Benefits of Doing a Finance Internship

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that there are going to be plenty of benefits for your future finance career by doing a finance internship. So what are they good for, exactly?

Networking…

If you’ve already landed a finance internship at the dream workplace then you could be forgiven for thinking that you’ve already got the first toe of your foot in the door. But the reality is that a lot of your potential employment prospects come down to how well you can network once you’re there.

If you really impress, it might be the start of full-time paid job further down the line, or at least the first step in gaining more professional experience. Making and maintaining good relationships with employees at your organisation even after you leave is essential if you want a reference for future jobs at the end of it all.

There’s the chance to network with the other interns too. Being in the same boat as other financially focused students, all eager for the same career as you, is a unique opportunity to pool your ideas, and build up a handy list of contacts that could very well become useful later on.

Boosting your CV…

If you’re applying for jobs in the financial services sector, having the right skills and experiences on your CV is the first and most important step in getting that dream role.

Completing a number of internships for any length of time in your field of interest will demonstrate to employers a real interest to learn more about the sector – and the commitment to gain the skills needed to take up a permanent position in a financial organisation.

Having at least some industry experience is crucial for the competitive graduate jobs market, so making the right impression in your applications through a demonstrable interest in finance is a seriously good idea.

Putting theories into practice…

Chances are that most people looking at doing for graduate jobs in the financial sector will have studied a numerate or analytical degree. For academic disciplines such as maths and even the sciences, it’s sometimes hard to see how the lessons learned in the classroom relate to the real world in a practical sense.

Completing a finance internship is an excellent way to see how the wisdom of 9am lectures can be applied in a corporate environment, giving you real tasks and genuine responsibilities to flex your mental muscles.

What’s more, the opportunity to talk about the skills and lessons you picked up from your placement will put you in a great position when it comes to interviews. Not only can you elaborate how the challenges of the business world were aided by the things you studied at university, but there’s a possibility that the things you learn in your internship will be directly beneficial when it comes to essays and exams. Double whammy.

Exploring your interests…

If you know you’re passionate about finance, but not sure exactly where your true love lies, doing a finance internship is a perfect way to find out. Maybe you’ve studied accounting but always wanted to play you hand in the technological side of finance? Or perhaps you’ve always wondered what it would be like to work on a trading floor?

As the large majority of finance internships take place within huge organisations, a brief exposure to the business world is an opportunity to try your hand at a number of different tasks and learn about the company as a whole. On top of developing your skills in a number of areas – be it teamwork, presentation or problem solving – the feedback at the end of your placement is a chance to find out where your strengths and weaknesses really lie, and the best way to harness them in the financial sector.

Even if you find yourself disillusioned at the dream job not turning out to be quite how you’d imagined it, it’s one way of ruling out certain avenues on the road to your future finance career, and narrowing down the options with valuable perspective and insight that is usually impossible to get without first-hand experience.