More than a dozen years later, Ryan Huey still remembers cornering the father of a college classmate and asking him for a summer job.
More than a dozen years later, Ryan Huey still remembers cornering the father of a college classmate and asking him for a summer job.
Mr. Huey, a junior at Abilene Christian University at the time, didn't even know Bill Perryman, the founder and president of Perryman Financial Advisory Inc., but had heard about him from Mr. Perryman's daughter, a classmate. When her father came to visit, Mr. Huey pounced.
“I told him that I wanted to go to work for him, because I wanted to learn more about the profession,” Mr. Huey said. “I had a basic idea of what personal financial planning was, but I didn't know what a career in it meant.”
Mr. Perryman, in turn, was impressed by the young man's drive.
“He was eager, bright, and he thought that this was an area he might like to pursue. He came in and worked and obviously did a phenomenal job.”
He did such a good job that Mr. Perryman hired him not long after his graduation. Mr. Huey is now the firm's director of financial planning.
While interns are often used for clerical and low-level duties, their real value is in their potential. The secret to scouting out talented young people with a chance of making it at the professional level is to be thoughtful and methodical about it, from choosing applicants to structuring the program.
Though finances have been tight in the past year or so (Mr. Perryman, for example, did not hire any interns last year, as the eight-person firm was overstaffed and revenue was down), firms are once again thinking about next summer. He said he'll hire a summer intern in January. Many other firms have interns as often as they can get them, year-round.
Methodical approach
At wealth manager Rockefeller & Co. in New York, the first step is identifying where there's a need in the organization and how interns will be matched up with departments.
“We really tailor the experience from summer to summer and season to season,” said Yvette Garcia, chief administrative officer at the 233-employee firm. “There could be as few as two or as many as five. For an organization of our size, that range is appropriate.”
Ms. Garcia said that Rockefeller doesn't need to make much of an effort to find applicants. Instead, it fields inquiries from contacts at local schools and from employees and clients who know of a candidate. “We generally have experienced quite a bit of interest without advertising,” Ms. Garcia said.
Smaller firms work closely with local schools that have strong business departments, such as the financial planning program at Texas Tech University, which has a robust intern and company matching program, or Baruch College or Fordham University.
A good intern has energy and chutzpah like Mr. Huey, said Karen Altfest, principal adviser at Altfest Personal Wealth Management.
“You're looking for smart, sharp people who want to work, who have an interest,” she said. But they don't necessarily have to be pre-sold on a financial advisory career, she added. “I think it's wrong to go in expecting them to be what you are or to want to be what you are,” she said.
It's a good idea to pay people, as well, to make it a real professional experience.
“I feel more comfortable when we have some [financial] arrangement,” Ms. Altfest said. Depending on whether the intern is a graduate or undergraduate, the range is about $10 to $20 an hour, she said.
Advisers emphasize that as interns come on board, it is critical to have them sign a confidentiality agreement. A written schedule of what they'll be doing is also helpful.
And once they're in the office, the best way to give them a meaningful experience, and to get your money's worth, is to spend as much time as possible with them, even letting them participate in meetings with clients if they're interested and you feel comfortable.
Ekta Patel remembers learning a lot at Altfest when she interned there about nine years ago while she was getting her master's degree in business administration. Now she is a managing adviser at the firm.
“When you're interning, you have book knowledge, but you don't know how it works in real life and how the practical application pans out,” she said. “Because of the time advisers spent with me, I was able to be more productive in helping them.”
Some investment advisers go above and beyond. Mr. Perryman, for example, makes sure he spends at least two hours a week with an intern to talk about the business and answer any questions. He also assigns book reports on titles such as “The World is Flat,” “Blink” and “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People.”
For anyone who tackles “Atlas Shrugged,” there's a $200 bonus. “We just want to challenge them,” he said.
When the summer or semester ends, and you've found a good person, it's worthwhile keeping in touch even if there's no job opening, advisers said.
“Quality human capital is worth its weight in gold,” said Woody Young, founder and president of Quest Capital Management Inc., which has had over 100 interns in 22 years. “Even if there's no position available, you certainly want to say, "Let's stay in touch.'”
But internship programs aren't for every firm. GenSpring Family Offices LLC, an ultrahigh-net-worth practice, doesn't see college students making the leap to the professional level without years of experience.
“It's difficult for people early in their career to make the transition from a support role to an advisory role,” said Eamon Kelly, director of human resources at GenSpring Family Offices LLC.
Training wheels
Still, others who have had a taste of the potential payoffs like the arrangement.
At Geller Family Office Services LLC, one intern who did a “great job” for several semesters may be getting a job offer in the investment support area when he graduates next year, according to Maria Neary, a managing director there.
James McLaughlin, the firm's chief executive, agrees that interns are a good investment and may prove themselves ready for the big time.
“There's no better proof that they're going to fit into the culture than to observe interns for 10 weeks,” he said. “It's foolish not to hire them, because you don't get a set of training wheels with most employees.”
