Finance, economics, statistics, data analytics … these are the jobs of the future, according to multiple industry gurus and doyens such as Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. There are other “hot” fields, such as Information Technology and Healthcare, but guess what? Even they need finance and accounting.
All in all, a recent college graduate seeking entry into a number of fields, be it management consulting, data analytics, IT (specifically ERP driven but extends to others) can really use the benefits of a finance internship – it can really help pad your resume, interview better and increase the chances of landing the right job faster.
So let’s see what benefits a finance internship provides and what it takes to get one at a decent organization whose name would look good on your resume.
Who Hires Finance Interns?
These days, almost any running organization can hire finance interns. The list includes, but is not limited to:
- Large, medium and small corporations
- Management, IT and strategic consulting organizations
- Large and Small Accounting and Consulting Firms
- Banks and Financial Institutions
- Investment Advisory Firms
- Internet Based Service Providers
- Not for Profits and Non-Governmental Organizations
- Government agencies
- Academic institutions
The above list is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather to point out that there are literally hundreds of thousands of options, most likely, if you are looking for a finance internship.
What Does a Finance Intern Do?
The finance intern will typically be a jack-of-all-trades, though their duties are focused on financial areas such as Accounting, Corporate Finance, Strategic Finance or Investment.
Finance interns will attend meetings, take notes, prepare summaries and statements, analyze financial reports, data or trends as guided by their seniors, assist with research and data entry and often produce reports that will form the basis of recommendations to senior management. They are sometimes entrusted with administrative tasks, which further enhance their knowledge about how systems are administered in the real world.
Along the way, they will see how academic knowledge in accounting, bookkeeping, business strategy, economics or data analytics are applied in real world settings. They will find out first-hand whether the theories they learned in college are in fact accepted, and if so, how they are molded to suit the purpose of the task at hand and the philosophy of the organization that uses the output from such activities.
How Long Do Finance Internships Last?
The typical finance internship can last for 3-4 months over the summer, but there are internship positions that can be offered for up to year.
It is also not uncommon for the same person (especially if they get started prior to their senior year in college) to get offered multiple internships over the course of several summers, or to receive an extension after a year-long finance internship.
In the latter cases, the company is clearly signaling that the intern is doing well, so they should consider themselves to be in a strong position in case a job opening ever materializes with the same employer.
Do You Get Paid During a Finance Internship?
The expectation, going in, should be that a finance internship will be unpaid – it’s the experience that counts. However, there are many situations where internships (especially the longer-term ones) have a pay offer attached to them.
Based on market feedback, paid internships may offer $15-20 per hour of work, based on either a part time (30 hours or less a week) or full time (40 hours a week) basis.
Note that on an annualized basis, $15-20 per hour translates into $30,000 to $40,000 per year in pay. While this is below market for a full-time finance job at a decent company, it is likely a step up from any pay one gets from other jobs while in college. Also, since the experience is more important, the pay would be an added bonus.
The Benefits of Doing a Finance Internship
The benefits of undertaking almost any internship at a reputed company are too many to list, but a finance internship is one of the prized goals for college students that are lining up to enter the workforce. We have shortlisted the five most prominent benefits below.
1. Translating Academic Knowledge to Real Life Situations
As we have mentioned several times above, the biggest advantage of an internship is the ability for a bright student to effectively bridge the gap between book learning and real-world requirements. One of the added advantages of the “finance” function in this regard is that it spans almost every aspect of a company’s existence, which means that finance interns often get the broadest and deepest views.
Finance can be used for basic administration or numbers reporting. But it also be used to analyze company internal and external data in order to produce strategic recommendations as to how the company should blaze a trail forward. Often times, just sitting in at meetings and taking notes while senior and middle managers speak about initiatives gives one an intimate look of how decisions are taken and ideas are proposed, accepted or rejected.
There is absolutely no substitute for such experience.
2. Polishing Specific Skills
Anyone that wants to work in fields such as accounting, finance, data analytics and even IT can benefit greatly by polishing their skills with real life experiences. Doing a class project is one thing, understanding the demands of a delivery (be it a recommendation or a report) when you know that it may enhance or undermine the position of your boss and your colleagues places the type of performance pressure that makes you hone your skills.
Once you produce the goods, your confidence will sky-rocket and this will show at your next job interview.
3. Finding Out Your Precise Interests and Career Path
A finance internship is often the best-balanced look into the inner workings of a company, since finance touches so many core functions within the organization. Plus, s/he may get to see the data that allows for an understanding of business strategy and execution from the top down.
As a result, a finance intern may be able to glean key knowledge about which specific area they may want to work at when they go after their first full time job. Also, their resumes will have been padded to include specific experience relevant to their future interviewers.
4. Networking
One of the other benefits of being a finance intern at a good organization is that you pick up contacts within both the finance fraternity as well as among middle and senior management. Not only can they offer up references if needed, they can become your contacts for life. This will help you get ahead in multiple ways.
Since a finance intern may work on sensitive and strategic analysis, and produce reports that reach middle and senior management, the chances to impress people and create the right network is higher than a ho hum internship or job.
5. Have Your Job Interview Answers Ready
There are many sources that will help you figure out what your next interviewer will be asking you about. Study those by all means. However, consider the following.
Have you considered the fact that it’s not just what you answer, but how you answer those questions?
A huge advantage for a finance intern who’s competing against a complete newbie is very simple – the experience that a finance intern has gained over the course of his or her internship could be the factor puts them over the top in terms of candidates with roughly equivalent backgrounds, even if they happened to go to the same college.
6. Build Up Your Resume to Get Your Right Job
According to most industry surveys, employers are looking to hire workers with specific skill sets and experience beyond classroom learning. If you want to get stuck in a multi-year rut by taking a job that may not move your career forward much but gets you a paycheck, it’s your choice. But if you want to pad your resume with the right experience – perhaps with the name of a blue-chip employer attached to it – then you absolutely need to look for a finance internship.
Additionally, you can receive job referrals and valuable recommendations from your boss and other senior colleagues which would enhance your chances of getting the right job in the future.
7. The Company you Intern at May Hire You
There are many instances where financial interns are offered a part time or permanent position at the company they had signed on at as a finance intern. This makes perfect sense, especially if you perform well at your job.
You already know the system and have demonstrated your value. So you may be a safer bet for your employer than hiring someone off the street for the same function you fulfilled as an intern.
In fact, some Wall Street firms do not even bother hiring entry level analysts off the street. The rite of passage to such jobs almost has to come through a internship. Other organizations, such as the World Bank or the IMF, may not make things as explicit, but they too have a strong track record of hiring their interns to permanent positions.
What Qualifies You for a Finance Internship?
Any good student at the college level, with some exposure to subjects such as Finance, Economics, Statistics, Math and Business, should have a decent shot at a finance internship.
Look out for a few things though.
When to Apply?
Students need to track the market carefully. For bigger and blue-chip companies, finance internships are announced in mid-Fall (September-October) and close by December.
If your are interested in smaller companies, have missed the deadline above or have not received any responses back from organizations you would really like to join as an intern, there are usually some late options. Smaller organizations will often advertise on the cusp of the summer months (2-6 weeks before school ends), especially in the local market.
How to Increase Your Chances of Getting In?
A professionally worded resume and cover letter are often key to catching the attention of the recruiters at organizations that you are looking to join as a finance intern.
There are two parts to it: a Professional Resume and a Cover Letter.
In general, they should cover the following topics:
- The synopsis of your career/capabilities and your career goal
- Top 3 achievements
- Why you are a perfect fit for your position
- Your future goals
- References
| Type of Organization | Some Examples |
| Corporations | Boeing, Pfizer, Coca Cola, Walmart |
| Consulting Firms | McKinsey Consulting, Boston Consulting, Accenture Group |
| Accounting Firms | Ernst ; Young, Deloitte, KPMG |
| Banks and Financial Institutions | JP Morgan Chase, American Express, Wells Fargo |
| Investment Advisory Firms | Blackstone Group, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Berkshire Hathaway |
| Internet Based Service Firms | LinkedIn, Paypal |
| NGOs and Not for Profits | World Bank, IMF |
The organizations mentioned above are not an exhaustive list of the ones you should apply to.
Among other considerations, you may consider organizations that are close to you. It is easy to find local internships through simple internet searches. On the other hand, if you are applying for a job that has certain defined centers (like Wall Street for Stock Analysts), you may be more flexible to moving where the internship takes you.
The Final Word
Finance internships are one of the fastest ways to jump start a career unless you know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your working life and stick to it for the rest of your career – starting with your initial entry into the full-time workforce – and finance is very far from it.
If you have the right chance, research the possibility of gaining a summer, or year-long internship. Choose an organization whose name on your resume will create appropriate value.