For careers in finance and economics, a foot in the door significantly boosts your chances of securing a job after you finish your degree. In sectors such as accounting, consulting and professional services, opportunities to make that first step exist throughout your time at university.
A summer internship or insight week, usually taking place over the intermittent summer of your second and third year, is a common route onto the job ladder. However, with thousands of applicants and limited places, securing a summer placement is tricky.
Here are eight tips to increase your chances of acceptance onto a summer scheme so when you finish your course, you can hit the ground running.
Cast a wide net
Applications don’t cost a penny, so it’s worth applying anywhere that takes your fancy.
Not to mention, it’s an inconvenient truth that summer placements, especially with the industry leaders, have very few places compared to the swathes of applicants. Hence, sending out a large number of applications will seriously boost your chances of receiving an offer, especially if you’re taking on board the feedback from your rejections.
Begin early
While you’ll have a year until beginning your summer experience, it's a good idea to begin early. This is not necessarily due to the application periods, most of which are generally open until spring, but more because of your academic work. The jump from first to second year is pretty vast, and you want to make sure that you aren’t sacrificing too much of your study time on researching and applying for summer experiences.
Good periods to focus on applications were October to early November and the Winter break to around week 4 of Lent term (perhaps a bit earlier if you’re taking ECON 221, due to the midterm).
Practice competency tests and interviews
From personal experience, applications to the ‘Big Four’, as well as many other industry-leading firms, care less about CVs and cover letters, and more about your performance on a series of competency tests. These often include situational judgement, verbal and mathematical reasoning.
Practice tests can be found online for free, while one-shot practices are often offered by the firm before your actual tests, however, it’s good to have a grounding and comfort with the style of quick maths and critical thinking you are expected to exhibit beforehand.
Be sure to check the links below for some free online tests!
Take advantage of the Lancaster University Careers Service
As a student of Lancaster University, you have access to the University’s Careers Service. Helpfully, they advertise a lot of summer opportunities straight to your inbox and provide a multitude of services and events to boost your employability.
Specifically, I’d recommend the CV and cover letter writing workshops. While I previously mentioned that CVs and cover letters are often being sidelined in favour of competency tests, CVs will still be required for you to proceed and are sometimes brought up at the interview stage. Furthermore, for many other firms, CVs and cover letters are still the focus, therefore, your ability to write engagingly and professionally is crucial to the success of your application.
Most importantly, the Careers Service offers one-on-one appointments, which can be a great way to deconstruct rejections and feedback, to increase the chances of your next application.
Sign up to the Bright Network
In the same vein as the University Careers Service, the Bright Network offers a range of helpful resources to assist you in securing a summer placement. They offer employability events, application advice and even their own internship experiences, all tailored specifically to the sector of your interest.
Signing up doesn’t cost a thing, and it will keep you up to date with key dates and internships that interest you.
Take advantage of inclusivity programs and initiatives
Representation in finance and economics is horrifically low, which extends to a racial, classist and sexist bias in the recruitment process. Subsequently, initiatives to change this by the industry leaders are piecemeal, but they do exist.
For example, EY run 'Black Heritage' and 'Women in Business' events which give insights and networking opportunities inside the firm. Similarly, JP Morgan Chase offers their 'Winning Women Undergraduate' program, which serves as a pre-internship. Meanwhile, some firms dedicate internships to inclusion, such as Deloitte’s 'autism@work' internship or the Civil Service's 'Summer Diversity Internship'.
Links to these opportunities can be found below.
Ask questions
You may have already learnt from lectures that asking questions is a great way to stand out and be remembered. The same wisdom can be applied to applying for a summer scheme, especially later in the application process.
Questions are a perfect demonstration of enthusiasm and have the added benefit of cementing your network. Finding the LinkedIn or email address of a partner or recruiter at your dream firm may feel like an anxious, awkward and often cringy way to make yourself stand out but trust me, it works.
Stay motivated!
Your ability to take rejections on the chin and move forward stronger will determine your success in this highly competitive sector. Not only are summer internships great for getting a foot in the door, but they have also helped me a tremendous amount in my ability to come to terms with rejection.
Overall, my advice is to keep plugging away until you are accepted. If you are critical and take feedback well, you will undoubtedly be offered a summer opportunity. It’s truly a rewarding experience in and of itself.
Links
Competency tests
KPMG audit competency test: https://www.practiceaptitudetests.com/top-employer-profiles/kpmg-assessments/
PwC aptitude test: https://www.practiceaptitudetests.com/top-employer-profiles/pwc-assessments/
Inclusivity programs
EY 'Black Heritage in Business' and 'Women in Business' opportunities: https://www.ey.com/en_uk/careers/students/programmes/undergraduates/discover-ey
JP Morgan Chase 'Winning Women - Undergraduate' program: https://careers.jpmorgan.com/us/en/students/programs/winning-women-ba?search=&tags=location__EuropeMiddleEastandAfrica__UnitedKingdom
Civil Service 'Summer Diversity Internship' program: https://www.faststream.gov.uk/summer-diversity-internship-programme/index.html
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