If You Can’t Get Into Investment Banking the Real Way, Should You Buy Your Way In?
The other day a reader wrote in with this question:
“I have the opportunity to pay [Large Sum of Money] to get an investment banking internship – should I do it? I don’t know how I can convince my parents.”
I’m not going to name names because there are multiple programs with a similar premise: pay us money, and we’ll get you an internship at a bank (or PE firm, or other financial institution). Sometimes the internships are paid (you might make some money on the deal), and sometimes they’re unpaid (your loss!).
So, how much is an internship at Goldman Sachs worth? $5,000? $10,000? More? And what should you do if you’re in this position?
If You Can’t Get a Paid Finance Internship or Job, Should You Offer to Work for Free?
As graduation and summer internship season approach, you may be considering unpaid options more seriously if you’re still looking for an internship or job.
On the surface, this seems like an easy one, supported by straightforward logic:
- Banks and other financial services firms are hurting due to the recession.
- Therefore, they don’t want to pay anyone very much – or anything at all – to work for them.
- So if you ask for pay, you may not get interviews or offers…
- But if you offer to do it for free, they’ll be a lot more receptive!
After all, who wouldn’t want to give up some short-term earnings if it ensured long-term success?
One small problem: the logic above is 100% flawed.
It’s usually a bad idea to propose an unpaid work arrangement – except for a few specific instances, which we’ll get into below.
