFE applicant either). Keep your eye out for any local asset management, or hedge funds.