Pre-MBA internship

Congrats!

Does that mean your company will have a position opening soon?

I've been dreaming about putting in my 2 week notice. I am at least 3.5 months away from that though...

Wow, the job market must be really bad for people to WANT my job.

Thanks for all the congrats. I am sure I will have plenty of opportunities in the near future to congratulate you guys as well.

Little info on my internship:

* Tech VC HQ is located in Williamstown, MA. I will be working out of their NYC office but mainly, I will be assigned to a software company they invested in, and I will be on working at the partner firm most of the time. According to its website, the firm is a seed and early stage venture capital firm focusing on three primary sectors: consumer media and retail, health care and financial services. They partner with leading entrepreneurs creating innovative products and solving complicated problems in those industries.

* The firm operates as a national network of more than a dozen early-stage venture capital funds in various markets with limited venture capital presence. Among it's partner funds are Point Judith Capital, Berkshires Capital Investors, Long River Ventures, Borealis Ventures, FreshTracks Capital, Solstice Capital, High Peaks Venture Partners, Spring Mill Venture Partners, Highway 12 Ventures, Swarraton Partners, Inflexion Partners and Tall Oaks Capital.

* I went to a dinner with my fiancee and her old boss at her previous employer. My fiancee told him before our dinner that I was admitted to Yale SOM. As a Yale alum (not SOM), he offered to help me with my future career plans. I expressed to him that I was interested in working at a tech startup and asked him if there are any opportunities at his firm. Based on our phone conversation, he suggested that I meet one of his former colleague who is a partner at a tech VC. Long story short, I flew to MA and met the guy. He matched my work background with the needs at one of the Sillicon Alley start-up that they invested in. I was offered a paid internship opportunity to work with that company.

Hi, I am thinking that I could do an internship before starting the MBA but I lost myself looking for this kind of internships. Do you know how to find internships for preMBA students?

Those of you interested in VC and startups, pay attention to the above. This is a classic story and sounds flawlessly executed. Ninkorn played every step of this the right way from what I can tell. Network, get an introduction, meet in person if you can, work with a portfolio firm first, then eventually get into the VC side.

Ninkorn, very nicely done.

Ninkorn that's awesome, congratulations!

I agree... great job! I am looking out for something similar as well - hoping it stands out while recruiting.

incredible stuff ninkorn !! well done ....

This is a great idea. Good to know you can do this!

Bump. Anyone looking for pre-mba internships this year?

I thought about it but I think I will move a couple of months before schools starts and therefore wouldn't be able to do one, unless I moved earlier and got one in Austin.

More than an actual internship I've started reaching out to contacts in my target industry, basically giving them the heads up that I will be bothering them come fall.

I actually am. Would love something with either a hedge fund or PE firm. Not really sure the best way to go about getting it.

Actually I would love to get one in a Tech VC firm myself. Never even thought about this, but not very interested.

anyone know how this would work? submitting a resume online, would you list your intended school even though you're not a student yet?

i'd love to do a pre-mba internship or even one of the short summer "camps" at the consulting firms or CPG's

I haven't had any luck so far. Probably contacted about 15-20 IB or PE firms in the area. Got responses from most of them, but no takers. I always sent an email with my resume, I did not cold call. Large firms generally had structured internship programs in place and said they don't hire pre-MBA people. Smaller ones either said they don't take interns or "no thanks, have fun at school." Made some contacts that seemed interested in staying in touch while I was at school.

I don't have a ton of connections, so it's been tough. I got a few email addresses from friends, or if they're on the company website, or I just guessed at it based on the person's name and the way email addresses look to be constructued at a particular firm (e.g. lastname.firstname@xyzcorp).

Obviously, I could've tried to contact many more firms, but I started getting to the point where I was looking into firms I had never heard of or knew anything about. And when I asked myself, will I work at any IB/PE shop this summer just to get the experience, I started to hesitate. I'm not sure if it was the allure of having a summer off, or tired of being denied for a spot that may not even be available, or that I'm not as gung-ho as I should be about these careers. Either way, I'm about to throw in the towel and just take it easy this summer and do some other prep for school.

Also, there is a separate thread in the Career Forum:

pre-mba-internship-87881.html

When I sent my resume, I hadn't updated it yet to show HBS. I did mention in the email I was attending, though, and just a short couple paragraphs about my background and that I'm interested in XYZ.

Good work on actually trying. Most people wouldn't bother or wouldn't dare. I would definitely keep in touch with the contacts who encouraged you to do so, perhaps even set up informational interviews before you head off to school.