How to get a Quant Internship? - Questions?

[Joy Pathak]

Hey guys...

I got lots of good responses from one of my last posts... http://www.quantnet.com/quant-job-advice-from-wall-street-executives/

I have decided to do another one regarding Internships. I will interview two hiring managers from leading banks, one hedge fund hiring manager and two students who recently secured internships at leading IB's.

I am compiling questions right now...so feel free to post anything you would like to know here.

 

[TBeas]

Are you talking summer internships or ones during schooling as well?

Do they look at undergraduates?
Do they consider region when accepting students? Like could a student at a southern school be considered for internships in NY, Chicago, etc.
What types of perks do they offer? Relocation, housing, etc.
Do interns get to do actual work?
How often do their interns get offered full time positions?

I'm sure you already had all of these or something similar, but this is about what I would expect to see.

 

[Ken Abbott]

Folks, you should do exactly whay Joy suggests, whatever it is.

He is a master of this process.

 

[euroazn]

Q: Any tips for undergrads?

 

[Joy Pathak]

Folks, you should do exactly whay Joy suggests, whatever it is.

He is a master of this process.

You're too kind Ken. I am only as good as the ones who guide me.

 

[Joy Pathak]

Do interns get to do actual work?

This is a good question. I will switch one of the interviewers for someone who has recently gone through an internship to get that perspective.

 

[DominiConnor]

I wonder if maybe you ought to assemble this experience into a book, I know a senior commissioning editor at John Wiley if that is of interest.

 

[Joy Pathak]

I wonder if maybe you ought to assemble this experience into a book, I know a senior commissioning editor at John Wiley if that is of interest.

Sounds like a very interesting concept. Compiling everything into a book. I think it might be still too early at this moment. I still have a long way to go and a lot more to learn before I can gather enough information to put into a book.

It is something that I have thought about before. My dad has written two books (J wiley and springer). Definitely wouldn't mind following in his footsteps.

 

[euroazn]

It is something that I have thought about before. My dad has written two books (J wiley and springer). Definitely wouldn't mind following in his footsteps.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

My suggestion is to broaden your student interviewee base. Two students hardly paint a good picture. Use linkedin and facebook to interview people from a variety of programs. Some may not be able to secure an internship and your article may shred some light on the problem and offer advice.

At the end, what actionable steps the readers should get out of reading it. And make sure those lessons are highlighted.

And thanks for doing this, the other interview was quite popular.

 

[Ken Abbott]

Are you talking summer internships or ones during schooling as well?

Do they look at undergraduates?
Do they consider region when accepting students? Like could a student at a southern school be considered for internships in NY, Chicago, etc.
What types of perks do they offer? Relocation, housing, etc.
Do interns get to do actual work?
How often do their interns get offered full time positions?

I'm sure you already had all of these or something similar, but this is about what I would expect to see.

Interns work. For the most part they're intelligent unskilled labor, but useful nonetheless. I had one intern edit a large technical document for consistency of voice (it had been written by several people.) I had another collect data from some old reports so I could do an analysis with a long history. Both of those gained valuable experience. Both were undergrads.

Grad students can be levereraged even more. Several have been involved in high-profile projects that ened up landing them permanent jobs.

Overall, about 50% of interns end up getting permenent jobs.

Region doesn't matter. We've hired students from all over.

Perks? Forget about perks. There are some, but if that's what you want, go elsewhere. I hear you get free burgers and fries at that quaint Scottish restaurant chain...

 

[Cjs]

What? No soda? What madness...

Admirable undertaking. I look forward to reading the interviews. Has anyone ever considered doing interviews over skyp and recording them? I for one take away a lot more from the body language of a person than just plain text however uneditted it may be. There is something to be said for that momentary discomfort or a rather long pause after a sensitive question regarding say, placements.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Yes, interview over skype is something I quite enjoy. An excellent source I often use is mixergy.com interviews. Those are one of the best interviews in the way you can get WAY more insight than a text. It takes certain personality to pull that off.