Alternative Science Careers

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In continuation of the Vault’s voted best internships, here are the top ten finance internships based on the Vault’s criteria. These may be of value to those looking to break into an alternative career using your scientific industry knowledge.

• AT&T Financial Leadership Program – Internships are open to first-year MBA students with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5. Each intern is assigned to one of AT&T’s finance areas. Applications are due by March so hurry if you are interested for this summer. Website: att.jobs

• The Blackstone Group – A leading global alternative asset manager and provider of financial advisory services. Blackstone has a relatively small number of professional staff members, therefore interns take on many of the responsibilities that full-time analysts and associates usually perform. Interns are for rising college seniors (summer analyst position) or rising second-year MBA students (summer associate position). Website: www.blackstone.com

• Credit Suisse Group – Offers 3 divisions: private banking, investment banking, and asset management. Offers a variety of summer associate positions for MBA and PhD students, and summer analyst positions for undergraduates. Website: www.credit-suisse.com/careers

• Deutsche Bank- a leading global investment bank with a strong and profitable private clients franchise. Offers analyst and associate internship positions in a variety of divisions including finance, asset management, private wealth management, global banking, global markets, human resources, operations, legal, risk and capital (which encapsulates legal, risk management, compliance and treasury), group technology, and operations. Associate interns work in asset management, global banking, or global markets. Website: www.db.com/careers

• Goldman Sachs & Co – a bank holding company and global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. Interns learn similar work as entry-level employees, such as investment banking, investment management, sales, trading, research, and financial analysis. The firm also provides scholarships and MBA fellowships to students from traditionally underrepresented groups. Website: www.gs.com/careers

• J.P. Morgan’s Investment Bank – one of the world’s leading investment banks. A majority of interns are hired as full-time analysts and associates.  J.P. Morgan also offers scholarships. Website: jpmorgan.com/careers

• Lazard – provides financial services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals around the world. Lazard considers its summer analysts and associates the primary source for full-time candidates, typically offering positions to about 80 percent of interns. Website: lazard.com

• Morgan Stanley – provides numerous investment portfolio opportunities to individual clients. Offers 10-week summer internships to both undergraduate and graduate students. Analyst and associate positions are available in a variety of fields, including finance, corporate treasury, financial control group, strategy and execution, global capital markets, human resources, investment banking, real estate, investment management, asset management, merchant banking, infrastructure, private equity, operations, risk management, sales and trading, technology and wealth management. The investment banking sector also offers the sophomore rotational program (SRP), which provides rising college juniors with a first-year analyst “buddy” to guide them as they rotate every two or three weeks to a different aspect of the investment banking business. Website: www.morganstanley.com

• Northwestern Mutual Financial Network – provides personalized financial services. All interns must prepare for and pass a state licensing exam. About 33 percent of interns are offered full-time positions upon graduation. Website: www.nmfn.com

• UBS Investment Bank Internship Program – a leading financial firm and one of the world’s largest managers of private wealth assets. Offers positions to undergrad and MBA students in multiple U.S. offices. Positions are available in compliance, equities (sales and trading and research), finance, fixed income (sales and trading and debt capital markets), IT, investment banking, legal, wealth management, operations and risk. About 75 percent of the intern class get offered full-time positions upon graduation. Website: www.ubs.com/graduates

For more information, visit the Vault.

This article reveals several key secrets shared by various HR personnel (those that often make the hiring decisions) about resumes, interviews, and salary negotiations. Today’s post covers the first part of the article.

What you should know about resumes:

• “Once you’re unemployed more than six months, you’re considered pretty much unemployable. We assume that other people have already passed you over, so we don’t want anything to do with you.” –Cynthia Shapiro, former human resources executive and author of Corporate Confidential: 50 Secrets Your Company Doesn’t Want You to Know

• “When it comes to getting a job, who you know really does matter. No matter how nice your résumé is or how great your experience may be, it’s all about connections.” –HR director at a health-care facility

• “If you’re trying to get a job at a specific company, often the best thing to do is to avoid HR entirely. Find someone at the company you know, or go straight to the hiring manager.” –Shauna Moerke, an HR administrator in Alabama who blogs at hrminion.com

• “People assume someone’s reading their cover letter. I haven’t read one in 11 years.” –HR director at a financial services firm

• “We will judge you based on your e-mail address. Especially if it’s something inappropriate like kinkyboots101@hotmail.com or johnnylikestodrink@gmail.com.” –Rich DeMatteo, a recruiting consultant in Philadelphia

• “If you’re in your 50s or 60s, don’t put the year you graduated on your résumé.” –HR professional at a midsize firm in North Carolina

• “There’s a myth out there that a résumé has to be one page. So people send their résumé in a two-point font. Nobody is going to read that.” –HR director at a financial services firm

• “I always read résumés from the bottom up. And I have no problem with a two-page résumé, but three pages is pushing it.” –Sharlyn Lauby, HR consultant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

• “Most of us use applicant-tracking systems that scan résumés for key words. The secret to getting your résumé through the system is to pull key words directly from the job description and put them on. The more matches you have, the more likely your résumé will get picked and actually seen by a real person.” –Chris Ferdinandi, HR professional in the Boston area

• “Résumés don’t need color to stand out. When I see a little color, I smirk. And when I see a ton of color, I cringe. And walking in and dropping off your resume is no longer seen as a good thing. It’s actually a little creepy.” –Rich DeMatteo

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Vault has released their top ten list of internships for 2011. This year, Vault editors evaluated over 821 internship programs to determine which provide the best all-around experience. Many different criteria are used and include compensation, perks, training, mentorship availability, intern involvement, work culture, career advancement opportunities, and industry clout.

So what internships made the top 10 list?

• The Capital Fellows Programs – are public policy fellowships in California state government, administered by the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento. Capital fellows are directly involved in the policy making process by helping to draft and analyze legislation, writing speeches, and conducting policy briefings. The fellows programs help participants be well prepared for government and public service careers and many are offered positions within the California state government upon completion of the program. Website: http://www.csus.edu/calst/capital_fellows_programs_overview.html

• Deloitte – has four key business areas: audit, financial advisory, tax and consulting that each offer internship positions. The intern’s first week is devoted to training by taking functional and technical training courses. About 75% of interns are offered full-time employment after graduating. Website: www.deloitte.com/us/careers

• Garmin International – designs, manufactures, and markets navigation and communications equipment for the aviation and consumer markets. Garmin hires interns in a variety of engineering departments, including software engineering, design, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, aviation systems, process and component. About 90 percent of interns are offered full-time employment upon graduation. Website: www.garmin.com/careers

• Google, Inc – offers internship positions to undergrads, grad students, and MBA candidates in areas such as sales, marketing, advertising, product management, finance, and business operations. Interns also get Google perks—TechTalks (weekly company lectures), a mentor (or “host”), intern events (such as a night at the theater, rock-climbing, bowling or a cruise), and continuous training during their stay at the Googleplex. Website: www.google.com/jobs/students

• J.P. Morgan’s Investment Bank – is one of the world’s leading investment banks. Interns receive on-the-job training and gain experience by working on similar projects as full-time analysts and associates. A majority of interns are hired as full-time analysts and associates. Website: jpmorgan.com/careers

• NASA – The NASA Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholar (LARSS) program is designed to train students interested in the sciences and engineering by working on research projects. Students gain hands-on experience designing spaceflight hardware and software, and may even support real-time mission activities. Current students may also participate in NASA’s cooperative education program, undergraduate and graduate students research program, or numerous other education programs. Graduates seeking entry-level jobs may choose from the federal career internship program, the presidential management internship, and other employment options. Website: education.nasa.gov

• Nickelodeon Animation Studio – Interns act as production assistants and gain hands-on experience in several different departments, such as TV production, post-production, casting, animation and live action development, CG, special events, writing, college relations and recruitment, business and legal affairs. Over 33 percent of interns are offered full-time positions with the company within one year of completing their internship. Website: nickanimationcareers.com

• Northwestern Mutual Financial Network – provides personalized financial services. interns receive substantial training and must pass a state licensing exam so that they can work independently by contacting clients directly. Approximately 33 percent of interns are offered full-time positions upon graduation. Website: www.nmfn.com

• Smithsonian Institution – offers almost 60 different internship programs designed to fit to the individual intern’s academic and professional goals. Some opportunities include work in the curatorial, archival, science research, and culture departments. Website: intern.si.edu

• Boston Consulting Group (BCG) -  is an international strategy and general management firm that offers summer associate internships. Interns are exposed to the daily requirements and expectations of the associate position, including a great deal of client contact, with the hope that interested and capable interns will return to BCG as full-time associates following graduation. In fact, about 90 percent of interns are offered full-time positions. Website: www.bcg.com/careers

In addition to the overall top 10 list of internships, Vault editors also created top ten internship lists in five distinct categories: finance, nonprofit, creative/liberal arts, unusual experiences, and perks. Stay tuned- these lists to follow over the next few days.

To find out more information on each internship opportunity, visit the Vault at www.vault.com.

- Teddy Roosevelt

Let’s look at the facts. I joined medical school, and even finished without getting thrown out. I passed all my board exams and matched my first choice for an Emergency Medicine residency in Pittsburgh. I somehow was able to survive my residency without killing too many patients, some other doctors, or myself. I became board certified in Emergency Medicine. I have been working in the emergency room for the last nine years, so I reckon that makes me a bone fide doctor. I can’t say that from the time I ws three years old I wanted to be a doctor or healthcare provider, but somewhere along the line I felt like having an occupation that helped people, had reasonable job security, and had a decent wage seemed like a good idea. Now, I recognize the concept of hindsight.

My state of mind five years ago when I thought about my medical career was scared and cynical. Those same sentiments held true for my opinion concerning the future of the medical system in general. That was why I decided I needed to make a change.

Initially that change was to become a “part time” doctor. I felt like scaling back my hours would help get rid of the discouragement, the impending burnout, and would help me focus on what I felt was important with my life. Scaling back my hours did help for a short time. However, even only working 8 shifts per month, I still would go right back into the same frustration and anger I felt when I was working full-time.

Thus, I chose to quit. The first time that I can remember (except during pee wee football when I realized I was more of the soccer type) I’ was going to quit something. But after 15 years of school and training to become a physician, I wasn’t going to leave without a bit of self examination. I had to see what was wrong with myself and why I couldn’t “hack” being a practicing doctor. That’s where being a “wanna-be” filmmaker came in. I decided to examine the “what’s wrong with me question” on camera, creating a documentary film called “The Vanishing Oath” that looks around the obstacles doctors and their patients face from the inside of the healthcare machine.

In summary, I am a health care professional, I have the paperwork to prove it. As for a filmmaker, that’s harder to define. When is one considered a “writer” or a “painter” or even a “filmmaker”? Is it actually when you complete your first book or film, or is it when you can say you earn your living from your art? According to the first definition, I Am A FILMMAKER. Through the second definition I’M A WANNA-BE.

So if ever asked again, “are you a health care provider or a film maker?” I will now answer:

“If being a real doctor is having to suffer hours on end, affect little change in my patients lives because the system doesn’t allow it,  and destroy my own health and family to do so, then NO I’M NOT a real doctor.” “And if by exploring and learning about the realities of medical care in this country and further igniting my passion to help my colleagues and ultimately our patients then, YES I AM filmmaker”.

And happy with it.

Freelance MD is an active community of physicians that gives them more freedom and control of their medical practice, income, and lifestyle. Freelance MD provides physicians with cutting edge information on everything they need to broaden their careers and make their lives more manageable.