What You Need to Do NOW to Land a 2027 Summer Quant Internship
Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at 2:00 PM PDT. Hosted by Fiona Taft.
In this session, Fiona Taft outlined what to start doing now to prepare for 2027 summer quant internships. She covered the skills quant firms screen for,…
What this session covered
In this session, Fiona Taft outlined what to start doing now to prepare for 2027 summer quant internships. She covered the skills quant firms screen for, the differences among buy-side and sell-side firms, how to align your resume, cover letter and LinkedIn profile, and how to network effectively. She also covered preparing for technical and behavioral interviews and closed with an action plan for this week and the next 30 days.
Key takeaways
- Fiona said many 2027 quant internship applications started coming out in June, especially on the buy side, so your resume, cover letter and LinkedIn should be ready now.
- Quant firms look for technical skills such as Python, C++, R and SQL, derivatives, option pricing and statistical analysis, along with soft skills like explaining complex ideas to non-technical teams.
- She described three types of buy-side firms: research-focused firms such as AQR and Two Sigma, hybrid and collaborative firms such as D.E. Shaw and Point72, and pure alpha pod firms such as Citadel and Millennium.
- Resume bullets should be impact statements, and a cover letter of half to three-quarters of a page should explain why you want the firm and the role and what makes you the best candidate.
- In networking, quality beats quantity, and she suggested meeting a contact 2 to 4 times within 6 to 12 months before asking for a referral.
- She recommended practicing mental math, brain teasers, probability and statistics every day, and applying to 5 to 15 roles at a time because each application may bring an assessment.
- Behavioral answers should be practiced out loud with a coach, friend, family member or roommate, since many people feel confident but have never rehearsed their stories.
Questions covered
Answers are edited for clarity.
What does networking that actually gets interviews look like, and what do people get wrong when they do it?
Nine times out of ten, people ask someone to refer them or put them in the queue for a role without first creating the relationship. Instead, search LinkedIn for alumni from your university at a target firm; they don't have to be in QR, QT or QD. Send a short connection request with a message, since you only get 300 characters. Nine times out of ten they'll connect, and then you can ask for a 10 to 15 minute conversation.
What makes a LinkedIn profile get noticed by recruiters?
One way is to make sure you've recently updated your profile. You want a great headline, a great summary section and a great background image, with your skills and projects listed. Maybe you even have some recommendations from people in the industry.
How many firms should I be applying to?
You need to apply to every quant internship out there, which could be 20, 50 or 100. Goldman and JPM have posted, but more big banks will post in September and October, and buy-side firms post every week, so check their career sites frequently. You can look on LinkedIn, but a lot of it is stale, so don't apply there because it goes nowhere.
I'm not at a target school, so how do I get noticed?
It comes down to the courses you take, your major, whether you have a double major or a major and a minor, your GPA, and any internships or research you've done at your university. Many schools now have funds where students can be a quant researcher, trader or developer, and you can take on projects. Putting together a list of target firms and working with coaches are also things you can do this week.