An MBA at a top Business School abroad does one thing above all else: it opens doors that would otherwise be closed. And, to top it all, it helps its students explore what is on the other side of many of those doors at first hand, and see for themselves if they fit the careers they’re interested in.

The most common way in which this happens is the Summer internship that happens after the first year. Many students pay more careful attention to this than even to their final placement, because a pre-placement offer after a great internship can remove all the final year placement jitters. In addition, it is the best way to see if a potential career choice will suit you well: by actually spending a couple of months experiencing it, and being paid fantastically well, to boot.

In this Jamboree Special Feature, we bring you 5 interesting internships that are popular in Business schools in the US, and tell you a little about each of them.

Summer Associate, McKinsey and Company

One of the most sought after roles on any business school campus anywhere in the world is that of Summer Associate at the world’s most prestigious consulting firm. Summer Associates work on short live projects in consulting teams, learn a whole lot of things and, if they show basic consulting readiness, will be given a full time offer to join the firm once they finish their MBA degree.

The story is similar with any of the other great consulting firms that visit every campus for summer internships. Apart from the big generalist firms like the above, there are many niche firms – from social impact consulting to defence research consulting – you will find something that fits your skill set and interest perfectly. 

Summer Intern, Equity Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley

At every school, the finance sector accounts for the largest chunk of final placements – whether students choose to pursue a career in hedge funds, investment banking or private equity, almost a third (or higher) of every class heads to Wall Street.

A very popular way to test the financial waters is to intern with one of the huge banks; as a summer intern with Morgan Stanley, it’s all about learning. You will be encouraged to work with and learn from the most senior people in your team. You will have long hours, but that will be compensated for by the fun you have, and the fact that the experience will definitely tell you whether you should choose finance as a long term career.

Investment Associate Intern, Acumen Fund

If you have always had a passion for social impact, but have always wanted to achieve something measurable on a large scale in the space, impact investing could be for you. At a large impact fund like Acumen, you will be responsible for helping the most exciting social enterprises and non profits across the world bring their good work to as many people as possible, and giving them everything they need to make this happen.

For many people who take up impact investing, it provides the perfect fusion of venture capital work and social uplift that fulfils them professionally and completely.

Marketing Head, the next big thing in Silicon Valley

Whether you’re in Stanford, Wharton, Harvard or Tuck, there will be plenty of brilliant, hungry inventors in your city who are bursting with their idea that will revolutionize the world. And most of them will require a big name MBA teammate to help bring their product or service to the largest possible market. 

So, if you want to be at the forefront of the next Google, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, your business school connections will give you the power to become a part of an exciting early stage, and work with them over the summer to evaluate your future with the startup. Who knows, your equity stake in the company, if you stay with them, could make you a millionaire even before many of your classmates in Wall Street.

Change Agent, your family business

Business School is all about leading every kind of business, and a large part of that is helping well run family businesses take the next big quantum leap as far as size is concerned. If you are part of a family business looking to become the next Mahindra, Tata or Reliance, business school could give you everything you need to make sure the business stays at the cutting edge. And starting off between your two years in business school is a great way to get your feet wet, and see whether you will enjoy getting back to that full time.

We hope that you enjoyed this Jamboree special feature on great internships that open up for you as you get that admit to the business school of your dreams. To make sure that the admit happens, we suggest that you get expert help to ensure that you crack the GRE, your application, your interviews, and everything else. Our expert coaches at Jamboree have done this for two decades, and can put you on the fast track to the summer internship of your choice. Reach out to our nearest centre now to find out more!