Financial advisor internships offer a wonderful platform for young students to get experience before earning a finance degree and fully entering the workforce. This internship helps intending financial advisors to get firsthand insight into the industry, and the knowledge can be a plus during a later job hunt.
This hands-on experience is important because the study of finance is worthwhile, but it is imperative to have real-world practice. Another benefit of a finance intern job is getting to learn about the many career paths that are available. Note that young interns tend to discover what they like and dislike about the field before they enter the workforce. They also make professional connections and understand the best practices in finance.
Through internship, young finance interns acquire experience that is easily transferable and can succeed in many career paths. Some of the most common career paths for finance interns include investment banking, financial planning, corporate finance, public budgeting, insurance, and real estate.
Also note that financial advisor interns can also leverage their internship experience to secure a role as a financial analyst, investment banker, budget manager, risk analyst, tax preparer, certified public accountant (CPA), or financial advisor.
Once you decide the kind of internship you prefer, an ideal place to start the search is at your college or university career centre. Note that the centres often have a list of financial service firms who are interested in hiring interns. Also note that this career centre can also help you decide where you would prefer to work when you graduate and in what capacity, which can help you hone your search.
Before you start your search, note whether you are willing to consider something other than a summer internship. There are some universities and companies that offer co-op positions throughout the year.
Fall and spring internships are also available at some financial services firms. These longer-term internships are easier to secure because there is less competition. Moreover, if you go for one of these positions, you could already be an intern when the majority of students are applying for summer opportunities.
Another benefit of longer-term internships is that they make your resume look good. They can also, on occasion, lead to a job offer from the same firm because they have had more time to evaluate your work and see your skills and knowledge.
The primary job of a finance advisor intern is to support the organization while learning about a career in finance. Finance interns gain practical experience in the constantly-growing field of finance. Regular duties and responsibilities for finance interns may include:
- Assisted Senior Financial Advisor with routine office operations: Customer account segregation/profitability study, Organize clients by product type and investment class
- Assist financial advisors with day-to-day activates including preparing presentations, database management, and client communication.
- Shadow seasoned financial advisors and obtained a firm understanding of the industry.
- Work directly with financial advisors to establish professionalism and develop sales skills.
- Recommend Mutual fund brokers to financial advisor by analyzing their ratings.
- Participated in all meetings and seminars pertaining to financial advisors.
- Assist financial advisor with client reviews, networking, community involvement
- Assist financial advisors in prospective client presentations to school administrations.
- Assist financial advisors and administrative assistants in departmental tasks.
- Align with Financial Advisor to balance private investment portfolios.
- Assist senior financial advisor with client acquisition strategies.
- Formulated comprehensive market initiatives to expand potential clientele resulting in the acquisition of several new clients.
- Worked under experienced financial planners and helped obtain new clients
- Help organize events for new clients/investors by writing the invitation and organizing the time frame for speakers at the event.
- Assist with prospecting for new clients and management of current clients.
- File and update client information – Analyze client portfolios – Work to increase rate of return on client accounts
- Research and analyze stock, bond and mutual fund performances for potential client portfolios.
- Update and create client portfolios, conducted due diligence on mutual funds and investment managers
- Assist Financial Advisor with product selection and allocation of client portfolios.
- Help advisor research securities and update client portfolios.
- Work one-on-one with supervisor, processed payments, and made monthly phone calls updating customers of their accounts.
- Manage telephone calls, distribute mail, and create excel spreadsheets for projects assigned by the manager.
- Answer phone calls * Organize mailings for hundreds of clients * Transferred funds through Federal wires
- Execute administrative/marketing duties which include preparing reports, correspondence, phone calls, etc.
How to Land a Financial Advisor Internship in the United States
Note that getting a decent internship as a Financial Advisor Intern in the United States is all about preparation. In that regard, here are few facts to note:
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Check Your Online Status
The unemployment line is filled with the resumes of college graduates who may not even consider vetting their online reputations. Most management firms in the United States are extremely cautious about whom they bring aboard to help manage client’s money. That’s the more reason why it’s ideal to filter your online persona thoroughly. These companies will be on the lookout for what they deem to be risky behaviour; avoid it and remove any examples of such behaviour online before your interview with a money management outfit.
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Leverage Technology to Your Advantage
You can consider writing a blog on finance and investment issues, host a podcast on stock market risk or the state of the U.S. mortgage market, or start an investment club (or at least join one). Note that these firms love intern candidates who know more or are eager to know more about the money management industry in ways that go way beyond pure academics. Note that people like that are the overachievers who land good internships and good job offers.
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Start Your Networking Early
After you must have gained an internship, you should start filing away the names and contact information for the professionals you meet along the way in your internship. This could be the contact that helped you land the internship, the broker or analyst who you’ve been assigned to help, or the specific internship coordinator at your company. People like this can come in handy when thing s become a little more serious and you’re looking for a job offer. However, just ensure to write personalized thank-you notes to all the professionals who’ve helped you along the way once the internship ends. Minor things like this and good manners tend to go a long way in the finance industry, and may even mean the difference between leveraging an internship for professional gain or not.
Conclusion
Most employers will require that you are enrolled in an academic program while completing your internship. Note that you can pursue a degree in finance, business, statistics, marketing, accounting, or economics. Also try to work on your ability to collaborate with team members, pitch great ideas, communicate well, and analyze information. The regular duties and responsibilities of finance interns include generating and analyzing reports, taking notes during meetings, preparing statements, entering data, and assisting with audits. A finance intern might also complete administrative work while observing different aspects of accounting, portfolio management, financial reporting, or banking.