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cold calling for internships

I never got round to applying for summer internship programs so I'm free in the summer. Really want to do something useful for CV so thinking of cold calling local firms to see if they will take me as an intern for the summer (i'm happy if it is unpaid).

Has anyone had any success doing this. Going to be targeting boutiques, consulting firms and local accountants.

Ideally want to get an internship in an asset management company (quite a few in my city Edinburgh)

The plan is to systematically go through yellow pages and cold call and try and leverage a meeting. If I can get 5 minutes face to face to sell myself I'm sure I can get something.

Does anyone have any tips/experience of doing this and does it sound feasible? I have one contact in an asset management company and she recomended this to me. Should hopefully be able to sort out something with her company later in the year but they are full for the summer.

cheers guys

Reply 1

crcr

what company was the person at who recommended it? what year are you in? i wouldn't go through the yellow pages some firms are questionable altho if you can't get anyone to tell you who you should apply to then its better than nothing.

Reply 2

harryhoofter

She works for a subsidiary of KPMG. I'm scheduled to speak to her this week as she is a contact i acquired through my Mother. She reccomended sending cover letters and CV.

I'm hoping I can convince her to organize a meeting with HR so perhaps I can leverage something with them or atleast gain some insightful tips. In terms of understanding the industry and jargon I am really far behind. Really need to start focusing on a career.

I'm actually graduating this year and will be doing a Masters in September. In my undergraduate I have been mainly focused on travelling (China, Korea, Canada etc) and have not been career focused so I'm coming from a weak background. I feel it is imperative to gain some professional experience in some capacity.

I really need to do allot of work to be honest. I'm coming from a non finance background and I probally come accross as clueless and you would be right. But we all have to start somewhere.

In terms of graduate programs I have to be realistic about my background and I have a ranking in my mind of IB > Consultancy > Accountancy although I know competition is fierce and my background pales on comparison to others on this website (who I will be directly competing with).