Alternatives to i-banking internships
Go for small companies
"Many smaller asset managers and hedge funds are beginning to think about hiring graduates, so may respond positively to an approach from an intelligent and resourceful student offering a summer of cheap labour," says Vivienne Dyksra, managing director of recruitment firm Graduate Solutions.
Where can you find the names of small companies to go for? For brokers and trading houses, go to websites of the major exchanges, such as the London Stock Exchange, Euronext LIFFE, Eurex, the London Metals Exchange or the International Petroleum Exchange.
Industry associations can also be useful. The Investment Management Association has a list of members, as does the Venture Capital Association (see below for a list of links).
The best way of approaching a potential source of internships is through someone you know. "Many students don't realise what a wide network they have," says Philip Beddows, a partner with career mentoring firm IDDAS. "Think of parents, relatives, neighbours, friends and family friends. Try alumni networks from your university." You are not just looking for people who can give you a job, but people who can give you advice and further contacts.
If you really don't know anyone, you'll need to make the first approach by cold calling. Try and find out the name of the person who deals with recruitment, or the chief operating officer or MD. Script your call first to avoid getting tongue tied - if you are trying to blag a summer job, think through what your key strengths are - numeracy, organisational skills, people skills; emphasise your enthusiasm for getting exposure to the business and helping in any way you can.
Volunteer
A summer spent doing voluntary work will look better on your CV than a summer spent bumming on the beach or stacking shelves in Tesco. "You could do some serious voluntary work, such as going to Africa and working for in an orphanage or a refugee camp somewhere," advises Derek Walker, head of graduate recruitment at Barclays Capital. Whatever you are doing, try to go for one long stint of work, rather than several shorter ones, adds Walker. "You want to show that you can fit into an organisation and become part of a unit."
People who have done challenging voluntary work tend to stand out, says Jonathan Jones, European head of graduate recruitment at Goldman Sachs. Shaking a tin in the shopping centre or working at the local charity shop is not enough, though. You need to do something that is adventurous or that exposes you to the organisational issues faced by the charity.
Organisations such as BUNAC, Teaching Abroad and Outreach International run volunteering programmes.
Rule nothing out
Just because your summer isn't spent compiling spreadsheets in Canary Wharf, it doesn't mean banks will bin your CV when you apply for the graduate programme.
"Anything that is off-beat, challenging, takes a person outside their comfort zone or demonstrates leadership will make them stand out," says Jones. "We took on someone who spent their last summer working for a news organisation in the US. They were assigned to a news desk, doing research and going out with a camera crew. It wasn't related to our industry, but they had accumulated some interesting experiences," he adds.
Aioffe McGarry joined Citigroup as a graduate two years ago and now works in debt capital markets origination. She studied economics and finance at University College, Dublin and has an MSc from Durham. Instead of doing an internship with a bank, she spent her final summer in America, working at a supermarket in the Hamptons.
She says getting in is about selling your experience positively and not being defensive: "When banks ask why you don't have an internship they want to know two things: what do you know about the bank and what skillset have you got. I learned a lot by networking energetically and taking the opportunity to speak with people in the industry. From my work experience I showed that I had worked in a foreign environment, with people of different nationalities and that I had fitted into the local community, doing local rather than touristy things."
Useful Links
For brokers and traders
London Stock Exchange member firms directory
London Metal Exchange member list
For fund managers
Investment Management Association member list
For private equity firms
British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association
For hedge funds
Moneyscience: List of hedge funds
For Nomads (nominated advisers for the Alternative Investment Market)
Volunteering
