In conversation with: Aspiring Interns’ Founder Brandon Man

Friday 19th June 2020

Brandon Man is a first-year Economics and Accounting student at the University of Bristol who is pursuing a career in investment banking and undertaking a number of first-year programmes this year.

He recently founded ‘Aspiring Interns’ – a student-led initiative which aims to bridge the gap between incoming university students and first-year internships.

Kiran Pillai (KP): Thanks for joining me, Brandon. Perhaps I can start by asking, what is Aspiring Interns?

Brandon Man (BM): Thank you for having me Kiran! Aspiring Interns is a platform which provides tools and guidance that the 19/20 cohort would have wanted prior to entering this year’s application cycle. Our purpose is to educate, empower, and enrich current Year 13 leavers through our 3 primary services: Programmes, Insights, and Resources, that seek to demystify the mainstream City professions and their application processes. To date (18/06/2020), Aspiring Interns’ growing team of 55 is comprised of interns from 19 different universities, with 182 accumulated offers from leading firms such as Goldman Sachs, Clifford Chance and PwC. At the heart of Aspiring Interns lies our team: diverse, proven track-records and recent first-hand experiences which ensure the ability to relate to the next cohort.

I would like to quickly take this opportunity to thank the entire team as well as the various organisations and networks that have supported us throughout this journey. I have been overwhelmed by everyone’s willingness to form a cohesive community during these unprecedented times.

KP: That sounds great. My next question would be – why did you decide to start this initiative?

BM: The creation of Aspiring Interns stemmed heavily from my personal experience with this year’s application cycle for first-year internships and schemes. The lack of guidance for career endeavours post-A-Level resonates with the entire Aspiring Interns team, which perhaps is the key factor as to why we are all keen to support the next cohort of applicants. I was completely oblivious to the opportunities available for me once I joined university, which put me at an instant disadvantage as some applications open in September and many firms review on a rolling basis. In addition to a lack of industry insight and knowledge, my late (but within the deadline) submissions were almost destined to fail – evidenced by multiple rejection emails until I fortunately received offers with my final few applications. With the City professions being infamously competitive, breaking into the industry as early as possible is crucial – which emphasises the importance of the first-year programmes.

I therefore felt that there would be many Year 13 students seeking guidance with this early step in their career journey, and this became a reality when I received a cold-LinkedIn message from an incoming university student who was keen for advice regarding spring week applications as well as investment banking insight. With COVID-19 limiting current opportunities for everyone, I knew that Aspiring Interns would mutually benefit all parties, Year 13 students will get invaluable preparation whilst current interns would be able to develop their soft skills and be a part of an exciting initiative. Combining all these ideas and experiences into one accessible platform gave rise to Aspiring Interns.

KP: It sounds like an excellent initiative that will be very helpful for incoming undergraduates. How can incoming university students express an interest in joining an Aspiring Interns programme?

BM: Everything regarding Aspiring Interns can be found on our website (https://aspiringinterns.wixsite.com/website). The deadline for applications is fast approaching (28/06/2020) so I urge all potential applicants to send in their submissions as soon as possible on the application form page. We will also be posting updates and useful content on our LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram pages. I am always open to people reaching out to me via LinkedIn, so feel free to connect!

Disclaimer: Kiran Pillai is the Director of Commercial Law at Aspiring Interns.