| Topic Name: |
Internship: NY or SF? Help! |
| Message Name: |
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| Date Posted: |
02/13/2006 |
| Message: |
Hey guys. I??m an undergrad soph and recently received an offer from a BBB for a summer internship. The offer was made from their San Francisco office, but they are willing to let me switch to NYC, and I'm not sure which way to go...
Let me flesh out the situation a little more by providing the pros/cons for staying with my San Francisco offer as I see them:
Pros:
-My school has a present alumni base at the SF office, pretty much non-existent in NYC
-I know lots of people already at the SF office (all of my interviewers, few alums), and I know only a small handful in NYC
-The SF office is much smaller than NYC, so I will probably get more face time with people who are higher up
-I also am not 100% confident as to which division I want to settle into, and I imagine I will get more inter-divisional contact in SF than in NYC given the smaller size. Also, I am pretty sure the division I am currently in is not where I want to end up, so I am going to try to interview with another group at the end of the summer. This contact will surely come into play then.
-the SF office has a rep for being more laid-back than the NYC office, and the expectations might be slightly lower
-Even though they say that they don??t compare you to the other interns, I??m sure they do. The SF office likely has considerably less interns in each division than NYC, which would mean less competition for me. Plus, most of the other interns I already know (they go to my school), so that will probably decrease competition among us.
-I have two summers- doing one in SF and the other in NY might make me more marketable since I have experiences on both coasts/a wider contact base/etc.
-The number one priority for me this summer is to kick ass so I get an offer next summer??it would seem that??s more likely to happen in SF than NY given the above. Or is it?...
Cons:
-It??s not NY. I may try interviewing with other firms next year (though there is no need to trade up because it??s a super bulge bracket firm- Goldman Sachs), and I think a Wall Street internship is always seen as more legit on the resume than one with a regional office.
-The contacts I make in NYC will likely be more weighty and more important within the frame of the firm.
-NYC is the headquarters, and it will probably be a cooler experience in that sense.
-I want to be in NYC after graduation, so working there now would allow me to start building contacts. I want to probably do my internship there next summer. If I work in NYC this summer, I will only be trying to get my division changed at the end of the summer. If I work in SF, I will be trying to work in a different division and city, which might be tougher to do. Changing one thing might be doable, two less so.
-I will probably make more contacts in NYC from other firms. Firms there have open houses for interns, etc. That will be a good experience. I will also probably meet many more ambitious interns like myself.
-I will probably make more contacts within my firm. I probably won??t know them as well as my SF contacts, but I will know more people, which is a good thing. I??m not sure how much knowing them ??in depth?? matters.
Any thoughts? What would you do in my situation with 2 summers left? Does the difference between having NY or SF as the location of your internship on your resume make a real difference? Do you think it sounds like I will be more successful in SF?
My contact is gordangeckowannabe@gmail.com if anyone is willing to give me some advice. Thank you so much for your time??I really appreciate it. I don??t know what to do!
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