Bank on Banking

I’m currently a freshman in search of a summer internship for next summer (rising soph). Should I be cold calling, reaching out to contacts, going to NY and searching in person? What are my best options and what positions should I be targeting given my interest in IB?

I wouldn’t bother going to NY unless you’ve got something lined up. At your age, your best bet will be found by searching for unpaid positions, or positions that are PWM, boutique research or back office. While they are not IB, they will provide you with some resume building experience and make for a nice stepping stone into more attractive internships going into your junior and, ultimately, senior years (rising junior and rising senior summers, respectively).

Regarding cold calling, you should definitely take that step, but given your age, you should probably stay local and push more for an opportunity to build your resume rather than a dream opportunity.

Additionally, it’s always a good idea to call on contacts, but you should only call on those you are very close with. Given the positions you are targeting, your age, experience, etc, you don’t want to reach out to all of your contacts so soon. For now, use friends and your closest contacts, then reach wider once you’ve built a bit of a profile/resume for yourself going into next summer or so.

Finally, while you will certainly find more luck heading down the previous avenues I’ve mentioned, far be it from me to squash someone’s go-getter attitude and drive. Absolutely cold call and send some inquiry emails to IBs as well – ideally smaller/boutique shops, merchant banks, and so forth that as local, but definitely take a shot. With a simple cold call or email the worst that happens is you don’t get the position – they won’t remember you next year if you show an interest again – no harm no foul, but with plenty of upside potential.

If an MD wants me as an spring intern (fall, spring), but HR is claiming they don’t do that, should I follow up and make another push? If so, how? Can MDs overrule HR?

MDs often have some clout, but not always enough to go bringing on interns. If you don’t need pay, one option would be to reach back out and ask if you could intern unpaid – essentially just for the experience. That could absolutely set you up for a nice SA position next summer as well.

Otherwise, perhaps there was some sort of a miscommunication either between you and MD or between the MD and HR or you and HR. I would re-trace my steps and touch base with the MD – briefly thank him again for his time and quickly explain what HR told you – then allow him to clarify or express his confusion and look further into the matter.

Why do you suggest removing “Dean’s List” as an honor from your resume if it is your only honor?

Although Dean’s List is an honor and something you’ve achieved, as a standalone it just takes up space and isn’t necessary since anyone with a 3.7 or so or better GPA is on the dean’s list. In other words, it’s not something you’ve been given or something you are being recognized for, but rather, it’s pretty much your status based on your GPA. The fact that you have the GPA is the accomplishment, not that you’ve made the dean’s list. If you have another honor, then feel free to mention it since you’ve got the line anyway, but otherwise, leave it out. You are better off with more free space and since it is implied based on your GPA, it won’t really do anything to help your candidacy.

As a DCM Investment Grade analyst, I want to move on to P/E, but without much modeling experience, how do I sell myself? I have structure knowledge and have worked on numerous deals, but as is the case in Investment Grade DCM, I haven’t dug that deep into them – the mile wide but inch deep saying comes to mind.

Without seeing your resume, the easiest general advice will be to focus on 2 things: 1) big deals you worked on even though the work will be more of the inch-deep in terms of modeling work, and 2) deals and projects you worked on that did involve modeling, strategy and documentation drafting. Investment Grade DCM is known to not have a ton of modeling work, so you will want to show modeling where you can. Specifically, showcase your limited modeling work, documentation work and so forth around your structuring knowledge to illustrate credibility to you claim and capabilities. Beyond that, you want to highlight some big deals in your resume and even cover letter, simply because this is a prestige business. Even though the work won’t be terribly substantial, doing some sort of quality work will aid your cause and if you can get an interview, you are well on your way – then it’s just a matter of selling yourself from a technical (which you seem to have despite limited modeling) and behavioral (no modeling necessary here) perspectives.

I’ve heard that boutiques are usually shadier than BBs and not as desirable to work for – is this true?

Boutiques are not “shadier,” although they are quite different than standard BBs. While a small boutique will not carry the same brand name as a BB, obviously, the work experience can still be very strong (and the experience can be very strong as well in terms of deal responsibilities: modeling, documentation work and so forth). MM shops are highly reputable, similar to that of BBs, and Elite boutiques (such as Lazard and Blackstone) are considered stronger than most BBs excluding GS and MS (although they are on the same level).

In short, if you are looking for a FT IB opportunity that will set you up to move out of IB and into P/E or other buyside, you are better off with BBs, elite boutiques and some MM shops. If you are looking for FT IB to stay in IB, then all are good and smaller boutiques could easily be preferable to many candidates given their interest in retaining and growing talent, rather than the 2-3 and out of traditional BB IB classes. Finally, for an internship, while name brand definitely helps, any IB is solid, especially before junior year summer, and even for junior year SA opportunities, a small boutique IB internship with relevant experience is better than zero IB experience.

Do I need an MBA to break into P/E from IB? Also, is the idea of pre MBA associate to MBA to post MBA associate reserved only to the Mega PE funds or are MM/boutique PE firms less rigid in their hierarchy?

For P/E, you don’t need an MBA if you come out of a strong IB. Whether a solid MM, or preferably, a strong BB or elite boutique. In this case, you can break into PE after your analyst stint and then it is up to you to grow and advance.

It’s not reserved to anyone, but if you don’t come from a top school and top elite boutique or BB, it will be very hard to break into megafund PE without the MBA. That said, it will be very hard to break in with an MBA as well – especially if your MBA isn’t from H or S.

For smaller and mid-sized P/E shops, it is possible to break in from a wider range of IB positions, but if you can’t find an avenue or want an MBA, it is possible to break into P/E from a top B school program as well. Additionally, those B school students who have previous IB or P/E experience will have, at least to an extent, an upper hand in P/E and V/C recruiting given their relevant backgrounds.

I want to get a letter of recommendation from my current MD from my internship for B school. The problem is I won’t be applying for a few years – should I just get a stock letter now?

Most top business schools don’t just require a generic “letter.” Instead, they have a series of questions that they want answered by the recommender. Although I’m sure your employer really likes you, it is just an internship and in 2-3 years time you should be able to find 2 people to recommend you that can call on more recent experiences.

Additionally, if you want to hedge your bets, simply keep in touch with the guy and if you want to use him, then just ask him and provide him with your accomplishments, and rough answers/information to answer each of the questions. For now, you can write a summary of your accomplishments and projects to keep for a few years down the line – if you decide you want to use him as a recommender, you can call on this summary to refresh his memory as to what you’ve done (assuming you’ve kept in touch). Here’s a bit more on B school to keep in mind as the time gets closer.