Source: BusinessWeek Online by Lindsey Gerdes
Elana Gerasimova spent the summer of 2006 working as an intern for JPMorgan's emerging markets desk. The University of Pennsylvania senior enjoyed the summer in New York because of the variety of tasks she was given and the executives she had the opportunity to work with. "They really made a point to give us actual projects," says the 22-year-old native of Bulgaria. "I loved it and then I got an offer to come back." Now Gerasimova is a first-year analyst with JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM - News) investment bank, No. 8 on BusinessWeek's inaugural 50 Best Internships ranking.
Getting an internship used to mean a 10-week exercise in photocopying, sorting mail, filing, and fetching sandwiches. If you were lucky, there might be a company-wide picnic thrown in. Forget that image. The college internship has become nothing less than a high-stakes tryout to land the perfect first job. Think of it as the job interview that lasts all summer long.
