I am currently studying in a graduate program at columbia U, majoy in statistics in the finance track(yes the same stat. department that works with math. depart. to provide MA in math. finance). I believe my background is pretty strong: holds both BS and MS in computer science from pretty reputable US universities, have 2 years working experience in I bank, hedge fund and telcom. I have been trying to get an internship in I bank or hedge fund for months, had many interviews but no replies. I am getting more and more frustrated. exactly what kind of people are those companies looking for? I believe I can make great contributions to any companies that hires me, but how can I make them believe that? is this just me? or it happens to everybody?

QuoteOriginally posted by: myTTI am currently studying in a graduate program at columbia U, majoy in statistics in the finance track(yes the same stat. department that works with math. depart. to provide MA in math. finance). I believe my background is pretty strong: holds both BS and MS in computer science from pretty reputable US universities, have 2 years working experience in I bank, hedge fund and telcom. I have been trying to get an internship in I bank or hedge fund for months, had many interviews but no replies. I am getting more and more frustrated. exactly what kind of people are those companies looking for? I believe I can make great contributions to any companies that hires me, but how can I make them believe that? is this just me? or it happens to everybody?How many have you applied to? You need to remember that it's all probabilistic, not deterministic. Firms receive very many requests, and it's quite likely tha tmany people who are good get rejected by each. You need to keep applying, and try and make it clear on the CV how much you want the position, how important it is to you. I know it probably is starting to seem futile, but there are probably a lot of places that you can still try for.Have you applied to firms in London, too? The salary for interns is normally good enough that you could afford to stay overseas for a few months to complete one.

Hey it is a very competitive business. Most people who end up with internshipsat Hedge Funds or I-Banks have a similar profileto you. Going to Columbia is nice, having a good education is nice,but it will not get you the offer since most people is this businesshave a similar background. It can takes months, if not years of work to get a decent full time job.For an internship, the mean time to get an internship is about 4 monthsfrom what I can tell. At that doesn'tAsk yourself this? How do you separate yourself from the rest of thecandidates at Columbia, Chicago, etc?A friend of mine to hire one person for the summer, went through theresume books of Columbia, Chicago, Nyu and CMU.To hire one person.

are there any sites you can suggest me for submitting resumes to UK firms? I have no idea what the job market is like in UK, I hope it is not as tough as that of US. thanks

QuoteOriginally posted by: myTTare there any sites you can suggest me for submitting resumes to UK firms? I have no idea what the job market is like in UK, I hope it is not as tough as that of US. thanksThe UK economy is booming. The banks are making money hand over fist, paying big bonuses, and hiring like they haven't done in quite a few years. We have a skills shortage, low inflation, full employment, and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.So, overall, job prospects are pretty good there. I don't have any sites to suggest to you, you'll just need to look up all the major banks, and give them a call. At last count, there were 550 of them in London, although not all were the sort of names to aim for.

QuoteOriginally posted by: myTTI am currently studying in a graduate program at columbia U, majoy in statistics in the finance track(yes the same stat. department that works with math. depart. to provide MA in math. finance). I believe my background is pretty strong: holds both BS and MS in computer science from pretty reputable US universities, have 2 years working experience in I bank, hedge fund and telcom. I have been trying to get an internship in I bank or hedge fund for months, had many interviews but no replies. I am getting more and more frustrated. exactly what kind of people are those companies looking for? I believe I can make great contributions to any companies that hires me, but how can I make them believe that? is this just me? or it happens to everybody?Do you need to pay rent to live in NYC? If not, time is on your side. What you need is just patience.

no, I live in my parents's house. they are nice enough not asking me for rent. but I feel bad for spending their money

How are you trying to apply for these jobs? If you're just submitting your resume online, no wonder you're not getting any responses (I would guess maybe 1/500 people get interviews this way).Network! I'm sure if you're a student at Columbia, this shouldn't be that hard. Your professors probably have great connections with people in hedge funds and other places, as does the alumni network. That's what going to an ivy league school is for!

QuoteOriginally posted by: myTTI believe my background is pretty strong: holds both BS and MS in computer science from pretty reputable US universities, have 2 years working experience in I bank, hedge fund and telcom. You have 2 years of experience in each of the places or just two years total from the three places? There is a big difference. If it is the later (meaning you worked in three places for 2 years) then this might be the problem. I don't know about others but I would clearly look at that profile and see that you jump around from job to job. Whether it is personal reasons, I am not sure, but it looks bad. People would think that either you get bored of your job easily, have no loyalty in the company you work for, or simply don't want to waste their time training someone who have a possibility of jumping to another job in less than a year.QuoteOriginally posted by: myTTno, I live in my parents's house. they are nice enough not asking me for rent. but I feel bad for spending their money I completely agree with carolynt, just have more patience because the negativity cannot help when you go in for the first round interviews.

I had many interviews from columbia's career development office. what I was saying was that although I felt good about all of them, I just never hear from them again after the interview. that gives me the frustration

QuoteOriginally posted by: myTTI had many interviews from columbia's career development office. what I was saying was that although I felt good about all of them, I just never hear from them again after the interview. that gives me the frustrationSo you would rather not have first round interviews at all? My good friend's boyfriend sent out countless resumes (probably somewhere from 100-200). He only had one interview! Whats more frustrating?

QuoteOriginally posted by: NorthernJohnQuoteOriginally posted by: myTTHow many have you applied to? You need to remember that it's all probabilistic, not deterministic. Firms receive very many requests, and it's quite likely tha tmany people who are good get rejected by each. You need to keep applying, and try and make it clear on the CV how much you want the position, how important it is to you. I know it probably is starting to seem futile, but there are probably a lot of places that you can still try for.Have you applied to firms in London, too? The salary for interns is normally good enough that you could afford to stay overseas for a few months to complete one.nobody gives a shit about how much you want a position and how it is important to you....

QuoteOriginally posted by: NoDoubtsQuoteOriginally posted by: NorthernJohnQuoteOriginally posted by: myTTHow many have you applied to? You need to remember that it's all probabilistic, not deterministic. Firms receive very many requests, and it's quite likely tha tmany people who are good get rejected by each. You need to keep applying, and try and make it clear on the CV how much you want the position, how important it is to you. I know it probably is starting to seem futile, but there are probably a lot of places that you can still try for.Have you applied to firms in London, too? The salary for interns is normally good enough that you could afford to stay overseas for a few months to complete one.nobody gives a shit about how much you want a position and how it is important to you....What makes you say that?I care, and so do my colleagues who also did the recruiting for the banks we worked for.What makes you think we didn't? When you did your recruiting, did it not matter to you which people really wanted it, and which people just applied on a whim?I am actually a little surprised at your attitude. Did you get to a decent level in the city not really feeling driven?