The Best Companies For Summer Internships - Poets&Quants

Do you want the prestige or the preparation?

Many business school students ask that question when weighing internship offers. Who wouldn’t want a famed company on their resume? At worst, it’ll open doors elsewhere, right?

Maybe, but real question is this: Does the internship teach students how to excel once they land a gig? In this regard, not all internships are created equal. In many cases, they lack an overriding structure. As a result, they don’t consciously help interns develop skills, grow networks, and absorb professional mores.  That begs the question: Which company offers the highest return on a summer internship?

ELLIOTT DAVIS NABS THE TOP SPOT

That would be the Elliott Davis ENVISION Summer Internship Experience according to Vault, a leading collector of market intelligence for employer ratings and reviews. A Top 30 accounting firm with locations across the Carolinas and Tennessee, Elliott Davis takes on 100 interns per year, paying $18-$26 an hour. It is an internship where students learn by doing, working directly with real clients and senior managers alike. Like many top internships, Elliott Davis helped business students beef up their resumes.

For interns themselves, it was the firm’s ability to foster a sense of belonging that truly set it apart. “They made you feel as if you were capable of doing things and wanted your help in doing things and never made you feel stupid for not knowing something,” says one intern.

Elliott Davis is just one of the firms honored by Vault in its 2018 “Best 50 Internships.” It is an all-encompassing ranking that evaluates firms on both quality and prestige. These evaluations are based on survey ratings from 12,000 current and former interns who completed internships with over 110 firms. As part of the survey, these respondents were asked to evaluate their internships on a variety of criteria, including Quality of Life (work-life balance, culture, and flexibility); Compensation and Benefits (pay, perks, and subsidized expenses); Interview Process (application requirements and interview experience); Career Development (training and mentoring, quality of work assignments, and networking opportunities); and Full-Time Employment Prospects (possibility of landing full-time work).

SEVERAL LEADING FIRMS GO MIA IN THE RANKING

Each category was scored on a scale of 0 (“No one wants to work here”) to 10 (It’s a dream job”). Using the same scale, survey respondents also measured the prestige level of interning with various firms. Along with ‘Best 50’ and ‘Prestige’ rankings, Vault also broke rankings down by Industry (Accounting, Consulting, Energy, Financial Services, Health Care, Investment Banking, Media and Telecom, Retail and Consumer Projects, and Tech and Engineering) and Performance (Quality of Life, Career Development, Compensation & Benefits, and Employment Prospects).

At first, the ‘Best 50’ summer internship ranking feels a bit unfamiliar. Notably, many of the big names, such as Google, McKinsey, and Goldman Sachs, are conspicuously absent. In fact, Bain & Company is probably the most recognizable name on the Top 10 – though names like PwC, Barclays, and Deloitte Consulting eventually crop up well down the list. The reason for excluding top names came down to participation, with just 30% of the 400 firms invited ultimately participating.

“To be ranked in the overall category, a firm had to have taken our survey,” explains Derek Loosvelt, senior finance editor at Vault, in a statement to Poets&Quants. “A majority of the firms that ranked among the Most Prestigious Internships did not participate in our survey.”

“I HELPED COMPANIES DO THINGS THAT WILL BE FRONT PAGE NEWS”

Joe Perella, Co-founder and Partner at Perella Weinberg

The Perella Weinberg Partners Advisory Summer Internship program placed 2nd in the ‘Best 50.’ A decade-old financial services firm headquartered in New York City, Perella Weinberg offers 6-12 week summer internships to 21-50 students annually. How popular was the firm? It earned the highest scores from survey respondents for career development and compensation and benefits. It also finished second for employment prospects. Such sentiments came out clearly in intern surveys, where respondents touted the firm for giving them “good deal exposure” and placing them in the “middle of the action.”

“The work is meaningful, engaging, and high impact,” writes one 2017 intern who worked out of the San Francisco office. “I helped companies do things that will be front page news when they are completed and will have lasting effects on the industries they operate in.”

What was the downside of interning at Perella Weinberg? It was the same as working in any financial: grueling hours that cut into interns’ work-life balance. How deep did it cut? The firm didn’t even rank among the Top 25 firms for Quality of Life, which undoubtedly cost it the top spot in the ‘Best 50.’ Still, many interns were philosophical about the tradeoff. “The hours take time to get adjusted to,” observes one 2017 intern philosophically. “Once that adjustment is made, it doesn’t seem bad because the people at the firm are very smart and fun to work with and the content of the work takes the mind off of time.”

Perella Weinberg may offer access and responsibility, but the firm’s culture is why many interns can’t wait to return after graduation. “The access to the senior bankers provides you with an industry experience that larger banks can’t provide,” adds a 2016 intern. “The ability to see a project from start to finish teaches a great deal about analysis that you don’t receive at bulge bracket banks that have you churn a great number of reps on the same concepts. Most importantly, the relationships you can build at a smaller firm like Perella are truly what makes the firm great. Being able to walk into a firm and know almost every single person that works in the office is special in the finance industry and is something that I will certainly cherish.”

Go to Next Page to See Top Internship Ranking

Bain consultants meeting in a lobby

BAIN & COMPANY INTERNSHIP DEFINED BY FEEDBACK AND FRIENDLY PEERS

Frank, Rimmerman + Co. LLP, a CPA firm based in Palo Alto, California, rounds out Vault’s Top 3 internship ranking. Last year’s #1, the Evercore Advisory Summer Analyst and Summer Associate Program, slipped to 4th, though it earned the highest marks for Employment Prospects. Evercore was followed by the Nickelodeon NICKternship Program, which climbed from 9th to 5th. The year’s most impressive jump was made by Bates White, an economic consulting firm located in Washington, DC, which jumped from 27th to 7th. By the same token, the Capital One Finance Internship Program made the splashiest debut at 19th in the 2018 ranking.

The biggest name on the list was undoubtedly Bain & Company, which ranked 9th overall. It ranked among the top internships for Career Development and Employment Prospects. Among 207 intern reviews, 88% gave it a perfect five star score – and only one intern scored it below four stars. Such enthusiasm stems from Bain’s feedback driven culture that prides itself on growing talent from within. Among 2017 interns, Bain was touted for providing “meaningful work” and “ownership” of their work.

“The work, you learn so much so fast [and] are given real responsibility from the get go,” writes one 2017 intern from Sydney, Australia.  “After a week into my first case, I was sitting down with the CFO 1-on-1 and going through models and KPIs that I had come up.”

Bain also differentiates itself through its culture, namely its people. In reviews, Bain interns describe their peers as “humble”, “sincere”, and “exciting” – a culture where people look out for each other and look to bring out their best. “Everyone is really smart, positive, and friendly – at all levels and tenures,” writes one intern from the Atlanta home office. “But it’s not like a frat, as Bain is often stereotyped – there are lots of diverse people and personalities. Even as a nerdy introvert I was happy. I also enjoyed getting to know the other summer interns – we all got along well. Bain does a good job of picking competent, team-oriented people.”

SURPRISE! GOOGLE AGAIN TOPS FOR PRESTIGE

Bain may operate one of the best summer internship programs, but it doesn’t carry the cache among survey respondents to match. It ranked 34th for prestige, lagging behind the likes of Bloomberg and Bank of America. For the third year straight, Google reigns as the most prestigious internship according to Vault.

Why Google? Isn’t it obvious? The company has everything an employee could possibly want. Just rattling off the benefits would make any cube farmer jealous: free food, on-site medical center and gym, and 22-week maternity leave. Employees can spend 20% of their time on passion projects, bring their pets to work, and even enjoy beer and wine on Fridays. Who would ever want to leave the Googleplex? At the same time, Google is the “cool” company that revolutionized internet search, mapping, photography and email – and is now busy taking self-driving cars to market. Students have taken note. “Anyone would hire you after you’ve worked there,” writes one survey respondent.

Among Vault’s Top Five for Prestige, Apple and Facebook retained the 2nd and 3rd spots, with Microsoft and Goldman Sachs swapping the 4th and 5th spots respectively over the previous year. In fact, tech firms rank among six of the seven most prestigious internships (if Tesla and Amazon are lumped into that category). Loosvelt believes tech’s prominence will only grow over the long-term.

HAVE CONSULTING FIRMS LOST PRESTIGE?

Derek Loosvelt. Courtesy photo

“Technology firms are at the center of our lives, and the largest tech firms affect the way we live on a daily, if not hourly basis (whether we like it or not),” he writes. “So, these firms are now seen as having the largest, most powerful brand names and are seen as having the most significant impact on people’s (consumers’) lives. And that’s, to a large extent, what young job seekers tell us they’re looking for: to make an impact with their work and career. I think entertainment companies are gaining prestige, too. It’s necessary to note, though, that the line between entertainment and technology is blurring. Is Amazon a tech firm or an entertainment firm? Same goes for HBO, ESPN, Netflix, etc. Technology drives a lot of the revenue at these firms, of course. So, perhaps, as entertainment firms begin to look more like tech firms, their prestige, according to young jobseekers, will rise.”

Vault’s Prestige ranking also includes another surprise: internships at top consulting firms carry far less prestige than might be expected. In fact, BCG enjoyed the highest ranking at 16th, with McKinsey following at 23rd. Loosvelt argues that the discrepancy, where tech and banking hold more sway than consulting, is a function of the sample, which was much wider than graduate business students.

“Names like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley carry as much or more weight than the top consulting firms outside business schools,” he points out. “Goldman and Morgan Stanley are names that everyone recognizes. McKinsey to some extent, too. But Bain and BCG not so much. The majority of students taking our internship survey were undergrads, not MBAs. It’s also true that the big investment banks are looking more like tech firms every day. I believe now one-third of all employees at Goldman, for example, are tech employees. And those employees might not be looking to (or need to) get MBAs to further their careers. That said, MBA students that took our survey still rate Goldman and Morgan Stanley very highly when it comes to prestige.”

Go to Next Page To See Prestige Ranking

Actors Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in The Internship

Although Vault only makes quantitative data available in total, Loosvelt adds that MBAs tended to confer greater prestige to consulting firms than the rest of the sample. “MBAs who took our survey rate a handful of firms a lot higher in prestige than the rest of the pool of interns do (that is, than undergrads and non-MBA grad-degree holders). In particular, BCG, Bain, McKinsey, Berkshire Hathaway, BlackRock and Unilever get much higher prestige ratings from MBAs than from undergrads and non-MBA grad-degree holders. Meanwhile, MBAs rate several companies a lot lower than undergrads and non-MBA grad-degree holders. Companies such as Microsoft, Twitter, Oracle, Samsung, Intel, IBM, GM, Ford, ExxonMobil, PwC, and EY all receive significantly lower prestige ratings from MBAs.”

MBAs MORE CONFIDENT IN GETTING A FULL-TIME OFFER

Overall, the Prestige ranking remained relatively stable. Among Top 20 firms, BCG, Intel, and Mercedes each climbed three spots, while Nike and ESPN tumbled the same amount. Netflix, Linkedin, HBO and Bank of America each debuted in the Top 30, led by a 12th place finish by Netflix, which interns describe as “fresh and exciting” and “fast-paced and fun.”

Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos

While Loosvelt wasn’t surprised by the Prestige results, he was intrigued by Amazon’s move from 11th to 7th. “Maybe that jump was due to the firm’s Whole Foods acquisition or its other recent acquisitions. Amazon continues to grow and widen its reach, product-wise and geographically, and it’s becoming a more prestigious tech, entertainment, and consumer goods firm to work for in the process. That seems to be reflected in its rise in our rankings.”

Along with rating their internships and prestige, respondents also completed a survey on their experience. MBAs tended to be more confident about receiving a full-time job offer than the rest of the sample by a 53%-to-45% margin. Overall, half of the respondents ultimately received a full-time job offer after their internships, with 98.5% of them being paid.

In addition, Vault found that pay trumped all other factors in selecting an internship among students. However, Vault notes that location came in a close second following by career advancement in a chosen industry, and the odds of landing a full-time offer. Not surprisingly, 61% of respondents found their internship through campus recruiters, with 11.9% originating from referrals.

Here are the companies that performed the best for internships with their respective industries:

Best Accounting Internship: Elliott Davis ENVISION Summer Internship Experience

Best Consulting Internship: Bates White Summer Consultant Program

Best Energy Internship: Westar Energy Internship Program

Best Financial Services Internship: KPCB Fellows Program

Best Health Care Internship: Abbott Laboratories Internship Program

Best Investment Banking Internship: Perella Weinberg Partners Advisory Summer Internship Program

Best Media & Telecommunications Internship: Nickelodeon Nickternship Program

Best Retail & Consumer Products Internship: RAI Internship Program

Best Tech & Engineering Internship: Capital One Technology Development Program

Go to Next Page for the Top Firms for Career Development, Quality of Life, Compensation and Benefits, and Employment Prospects

DON’T MISS: BEST CONSULTING FIRMS TO WORK FOR IN 2018 OR BEST INVESTMENT BANKS TO WORK FOR IN 2018

 

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