Applications to financial internships up amidst economic woes

Even as the headlines of major news outlets highlight the dollar’s depression and the economy’s move toward recession, over the past three weeks students have flocked to interviews for summer internships in the financial sector.

“Students have continued to maintain interest in the financial internships,” Beverly Hamilton-Chandler, director of Career Services, said in an e-mail.The number of sophomore and junior applicants to financial service internships has shown no signs of a slump. Recruiters noted equal or increased numbers of applicants compared to last year.

“This year applications for summer internships at Goldman Sachs from Princeton remain strong and are slightly up on last season,” recruiter Gemma Thompson said in an e-mail.

Kerry Nugent, a recruiter for Citigroup, said that the number of applicants for finance positions at that firm seems to increase every year.

“Instability in the economy is sparking the interest of students,” she explained, citing current market conditions and record application numbers as evidence.

Kai Chan GS ’04, an associate for FG Companies, a small boutique investment bank in Manhattan, has seen the potency of student interest in finance internships.

Though his firm has only been in existence for 10 months, it received 255 applications — 50 from Princeton — for the firm’s five to 10 unpaid internships.

“The response was much higher than any of us had anticipated,” Chan said. “I thought that because it would be an unpaid internship in New York, there would be 30, 40 applications,” he added.

Hiring levels varied across Wall Street’s firms. Citigroup, for example, made slightly fewer offers to students for the summer, Nugent said. The financial giant was one of the hardest-hit by the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market. CNBC reported on March 4 that by the end of 2009, the firm could cut up to 10 percent of its employees.

The firm’s recruiters, however, “[made] a big effort to let students know that their [jobs are] secure and [that] it’s a great learning environment,” Nugent said.

Recruiters at Goldman Sachs, on the other hand, “anticipated extending a similar number of offers to Princeton students” as compared to last year, Thompson said. The firm has fared better than many of its competitors during the economic downturn.

Students seeking these internships, however, have remained anxious that firms weathering shrinking credit markets and reduced deal flow would offer fewer summer analyst positions.

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“Everyone was trying to see how the market was going to affect the number of interns taken, and I think that got some people in a craze,” said Melissa Lerner ’09, who has accepted an investment banking position at Credit Suisse for the upcoming summer.

“You realize you’re competing against your friends, people in your classes and people in your eating clubs. You realize that we’re all here trying to get the same spots,” she noted.

Yiqiao Tang ’09 has felt the effects of a more competitive internship market this year. She received 10 offers last year as a sophomore and only one this year. “Internships have definitely been hit,” she said. “I’ve heard rumors about top firms only taking one or two people from Princeton for their [investment banking] internships.”

“There are some firms that I know that have said they’re taking 30 to 40 percent [fewer interns],” a junior in the economics department said after speaking with a recruiter from JPMorgan. The junior was granted anonymity since he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the firm.

With more applicants and the threat of potentially fewer spots, many undergraduates sporting business formalwear could be seen dashing across campus to make their appointments.

“It takes a lot out of you. You’re selling yourself, and it’s an extremely stressful process emotionally and physically,” the same junior said.

During an interview season riddled with snow and rainstorms, though, some students found it challenging to trek to the Nassau Inn and the Office of Career Services in a timely manner and without ruining their professional attire.

“It’s a full-time job making sure you got from Career Services to the Nassau Inn and back to your room without getting disgusting,” Lerner said.

Nonetheless, Tang said, “It’s a good experience because once you’re out in the world, it’s like that every day.”

Some argue, however, that while banking internships may prepare students for life in the corporate world, they impose unnecessary stress at a young age. Chan noticed the increased emphasis on internships since he was a student.

“I’m just blown away at the resumes of some of the [applicants], especially people who are so young, and I think it’s become a lot more competitive,” he said. Noting that internships are seen as a gateway into a better life, Chan added, “If you’re 19, you should be chilling. I wonder if [these applicants] are still actually enjoying their lives.”