What does a finance internship do?
A finance intern generally provides basic assistance on the financial institution while learning of its operations and complexities. Finance interns should be highly attentive on observing processes, assessing financial reports, familiarizing on records management, and supporting data entry procedures. Financial internships provide the best training grounds for interns who wanted to pursue a career in the financial industry. Financial interns, depending on the organization, will be given regular work assignments to practice their analytical and statistical skills which are very crucial in the financial system industry.
Finance internship responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real finance internship resumes:
- Ensure office equipment run smoothly and properly and manage inventories, order equipment and supplies.
- Manage team of underwriters and loan processors through the funding and secondary market sale of mortgage-backed securities.
- Manage A/R and financial functions for large automotive global account, generating annual revenues in excess of $100M/contract year.
- Manage administration of SalesForce accounts as well as creating and automating various business specific reports.
- Manage financial statements and work independently to produce accurate records for petty cash, bank reconciliations, and data inventory.
- Manage and strengthen customer relationships through cross-selling and up-selling to maximize retention and income generation by contacting existing and prospective customers.
- Reconcile between the G/L module and Hyperion reporting module.
- Attend seminars to enhance employee's knowledge of various financial topics such as annuities.
- Draft dozens of leases, orders of surrender, and class action lawsuit and litigation reports.
- Learned SQL on the job by writing a query to calculate monthly weight averages for a report.
- Identify trends and derive key insights from vast quantities of data through creation and execution of SQL queries.
- Complete litigation paperwork on class action lawsuits.
- Coordinate, upgrade and configure windows systems.
- Coordinate Hyperion Updating/Mapping and system maintenance for consolidation.
- Verify Medicaid and Medicare insurance via electronic system.
Finance internship skills and personality traits
We calculated that 6% of Finance Interns are proficient in Risk Management, Internal Audit, and Power Bi. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Customer-service skills, and Initiative.
We break down the percentage of Finance Interns that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Risk Management, 6%
Received extensive training in capital markets, asset management, corporate finance, risk management, retirement management and financial planning.
- Internal Audit, 6%
Assisted the internal auditors with identifying risks of material misstatements and documenting the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting.
- Power Bi, 6%
Created dynamic and visual dashboards through SQL queries in Access, Power BI, SQL Server, and Tableau.
- Math, 6%
Major seller of educational curriculum's for reading, math, science and other basic educational skills.
- First Hand, 5%
Worked first hand with the First Vice President of Investments.
- Data Analysis, 5%
Produced security investment recommendations, used analyst ratings for future predictions, provided data analysis using Equity Screen and Excel.
Most finance interns use their skills in "risk management," "internal audit," and "power bi" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential finance internship responsibilities here:
Interpersonal skills. For certain finance internship responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of a finance internship rely on this skill, as "a major part of a personal financial advisor’s job is making clients feel comfortable." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what finance interns do: "developed interpersonal skills by building trust with internal audit and external audit. "
Sales skills. Another common skill required for finance internship responsibilities is "sales skills." This skill comes up in the duties of finance interns all the time, as "to expand their base of clients, personal financial advisors must be convincing and persistent in selling their services." An excerpt from a real finance internship resume shows how this skill is central to what a finance internship does: "constructed standard sales and expense budget by utilizing vba and oracle hyperion; arranged six business plan presentations. "
Speaking skills. While "speaking skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to finance internship responsibilities. Much of what a finance internship does relies on this skill, seeing as "personal financial advisors interact with clients every day." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of finance interns: "communicated findings to the manager of financial planning and analysis, as well as presentedrecommendations for future erp releases. "
The three companies that hire the most finance internships are:
- Deloitte253 finance interns jobs
- Johnson & Johnson31 finance interns jobs
- Cengage Learning17 finance interns jobs
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Compare different finance interns
Finance internship vs. Summer analyst
Summer analysts are people who undertake an internship within a banking institution. These professionals perform analyses of detailed financial and corporate information. They establish statistical exhibits analyzing comparative financial performance. It is their responsibility to create models illustrating projected financial results, which is of great value to the companies. The skills necessary for this job include knowledge of financial statements, equity, portfolio companies, and financial models. They should also develop due diligence, strong communication, asset allocation knowledge, and attention to detail.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a finance internship are more likely to require skills like "internal audit," "power bi," "math," and "financial planning analysis." On the other hand, a job as a summer analyst requires skills like "financial statements," "capital markets," "real estate," and "java." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Summer analysts tend to reach similar levels of education than finance interns. In fact, summer analysts are 2.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Finance internship vs. Investment banking internship
An investment banking intern is responsible for assisting investment bankers in delivering high-quality financial services to clients while learning various investment strategies and other related banking disciplines. Investment banking interns observe the investment processes, shadow bankers on their daily operations, and contribute to identifying business opportunities based on their class knowledge to practical applications. They also conduct financial analysis, data processing for the client's account information, performing research for the stock market, and creating financial reports for meeting documents.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that finance internship responsibilities requires skills like "risk management," "internal audit," "power bi," and "math." But an investment banking internship might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "powerpoint," "customer service," "work ethic," and "oil gas."
In general, investment banking interns achieve higher levels of education than finance interns. They're 5.9% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Finance internship vs. Finance consultant
A finance consultant is responsible for providing financial plans and advice for clients, managing their finances and investment decisions, and helping them achieve their long-term financial goals. Finance consultants carefully evaluate clients' financial situations, help them decide on insurance options, and patiently respond to finance-related inquiries and concerns. They should be able to monitor financial market conditions to decide on the right strategies for the clients' best interests. A finance consultant must have excellent analytical skills, as well as broad knowledge of the financial industry and stock market movements.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a finance internship is likely to be skilled in "internal audit," "power bi," "first hand," and "data analysis," while a typical finance consultant is skilled in "customer service," "financial statements," "cpa," and "business development."
Finance consultants earn the best pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $88,094. Finance interns earn the highest pay from the telecommunication industry, with an average salary of $40,365.Most finance consultants achieve a higher degree level compared to finance interns. For example, they're 5.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Finance internship vs. Finance administrator
A finance administrator is responsible for supporting the financial operations of an organization, handling the accuracy of financial transactions, and resolving discrepancies in the company's financial statements. Finance administrators analyze the company's financial performance, including its losses and revenues, writing financial reports, and providing recommendations for cost-reduction processes to minimize financial risks. They also handle the allocation of departmental budgets, assist in tax audits, and process invoices and payroll release. A finance administrator must have excellent analytical skills and an extensive knowledge of the financial industry.
Types of finance internship
Updated January 8, 2025
