Five full-time Berkeley MBA students from the class of 2013 have been awarded Investment Banking Fellowships, which include a $5,000 scholarship and an opportunity to work with an alumnus mentor.
The fellows are (pictured, l. to r.) Abhishek Singhal, Alistair Savides, Fred Bayles, Jaeyong Bae, and Tim Street..
The purpose of the fellowship program, now in its sixth year, is to help prepare students for employment in investment banking. “Getting a job in investment banking, a highly competitive process, generally depends on getting an internship in investment banking and doing well,” says Bill Rindfuss, executive director for strategic programs in the Haas Finance Group. “This fellowship gives a boost to the one-semester prep time for internship interviews, and offers resources to perform well on the job during the internship.”
Along with the scholarship and mentor, often an alum of the fellowship program, the fellows receive a subsidy for student-organized “treks” to visit firms’ offices, and a chance to renew the fellowship during their second year, after they complete a successful summer internship.
The best parts of the fellowship are having a mentor and being able to begin establishing a network in the investment banking business early on, according to Federico Acabbi MBA 12, a second-year fellow. In his case, the mentor was a previous fellow who now works for an investment bank in New York. “He went through the process of the interview with me and gave me a lot of advice,” Acabbi says.
Acabbi landed an internship last summer was with Barclays in Menlo Park, where he also will be working after graduation. “It was an intense experience, but the learning curve was amazing,” Acabbi says. “I was given the opportunity to attend meetings with the CEOs and CFOs of the companies that the bank was advising at the time. I wasn’t really expecting this kind of exposure.”
Fellows are chosen through a competitive process based on their experience and knowledge demonstrated through a resume, cover letter, and interview; their passion for investment banking; and their ability to effectively represent Haas. They also must commit to completing a summer internship, assume a leadership role in school activities, and become a mentor after they are employed in the field.
The six-member selection committee includes a current Investment Banking Fellow, along with representatives from admissions, financial aid, career management, academic program office, and Finance Group.