Finance Internships: Drilling Wells...Strategically

Today Intern Memo sits down with Sam Averbach, a junior at California Berkeley who interned last summer at Wells Fargo. We did a bit of research and found out he embodied many of the traits of the perfect summer intern -- intellectually curious, personable, in it for the right reasons -- so we figured we'd get some answers for this year's applicants.

Intern Memo: How did you get your job?

Sam Averbach: Through extensive networking and a true interest in real estate finance, I found the right people to target for the job. It got me in the door and in my interview I really displayed an earnest balance of knowledge and curiosity about the field.

IM: Do you think your sincere intellectual interest in Real Estate finance differentiated you from other interns during the summer?

SA: All of the interns within the Real Estate Merchant Bank at Wells had a sincere interest in the work, however I worked directly with the only VP in the bank who dealt with hotel finance, and I think that's because my knowledge of the hotel development business really came through during the interview and then even more once I started.

IM: What are your plans for this summer?

SA: I'm currently attempting to secure another real estate finance internship for next summer before I head off to Rome for the Spring semester.

IM: A worldly man. Able to bring in foreign experiences into the domestic workplace. Very nice. Are you going through e-recruiting?

SA: I'm currently in conversations with multiple firms. I don't plan on going through on-campus recruiting because that takes place in January for internships and I'll be abroad, but I did use the Intern Memo's e-mails on resume and cover letter to sharpen up both those documents.

Sam should be in good shape for next summer. Meanwhile, there's a great lesson to be learned from his experience. He knew exactly what he was interested in within the broad field of finance and pursued an internship strategically. He structured his application pointedly as a result and got into exactly the area he wanted. His initiative is impressive. We also found him very articulate.

Adios. Look out for a special finance version of Jobster internship listings this Thursday.

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