Finance Major Internships: Requirements and How to Excel

Internships are crucial for finance majors, offering a competitive edge in the job market by providing real-world experience and practical skills. Students gain a competitive advantage for future employment by participating in internships. Whether you're aiming for a role in investment banking, asset management, or corporate finance, a well-planned internship can significantly boost your career prospects. This article breaks down the requirements for finance internships, how to prepare, and what to expect during your internship.

Why Internships Matter for Finance Majors

An internship provides a meaningful introduction to the industry with a mix of hands-on tasks, mentorship, and learning opportunities. Internships for finance majors As a major with so many career path options, finance gives you many options to choose from for internships. There will always be an opening for a great finance internship, as the field is always looking for smart and capable finance students to hire and guide.

Building Core Skills

To make the most of your finance internship, it's important to build core skills such as proficiency in Excel, familiarity with financial modeling, and a firm grasp of accounting principles. Interns should also practice their analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities in order to effectively analyze data and generate insights. Additionally, communication skills are crucial, as interns often need to present their findings or collaborate with team members.

Understanding Company Culture

Successfully navigating company culture is a key factor in making a positive impression during your finance internship. Company culture in the finance industry plays a significant role in shaping the work experience, employee satisfaction, and overall productivity. A positive culture that emphasizes collaboration, ethical behavior, and professional development can make a big difference in your internship experience.

Securing a Finance Internship

Getting an internship in finance could not be more exciting considering the sheer amount of opportunities at different companies. It is generally recommended that you search for an internship at the beginning of the semester PRIOR to when you want to intern. We also recommend talking with us!

Where to Begin Your Search

We recommend checking our College of Business Job & Internship Board and NoleNetwork to get familiar with opportunities. After reading through the listings, select a few internships that interest you. We also regularly host recruiting events on campus.

Resume and Profile Tips

Before you get started on sending out applications, make sure that you have your resume up to date and have fully filled out all your Handshake profile details. With a complete profile, an impressive finance internship is more attainable than ever. Recruiters on Handshake are much more likely to message a student with a complete profile that says you want to work in finance than an unfinished one. When putting together your resume, make sure to have all your skills, courses, and accomplishments laid out for employers to view. Also having your preferred job role and location on your Handshake profile is a great way to signal your interest to potential recruiters.

Highlight relevant skills: Specific technical skills, time management, the ability to follow through and execute, and the ability to contribute and collaborate in a team setting.
Showcase your interests: Having your preferred job role and location on your Handshake profile is a great way to signal your interest to potential recruiters.

Internship Interview Preparation

When you do land your first interview, be it a virtual interview or in person, make sure to come prepared and dressed to impress. Review your resume and cover letter to make sure you have specific examples of your experience to share, from clubs or coursework. You can even schedule a mock interview with your university’s career center or, if you’re tight on time, ask a trusted friend to grill you on some common interview questions.

Practice common questions: Prepare specific examples from your experiences to share.

Making the Most of Your Finance Internship

Excelling in your finance internship requires more than just completing your tasks. Make an active effort to stay organized, be proactive in seeking feedback, and build meaningful relationships.

Networking Strategies

Networking is an essential part of your finance internship, as it helps you establish connections that may be valuable throughout your career. Try to connect with other interns, team members, and even employees from other departments. Attend company events, ask questions during meetings, and seek opportunities to collaborate on projects to broaden your network. Once you’ve landed an internship in finance and settled into the flow of day-to-day life in your role, start chatting with your coworkers. Whether they’re industry professionals or fellow interns, it’s important to treat them with equal respect. You never know what insights they could lend, or who could be a valuable connection down the line, five or ten years from now. Don’t be afraid to ask your new colleagues out for quick coffee chats, or request 15-minute informational interviews about their career trajectory.

Staying Organized and Proactive

Staying organized is crucial to managing multiple tasks and meeting deadlines during your finance internship. Interns are often assigned projects that require careful attention to detail and timely delivery. The finance industry is known for its fast-paced, high-pressure environment. Learning to prioritize your work effectively is key to excelling as an intern. Identify the most critical tasks and focus on those first while managing expectations for less urgent responsibilities.

Seeking and Applying Feedback

Feedback is an invaluable part of the learning process during your internship. Don’t be afraid to ask for input from your supervisor and colleagues to understand what you're doing well and where you can improve. Once you receive feedback, be sure to apply it in your work to show that you are proactive and open to growth.

Transitioning to a Full-Time Role

If your goal is to transition from intern to full-time employee, it’s important to plan and position yourself well. Demonstrating your value as an intern goes beyond completing your assigned tasks; it’s about going the extra mile to support the team and contribute to the company’s success. Take the time to understand how your work fits into the broader business goals and find ways to make a meaningful impact.

Demonstrating Initiative and Value

One way to show your value is by demonstrating initiative and drive. Look for opportunities to take on additional responsibilities, propose improvements to existing processes, or help solve problems within the team.

Communicating Your Interest

If you’re interested in transitioning to a full-time role, communicate this clearly to your supervisors. Don’t assume that your managers know your intentions. Express your interest during performance reviews or one-on-one meetings. When discussing your interest in a full-time role, be specific about your career goals and how you see yourself contributing to the company in the long term. Highlight the skills you have developed during your internship and how they align with the needs of the organization.

Internship Opportunities for Finance Majors

Internships in finance can fall under any of the following roles we’ve listed here for you! Internships are meant to guide you towards your true desired career path and your summer 2021 finance internship could kick it off in the right direction.

Common Internship Roles

Business Analysts: Business analysts and management consultants provide organizations with valuable strategic insights and strategies on how to ensure prime efficiency in the workplace and improve weaker areas of their finance. They often possess a finance degree and have extensive knowledge on finance practices and organizational behavior.
- Companies you can apply to: EY LLP, Accenture, Wayfair
- Average pay: \$70,000
Accountant: Accountants record and analyze data from financial records. After assessing a person or company's accounts, accountants advise their client on the best way to organize and manage their funds.
- Companies you can apply to: Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, EY LLP
- Average pay: \$50,000
Public Relations Managers: Public relations managers and specialists communicate with journalists and media outlets to promote news and create a specific public image for an individual, group, or organization. Their responsibilities may include managing social media accounts, writing press releases, and planning press events.
- Companies you can apply to: Insight Global, Ignite Mental Health, Nestle USA
- Average pay: \$38,000
Project Manager: Project managers (PMs) oversee the planning and execution of given projects for a company or client by managing a team of workers, scheduling deadlines, and acting as the point of contact for any outsourced resources.
- Companies you can apply to: Kiewit, Microsoft, Fidelity Investments
- Average pay: \$55,000
Data Analyst: Data analysts collect and compile data to produce useful insights for a given project, client, or organization. They manage the research, planning, strategy, and execution of the company's marketing initiatives, which ultimately aim to increase sales or brand awareness.
- Companies you can apply to: KPMG LLP, Apple, Microsoft
- Average pay: \$42,000

Academic Credit for Internships

Undergraduate business students interested in completing a credit-earning internship should submit a Student Request form to enroll in one of the below internship courses. Undergraduate students are limited to a maximum of nine (9) hours of College of Business internship credits. GEB internship courses may be repeated if the work experience provides a notable change in job responsibilities and learning objectives.

Important Considerations

Minimum Work Hours: Students must complete at least the minimum number of work hours to earn academic credit.
Graduate Students: Graduate student requests to enroll in internship courses require departmental permission and/or approval. Graduate students may not use full-time employment as an internship for academic credit.
Past Internships: Course assignments require you to actively participate with your employer while the internship is taking place in order to complete the assignments.
Business Ownership: While we applaud and value your hard work, we unfortunately cannot use this for enrollment in a business internship course.
Non-Business Majors: Our courses are not restricted to business majors, so if you meet all requirements for the business internship course, you can request to enroll.
Multiple Internships: Undergraduate students are limited to a maximum of nine (9) hours of College of Business internship credits. GEB internship courses may be repeated if the work experience provides a notable change in job responsibilities and learning objectives.

Tips and Tricks for Your Finance Internship

Want tips for getting and acing your finance internship? Look no further.

Finding Internship Locations

When searching for finance internships, it’s key to use the location filters provided on Handshake. You’ll be able to pinpoint finance internships exactly where you want to intern just by selecting the city you want in the search bar. Easy finance internships in your preferred city are just a search away.

Researching Job Roles

You can even research possible job roles that you might want to explore during your finance internship. Handshake also makes it easy to learn about roles in finance simply by using the job role search bar.

Identifying Top Employers

And if you want to take your research one step further, you can even research top employers in the finance field on Handshake. Even companies that don’t seem to have a main focus in finance are looking for bright interns to help them develop.

Paid Finance Internships

Yes, you can find paid finance internships on Handshake by using the search filters!

Finance Intern Responsibilities

Finance interns are often tasked with supporting the finance team in various functions, from data analysis to financial reporting. A finance internship offers valuable learning opportunities, including exposure to financial modeling, understanding corporate financial statements, and gaining proficiency in software like Excel and accounting tools. Interns also learn how to analyze market trends, prepare financial reports, and sometimes assist in budgeting and forecasting processes. Finance interns are typically involved in various tasks that provide insight into the workings of the financial sector. Common finance intern responsibilities include assisting in the preparation of financial reports, analyzing data for trends, managing spreadsheets, and supporting budgeting and forecasting processes. In addition, interns may help the team by conducting research on industry developments, updating financial models, and preparing presentations for senior management.

What to Learn

Along with networking and gaining mentorship, finance interns will spend time working on skills great for later in their career journeys. Finance interns will learn how to organize and file client records, communicate their analysis effectively, and collaborate with a team of professionals on a goal. During your finance internship, you’ll learn some great generic skills like time management, accountability, organization, and teamwork. Additionally, you’ll be immersed in the world of finance which will help you develop your knowledge of quantitative aptitude, how to manage finance projects effectively, and about your company’s supply chain.

Finance Internships for Freshmen

Investment banking and other finance jobs are getting increasingly competitive. As a result, the recruiting season is starting earlier and earlier each year. In order to gain a spot at a top-tier bank or fund, most students apply for finance internships starting their sophomore year of college, for matriculation the following summer. To get even more experience on a resume, ambitious students are now looking for internships starting their freshman year in college.

Tips for Freshmen

Because of the quantitative and technical demands of finance internships, most companies will not pay much attention to freshmen applicants. However, this time can be spent cultivating the required skills and experience to be a competitive applicant in the next few years. Here are six tips for freshmen who are hoping to eventually score an internship and career at a top-tier bank:

Fill in the gaps: Though you may not be actively searching for an IB internship, fill your resume with other experiences and accomplishments. For example, join finance clubs and position yourself for a leadership position. Take relevant courses and do well in them. Volunteer and pursue extracurricular activities that you enjoy. Get relevant work experience that will give you useful training and experiences to speak about in your personal story and in your “Why banking?” interview question.
Hustle during your sophomore year: Your sophomore year is when banks will actively be recruiting for junior internships. Make sure you are set up for success so when the time comes, you are polished and ready to nail your interviews. You should build your connections, gain valuable work and leadership experiences, practice your story, and know your technicals. Getting a return offer after your junior internship will actively propel you as you begin your career in finance.
Build your quantitative skillset: Finance internships are heavily quantitative, and students hoping to pursue a career in the industry will need to demonstrate mathematical abilities. By taking the right courses and practicing technical skills, you’ll be able to build a solid foundation. You don’t need to be a math major, but you do need to be good with numbers.
Know Excel: For anyone hoping to get into investment banking, Microsoft Excel is extremely important. Junior analysts and associates use Excel almost every day for return analyses, data mining, and more. Learning Excel while you’re a freshman means fewer late nights teaching yourself later on.
Read the news: To gain basic literacy in finance lingo, we recommend reading the news to understand how the markets are talked about. Newspapers like the Wall Street Journal are technical enough that you’ll be able to learn something, while basic enough to understand the gist. Many newspapers also offer newsletters and podcasts to stay up-to-date on the latest industry developments. Many universities offer free subscriptions to these newspapers through the library, so be sure to check yours before paying for one.
Go local: If you’re set on completing some type of finance internship during your freshman year, ask around at local banks, funds, or corporate offices to see if there are any positions available that haven’t been widely advertised. Usually, these firms are less hesitant to hire freshmen, and the jobs can be a good introduction to the world of finance. Also, having experience already on your resume will make you that much more of a competitive applicant in the following years.

Early Finance Internships

For finance students looking to break into competitive fields like investment banking, asset management, or commercial banking, securing early, paid finance internships can be a game-changer. These roles do more than fill your resume; they teach critical thinking, develop leadership skills, and expose you to the real-world application of your academic knowledge.

In most freshman and sophomore internships, you’ll work on meaningful projects like financial analysis, portfolio management, or risk management tasks that contribute to actual business decisions. Whether you're modeling revenue scenarios or researching market trends, these experiences teach the language and pace of the industry early.

Even more valuable is the exposure to financial management systems and data analytics tools that industry leaders use every day, including Excel, SQL, and increasingly, machine learning models used for forecasting or fraud detection. These technologies are no longer optional. Top employers expect finance majors to bring more than just coursework; they want students who can think strategically and gain experience applying financial principles in tech-forward environments.

Internships also provide an inside look at how firms navigate economic progress, market volatility, and capital allocation. By learning how decisions are made under uncertainty, you’ll begin to build instincts around risk management and resource prioritization: skills that are critical whether you're working in commercial banking, private equity, or corporate finance.

Finally, early internships help you build a network of mentors and professionals. Many programs offer workshops, speaker series with industry leaders, and structured mentorship opportunities that will help shape your path beyond college.

Johnson & Johnson Internship Program

The Internship Program is a full time 10-week program focused on providing college students with practical business experience. It allows participants to develop leadership skills, broaden their understanding of the concepts learned in school and "get a taste of the real world" before they are fully committed to it. Internship program participant roles may include Financial Planning & Analysis, Commercial Finance, Supply Chain Finance, Research & Development Finance, Internal Audit, Tax and other finance areas. Specific responsibilities may include budget support, capital budgeting, financial consolidation, sales reporting, and analysis, and/or ad-hoc projects. Other common tasks include analysis of financial questions and problems, problem solving, active business partnering and developing innovative methods to improve job metrics and processes.

Program Details

Accounting/Finance Intern positions are available supporting the Innovative Medicine, Medical-Technology, or Corporate segments. Positions may be available at numerous locations in or near New Brunswick, NJ, Raritan, NJ, Titusville, NJ, Horsham, PA, Springhouse, PA, West Chester, PA, Jacksonville, FL, Warsaw, IN, Cincinnati, OH, Irvine, CA, Danvers, MA, and Raynham, MA.

The Intern program is one of the primary sources of talent for entrance into Johnson & Johnson's Finance Leadership Development Program (FLDP). The Finance Leadership Development Program (FLDP) is a two-and-a-half-year program designed specifically to prepare and develop future generations of business leaders within the finance organization. Participants will develop critical leadership & technical skills through rotational assignments at J&J business units, in-depth training, & ongoing coaching and feedback. FLDP participants complete 2 rotations, first being ~18 months followed by a 12-month rotation. These rotational assignments are supplemented by five weeks of various trainings over the course of the program taught and led by internal & external resources. Training courses provide overviews of the various functions within J&J and follow a robust and interactive curriculum that helps develop FLDP participants on key competencies such as problem-solving/analysis, technical skills, business knowledge, teamwork, and leadership.

Eligibility Requirements

Current enrollment in an accredited College/University is required.
Candidates must be pursuing an undergraduate or Fifth Year Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Data Analytics or business-related major with an expected graduation date in 2027 or 2028.
A minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA is required.
Intermediate knowledge of MS Excel is preferred.
Legal Authorization to work in the United States, without requiring sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g. H1-B status) now or in the future is required.

Key Takeaways

Start Early: Begin your internship search well in advance, even 6-8 months before your potential start date.
Network: Networking is essential to the internship search process.
Tailor Your Resume: When applying for internships, tailor your resume and cover letter to the specific company and position.
Be Persistent: Don't be discouraged if they don't respond immediately. Keep applying for internships and networking with people in your field.
Reflect on Your Goals: Before evaluating your internship, take some time to reflect on your goals for the experience. What did you hope to learn or accomplish during your internship?
Ask for Feedback: Ask your supervisors and colleagues for feedback on your performance during the internship.
Plan for the Future: Use what you learned and gained during your internship to plan for your future career.

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