How to Get a Finance Internship With No Experience
Every finance student hits the same wall at some point: the internship requires experience, but you can't get experience without an internship. It feels like a catch-22, and for a lot of students it becomes a reason to give up before they've really tried.
Here's the truth: finance firms particularly in Australia, do hire students with no formal finance experience. They do it every year. What they're looking for instead is evidence that you're curious, capable, and worth their time. This guide breaks down exactly how to position yourself to get there.
Understand what "no experience" actually means to a recruiter
When a firm says they want candidates with experience, they rarely mean they expect a 20-year-old to have worked at a bank. What they mean is they want evidence of certain qualities — analytical thinking, attention to detail, communication skills, genuine interest in finance — and work experience is just one way of demonstrating those things.
Your job is to demonstrate those qualities through whatever you do have: academic results, extracurricular activities, part-time work, personal projects, and the quality of your application itself.
This reframe matters because it changes your entire approach. You're not trying to fake experience you don't have. You're making the case that what you do have is genuinely relevant.
Start with work experience before you aim for internships
If you're in high school or early in your university degree and a formal internship feels out of reach, structured work experience is the right starting point — and it's more accessible than most students realise.
Work experience placements in finance (typically one to two weeks) give you direct exposure to a finance environment, something concrete to put on your resume, and a real answer to "why finance?" in future applications. They also give you contacts inside firms who can be a reference or a connection when you apply for internships later.
Programs like F3 specifically exist to connect students — including high school students — with finance work experience in Australia. These structured placements are designed for people with no prior experience, which makes them the ideal first step.
Build a resume that works without a finance job on it
A resume with no finance experience can still be a strong resume. The key is knowing what to include and how to frame it.
Academic results and relevant subjects. If you're performing well in finance, economics, accounting, or maths subjects, list them. A strong WAM or subject results tell a recruiter something meaningful about your capability.
Any work experience at all. Part-time retail, hospitality, tutoring, babysitting — any paid work demonstrates reliability, communication, and the ability to show up consistently. Frame it in terms of the transferable skills: customer service, problem-solving under pressure, working in a team, handling responsibility.
Extracurricular involvement. Finance and investment societies, student-run funds, case competition teams, debating, sport — all of these demonstrate qualities that matter in finance. If you're not involved in any of these yet, joining a university finance or investment society is one of the most concrete things you can do right now.
Personal finance interest. Have you followed markets, tracked an ASX watchlist, read the AFR, completed any online finance courses (even free ones on Coursera or edX), or done a paper trading portfolio? These signal genuine interest in the field beyond your degree requirements.
Volunteer work or leadership roles. Any role where you've taken initiative, organised something, or led a group is worth including.
The goal is a resume that, even without a finance job, tells a coherent story: this person is interested in finance, is academically capable, and has demonstrated relevant qualities in other contexts.
Target the right opportunities first
Not all internship and experience opportunities have the same barrier to entry. Starting with the right ones dramatically improves your chances.
Vacation internship programs at major firms — the kind at the big four banks, Big 4 accounting firms, and large asset managers — are competitive and typically aimed at penultimate-year university students. These are worth targeting, but they're not the entry point for someone with zero track record.
Smaller firms and boutiques are significantly more accessible. Smaller accounting practices, financial planning firms, boutique investment banks, and corporate finance advisers often take on students informally and are much more willing to give someone a chance without a polished resume full of prior experience. A cold email to a local firm, written well and showing genuine interest, can get you a conversation.
Graduate rotational programs at medium-sized firms often specifically value candidates without prior finance experience because they train from scratch.
F3 placements are specifically designed for students at the beginning of their journey — this is exactly where to start if you're a high school student or early-year university student who wants to get a foot in the door.
The application: how to stand out without a track record
When you're applying with limited experience, the quality of your application has to do more of the heavy lifting. Two things matter most: your cover letter and how well you've researched the firm.
On the cover letter: be specific about why finance and why this firm. Generic applications are obvious and forgettable. If you're applying to a financial planning firm, reference something specific about the way they work with clients. If it's an investment firm, mention an area of the market you find interesting and why. One paragraph that shows you've done genuine research is worth more than three paragraphs of generic enthusiasm.
On research: know what the firm does, who their clients are, any recent news about them, and what the role you're applying for actually involves. This comes through in interviews and in the specificity of your application. It also signals the kind of curiosity and preparation that finance firms genuinely value.
On your narrative: you need a clear, honest answer to "why finance?" It doesn't need to be elaborate — it needs to be real. What sparked your interest? What about finance specifically appeals to you? Practise this answer until it flows naturally, because it will come up in every application and interview.
Network before you apply
In finance, who you know still matters — not because the industry is corrupt, but because firms receive hundreds of applications and personal connections help your resume get seen.
Practical ways to build a network from scratch:
LinkedIn. Connect with people who work at firms you're interested in. Send a short, genuine message — not asking for a job, but expressing interest in their work and asking if they'd be open to a brief conversation. A surprising number of professionals will say yes, especially to students who are polite and specific.
Events and panels. Finance industry events, university career fairs, and panels featuring finance professionals are opportunities to meet people in person. Come prepared with a question or two and follow up on LinkedIn afterwards.
Alumni networks. If you're at university, your alumni network is an underused resource. Alumni are often more willing to speak with students from their institution than cold contacts. Your university's careers centre can usually connect you.
Professors and lecturers. Finance academics often have industry connections and may be able to make introductions if you express genuine interest in a particular area.
The goal of networking at this stage isn't to get a job handed to you — it's to make sure your name is known to people in the industry so that when you do apply, you're not entirely unknown.
What to do if you get rejected
You will probably get rejected. Most students do, multiple times, before they land their first finance role. This is normal and it doesn't mean you're not cut out for the industry.
What matters is what you do between applications. Each rejection is information: Was your resume not getting through? Work on how you're framing your experience. Did you get to interview but not convert? Work on your interview answers. Did you not hear back at all? Broaden the range of firms you're targeting.
Keep a record of what you've applied for and what stage you reached. Look for patterns. Improve one thing at a time. Apply more broadly than you think you need to.
The students who get finance internships with no experience aren't necessarily the most talented ones — they're often the most persistent ones, who kept refining their approach until something clicked.
A realistic timeline
High school: Focus on work experience placements, not formal internships. Get one or two weeks inside a finance firm through a structured program. This is your starting point.
First and second year of university: Join a finance or investment society. Start attending industry events. Apply for smaller firm opportunities and any programs specifically designed for early-year students. Build your LinkedIn presence.
Penultimate year: This is when vacation internship programs at major firms open up. By this point, you should have some form of finance exposure on your resume — even a work experience placement counts — plus extracurricular involvement and a clear narrative about why finance.
Final year: Graduate programs and full-time roles. If you've done a vacation internship, many firms will make you a return offer. If not, apply broadly to graduate programs — many of which are open to candidates from any discipline.
The path into finance without prior experience is longer than it looks from the outside, but it's well-trodden. Every senior person in the industry was once a student with an empty resume, figuring out where to start. The difference between the ones who made it and the ones who didn't wasn't talent — it was knowing where to direct their effort and sticking with it long enough to get there.