Is it smart to have 2 internships as the same time?

March 20, 2024

by an member from Florida State University in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

I currently have a remote internship offer I’ve accepted but also looking for an in person one. I’d like to have one in person and would be willing to do two, just not sure if it looks like I don’t care enough.

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Reply by an investor
from McGill University in San Diego, CA, USA

Thanks for the tag ^redacted‌. Having managed hundreds of interns, it's really rare to find an undergrad that has the time (and ability) to balance school work and an internship at the same time (much less two internships). Usually the workflow at universities oscillates from really busy/hectic to slower, whereas your searcher will need you on a consistent basis. As a result, the quality of the output isn't always great. As a starting point, I would get clear on what the expectations are of you (not only hours worked, but also what does "great" look like) and see if it's something you can commit to. I would also get clear on what you will be working on. If both internships are asking you to build company lists, then having a second internship isn't going to be incremental to your learning experience. Given that some searchers are in the sourcing phase, some are in the diligencing phase and some are further along in the transaction/value creation phase, I would encourage you to consider diversifying your experience and targeting that 2nd or 3rd internship towards different parts of the search process. Good luck!

Reply by a searcher
from IESE Business School in London, UK

Hi Camila,
If you do both internships at search funds at least 80% of your work would be the same, so I don't really see the point. Rather do your diligence on which searcher to join getting in touch with her past interns and finding the one where you will learn as much as you contribute and not just going through phone books.
Proper internship would keep you fully busy and you won't have time for the other one.
Also there is clear conflict of interest - potentially you would be looking same sectors / locations etc so why creating this headwinds?
Another topic - if you consider not launching search fund yourself after an internship but looking for a job - you would have 2 essentially same experiences at the same time and there would be a lot of questions.
If you think of doing 2 - run then one after another and focus on funds in different stages - those who just kicking off their search would differ from 1+ year in the process, having some deals on the table to process.
Hope this helps!

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