Bokeh

The Daunting Internship Search Process

It was the start of 2021, and the world was still figuring out what a post-Covid, new normal would look like. Holy Cross finally allowed students back on campus, locked in our dorms, doing online classes. I had set up my first meeting with the Center for Career Development (CCD) over Zoom to discuss important steps I should be taking as I began to think about a future career. Many internship programs were moved virtual and, in the case of many sophomore programs, shut down completely. I was advised to network and reach out to alums to learn about different career paths and opportunities. Looking back over the last few years, there are three significant takeaways; applying is a numbers game, starting early is key, and network network network!

Many internship programs were moved virtual and, in the case of many sophomore programs, shut down completely.

Networking: Finding people to network with is daunting, however, I found many contacts using three main methods. First, utilize the HC Network site. While there are plenty of incredible alumni willing to help on the platform, options can sometimes be limited, and I found response times and percentages relatively low. The second strategy that I found to work surprisingly well was direct messaging on LinkedIn. The first step to this was ensuring my LinkedIn profile looked professional and up to date by looking at the profiles of professionally successful upperclassmen. It may initially seem daunting to send someone a message, but Holy Cross alumni are incredibly willing and excited to speak with current students. The final strategy, which is undoubtedly the best, is getting someone's email through a referral. Many of these I got through the CCD as I developed a relationship with the office, along with through the Ciocca Center's Business Certificate Program workshops, where I met many incredible alumni. I also received many new connections through past connections. If these strategies work and you are on a networking call, it is always smart to ask if there is anyone else you should speak to before hanging up, and more often than not, you will get at least one more name. Networking is key for any industry, particularly for finance. Everyone has a different approach, but it is important to stay organized with who you speak with and make sure to always send a follow-up email after the meeting. These calls are often called informational interviews.

Nevertheless, even getting that first interview is challenging.

Timing: The application process for many firms is increasingly earlier and earlier. Getting a foot in the door as a sophomore is an incredible way to land a great job without necessarily having all the technical skills yet. A sophomore-year investment banking interview, for instance, will be much more behavioral than technical. You'll unlikely get grilled on the logistics of a discounted cash flow statement or the difference between leveraged and unleveraged cash flow. However, come junior or senior year, these questions will be thrown at you with full-time applications. Nonetheless, it's still a long process. I first applied for Bloomberg at the beginning of the spring semester of my sophomore year.

Applying: The first stage was a video interview on HireVue. If you're doing one for the first time, it is quite awkward, so taking advantage of practice sessions and questions at the CCD was helpful. Multiple stages of one-on-one interviews followed this before being invited to a superday (the name for a final round interview). A superday is a set of multiple interviews back to back, in my experience, stretch from 2 to 6 hours, depending on the firm. Mine consisted of several half-hour interviews with different team members varying from junior analysts to senior managers, along with a case study component. For the case study, I was asked to analyze a company from a high level so they could see my thought process. If it sounds stressful, that's because it is. I found preparation essential- looking up facts about the company, the industry, macro, and news trends, and technical knowledge about the specific role is a must. Nevertheless, even getting that first interview is challenging. It's likely that you'll hear back from less than half the firms you apply to, so this is why it's important to network to get that first interview and apply to as many places as possible.

While this wasn't officially an interview, it was not far off.

At the end of my sophomore year program at Bloomberg, I was able to skip the preliminary application and interview stages and was automatically invited to a superday for their summer internship program. This is quite common across firms, as sophomore programs are used as a pipeline for early access to junior internships. Given that they saw me throughout the prior program, this was a much shorter superday, and I was fortunate to receive a summer internship offer before my junior year.

While a full-time internship is an incredible learning experience, it is important to remember that it is essentially a 10-week interview. While I can't speak to other firms, Bloomberg did an incredible job cultivating a community among the interns as they provided housing for us to be full-time in NYC, and aside from in-depth training, they gave us hands-on work responsibility. At the 5-week point, I had a formal evaluation where my managers and HR asked me to speak about my experience so far and gave me feedback on my performance. A similar evaluation occurred at the end of my interview, where I was asked to reflect on my experience and received further feedback. While this wasn't officially an interview, it was not far off. It was two weeks later when I received a call from my recruiter offering a full-time position. Not all of my fellow interns received offers, but those who did were the people that showed they cared about the firm and showed intellectual curiosity. You are essentially proving that while you may not know everything now, you can be trained.

I am looking forward to returning to Bloomberg after graduation and starting up on their Analytics team. From the Cioccia Center and CCD to the many business clubs, there are plenty of resources on campus to reach out to help through this process. I personally found reaching out to club leaders who have gone through a similar process to this to be incredibly helpful. If you are a student and want to talk more about anything I said above, feel free to stop me around campus or reach out.

By Robert Posillico