Proof the next generation has become disenchanted with Wall Street
The latest rankings for banking and finance internships are out, and there are a few names conspicuously absent. Not one big bank cracked this year’s top 10.
The Vault.com internship rankings are littered with small investment banks – like Evercore Partners and Houlihan Lokey – and accounting firms PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Deloitte, but no Goldman Sachs and no J.P. Morgan. It marks a rather sudden turnaround considering last year’s list featured five big banks, including the aforementioned two (note: Morgan Stanley didn't take part in this year's survey. UBS interns didn't provide enough responses to be included).
| 2014 Rank |
2013 Rank |
Change |
Internship |
Score |
Location |
| 1 | 2 | ▲ | Evercore Partners | 9.559 | New York, NY |
| 2 | 1 | ▼ | Northwestern Mutual | 9.498 | Milwaukee, WI |
| 3 | NR | — | Houlihan Lokey | 9.338 | New York, NY |
| 4 | NR | — | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP | 9.237 | Philadelphia, PA |
| 5 | 3 | ▼ | Capital One | 9.091 | Richmond, VA |
| 6 | NR | — | Deloitte | 8.970 | Chicago, IL |
| 7 | NR | — | KPMG LLP | 8.950 | New York, NY |
| 8 | NR | — | Perella Weinberg Partners | 8.874 | New York, NY |
| 9 | NR | — | Liberty Mutual Insurance | 8.807 | Boston, MA |
| 10 | NR | — | PNC Financial Services | 8.772 | Pittsburgh, PA |
Why the sudden change? It’s difficult to tell. Vault.com didn’t break down the scores of those outside of the top 10, so we don’t know where the likes of Goldman and J.P. Morgan finished. However, we do know the criteria. The study asked interns to rate a number of factors, including compensation and perks, quality of life, meaningfulness of assignments and training, and full-time employment prospects. In the eyes of the thousands of interns who took part in the study, Wall Street’s elite failed to live up to the billing.
The results are even more eye-opening when you consider the fact that consulting firms weren’t even included in the finance and banking list – consulting was its own category. Firms like Bain and Boston Consulting would have cracked the top 10 themselves if they were included in the financial rankings.
Either way, it’s become rather evident that big banks need to do a better job of nurturing their young talent, especially considering that the pay disparity between Wall Street and other sectors is closing. Perhaps we’ll see other banks follow in Goldman’s footsteps and institute rules aimed at keeping their younger workers from burning out at their desks.
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