Elevate Internships
Finance

Finance internships for college students

Finance internships range from investment banking and trading to corporate finance, wealth management and commercial banking. The most competitive ones recruit early, often a year before the summer they start.

Find finance internships near you →

Recent finance internship listings

A sample of recent postings from employer job boards and public feeds. Search by ZIP code to see the ones near you.

Common finance internships

  • Investment banking summer analyst — Builds financial models and pitch materials for mergers, acquisitions and capital raises.
  • Corporate finance (FP&A) intern — Supports budgeting, forecasting and performance analysis inside a company.
  • Sales and trading or markets intern — Supports traders and salespeople, analyzing markets and client flows.
  • Wealth or asset management intern — Researches investments and supports portfolio and client teams.
  • Commercial banking or credit intern — Analyzes businesses applying for loans and monitors existing credit.

Skills employers look for

  • Excel financial modeling
  • Accounting and the three statements
  • Valuation (DCF, comparables)
  • PowerPoint
  • Market awareness
  • Attention to detail under deadlines

When finance internships recruit

  1. Freshman–sophomore year
    Early-insight, diversity and sophomore programs at banks and investment firms. Some deadlines fall in the autumn of sophomore year or earlier.
  2. Sophomore spring–summer
    Applications for junior-summer investment banking and markets roles can open more than a year ahead. Network before they open, not after.
  3. Junior fall
    Remaining junior-summer roles — corporate finance, asset management, commercial banking and smaller banks — plus interviews.
  4. Junior summer
    The summer analyst internship. Return offers from it fill most full-time analyst classes.
Typical timing — firms set their own dates, so check each one.
Recruiting timeline for finance internships, from freshman–sophomore year to junior summer

For every major side by side, see when to apply for business internships.

Certifications that strengthen a finance application

Where to start — none is required

See all 32 finance certifications, free ones first

Resume keywords for finance internships

Use the ones that are true for you
financial modelingDCFvaluationExcelforecastingfinancial analysisPowerPointBloombergdue diligencevariance analysis

How to write a business internship resume

Questions students ask

How early do finance internships recruit?

Investment banking and markets roles for junior summer can open more than a year ahead, sometimes in the spring of sophomore year. Corporate finance and commercial banking usually recruit in the fall of junior year.

Which certification helps most for a finance internship?

None is required. Free options such as Bloomberg Market Concepts (through your school) and financial modeling courses show interest; the FINRA SIE exam is one of the few licenses a student can take without an employer.

Can I get a finance internship without a target school?

Yes. Networking, early applications, strong Excel skills and job simulations all help, and commercial banks, corporate finance teams and smaller firms hire widely.

Guides for your applications

Search finance internships by ZIP code →

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