hello all i dont visit this site often these days but drop me an email at
happycosmos@gmail.com if you would like any help/advice..i'll try my best to help, somehow.
Getting a non-back-office internship: There's nothing to it really, I just sent out about 40-50 emails to various people at various smalll HFs in the HK, Singapore, Chicago, NYC area and received one interview, which was a success. That was last summer - I was an equity research intern and helped the fund managers with research on stocks in the Canadian,Australian and South African markets. I learnt a lot but also learnt that the buyside isn't as "glamourous" as one would make it out to be.
For my soph. internship I've got a few interviews lined up. All are for Sales and Trading. I went for a BB a couple of weeks back and there's another BB interview coming up. Another interview with a European bank is coming up the week after next.
If you must know, I didn't apply via the banks' online-application because they usually weed out sophs. Rather, I contacted the people on the desk directly. Please don't ask me how I got to know these people...it's a combination of luck and extensive research and perhaps a little bit of the "family factor".
Ask yourself - how badly do you want an summer internship in your desired field? How much are you willing to sacrifice?
In the process of landing all these cool internships and great interviews WAAY before my "time" (i.e. summer before senior yr) I gave up lots of things. All these great experiences came at a cost - my lovely girlfriend broke up with me because I chose work over her, I had no time for the few friends I had since all my time was spent preparing for interviews, researching on the industry or finishing my assignments. I never get to see my family.
These are problems which sophs shouldn't be facing. Think about it. Enjoy your summers and most importantly your friends and loved ones. Don't get so hung up on internships.