Hey {{first_name}} 👋!

You need experience to get experience.

But nobody will give you experience because you don't have experience.

Sound familiar?

It's one of the most frustrating things about applying for Spring Weeks, internships and graduate schemes.

You open LinkedIn and see students who've already completed three internships, attended insight programmes at Goldman Sachs and somehow become president of their university's investment society.

Meanwhile, you're sitting there wondering whether your Saturday shift at Tesco is worth mentioning on your CV.

Here's what I'd do if I were starting from zero.

I'd stop waiting for someone to give me experience.

And I'd spend the next seven days building evidence that I can actually do the work.

Not another online certificate.

Not another generic statement about being passionate about finance.

An actual piece of work I could put on my CV, explain in an interview and confidently defend when a recruiter asks me about it.

I'm going to show you exactly how.

And you only need 30–60 minutes a day.

Let's say I'm reviewing two Spring Week applications.

Candidate A

Candidate B

Who has given me more to discuss?

Candidate B.

Not because they've magically become a better student.

But because they've demonstrated initiative, curiosity and a willingness to learn.

They've given me evidence.

Now, does one independent project automatically make you more competitive than someone with a Goldman Sachs internship?

Of course not.

But if you have limited experience, it's a significantly better starting point than an empty CV and a paragraph claiming you're passionate about financial markets.

And here's something else.

Your part-time job, university coursework and society involvement might already contain stronger evidence than you realise.

You just need to communicate it properly.

Before building anything new, let's look at what you've already done.

Because there's a big difference between having no finance employment and having no relevant skills.

Here are four examples.

You might think this has nothing to do with finance.

But what have you actually demonstrated?

Weak CV bullet:

"Worked at Tesco serving customers and stocking shelves."

Stronger CV bullet:

"Balanced part-time employment alongside full-time university studies, managing competing priorities while delivering customer service in a fast-paced retail environment."

If you have genuine numbers, even better.

"Served approximately 80 customers per shift, resolving queries and maintaining service standards during peak trading periods."

Only use that number if you can support it.

Notice what we're doing.

We're not pretending retail is investment banking.

We're demonstrating transferable skills.

Being a member isn't particularly impressive on its own.

But organising an event, managing a budget, bringing in speakers or increasing attendance?

That's different.

Weak:

"Member of Finance Society."

Stronger, if accurate:

"Coordinated a careers event for 60 students, managing speaker communications, event logistics and promotional activity."

One tells me you joined something.

The other tells me you contributed something.

Let's say you've written an economics essay about inflation.

That's potentially relevant to markets, asset management, research and risk.

Weak:

"Completed economics coursework."

Stronger:

"Analysed UK inflation trends using ONS data, evaluating the implications of monetary policy for household spending and economic growth."

Again, only if that's what you actually did.

Maybe you've spent a few evenings understanding NVIDIA, the Bank of England or the bond market.

Good.

But there's a difference between consuming information and producing analysis.

Reading five articles is useful for learning.

Turning that research into a structured, defensible recommendation is something you can demonstrate.

Which brings me to the challenge.

HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU THAT YOUR NEXT APPLICATION WILL GET YOU AN INTERVIEW?

You've spent hours researching firms, perfecting your CV and writing cover letters. But are you actually doing what recruiters want to see?

Stop guessing. Start giving yourself a real chance.

Get a proven roadmap, CV and cover letter feedback, weekly live Q&As, interview preparation and a community of ambitious candidates working towards the same goal.

JOIN FINANCE FAST TRACK TODAY →

Your mission:

Over the next seven days, you're going to:

Your final deliverables will be:

Time commitment: 30–60 minutes per day.

You don't need Bloomberg.

You don't need a finance internship.

You don't even need to know how to build a discounted cash flow model.

You just need a laptop, publicly available information and a willingness to think critically.

Time: 30–45 minutes

Choose a company that is relatively straightforward to understand.

For example:

I'd avoid starting with a bank, insurer or complicated early-stage technology business.

Why?

Because their financial statements and valuation considerations can be more complex.

For this example, let's use Tesco.

Your first task is to answer five questions:

Free resources:

Find the latest annual report and read the business overview, strategy, financial highlights and principal risks.

Don't read all 150+ pages.

Focus on understanding the business.

AI prompt to help you:

One important rule:

Use AI to help you understand the business, not to pretend you've researched something you haven't.

By the end of Day 1, you should be able to explain Tesco's business model to someone who has never studied finance.

Time: 45–60 minutes

Open the company's latest annual report.

Find the income statement and record:

Ideally, collect three years of data.

Then calculate:

Revenue growth

(Current-year revenue ÷ Previous-year revenue) − 1

Operating margin

Operating profit ÷ Revenue × 100

Net profit margin

Net profit ÷ Revenue × 100

Here's a simple example using hypothetical figures.

Illustrative figures, not Tesco's reported results.

What does this tell us?

Revenue is growing.

Operating profit is growing faster than revenue.

And operating margins are improving.

That's potentially a positive sign.

But here's where the analysis starts.

Why are margins improving?

Is it because the company is increasing prices?

Reducing costs?

Improving operational efficiency?

Changing its product mix?

Or benefiting from something temporary?

This is the difference between copying numbers from an annual report and actually analysing a business.

Your deliverable: A simple spreadsheet with three years of financial performance and three observations explaining what changed.

Time: 30–45 minutes

A company doesn't operate in isolation.

Tesco competes with Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury's, Asda and other retailers.

So your job is to understand the competitive environment.

Research:

For UK companies, useful free resources include:

AI prompt:

Your deliverable: Three competitive advantages and three risks, each supported by a source or clearly identified as your own judgement.

Time: 45–60 minutes

This is where things get interesting.

You're going to estimate what the company might be worth.

There are multiple valuation methods, but we'll start with something accessible.

The price-to-earnings ratio (P/E).

P/E = Share price ÷ Earnings per share

Suppose a hypothetical company has:

Its P/E ratio would be:

£3.60 ÷ £0.30 = 12x

Now suppose you've researched comparable companies and believe an appropriate P/E multiple is 14x.

Your estimated value would be:

14 × £0.30 = £4.20 per share

Against a current share price of £3.60, that suggests:

(£4.20 ÷ £3.60) − 1 = 16.7% potential price upside

But hold on.

Why 14x?

Why not 10x?

Why not 18x?

That's the question that matters.

A valuation isn't impressive because you've multiplied two numbers.

It's impressive when you can explain your assumptions.

Consider growth, profitability, risk and whether your peer companies are genuinely comparable.

Use the same earnings basis when comparing companies, and make sure your share prices and earnings figures refer to sensible, clearly labelled periods.

For retailers, differences in leases, exceptional items and accounting definitions can affect comparisons. A simple P/E is a starting point, not a complete valuation.

Your deliverable: A spreadsheet showing your chosen earnings figure, valuation multiple, implied share price and reasoning.

Time: 30–45 minutes

A weak analyst only looks for evidence supporting their opinion.

A stronger analyst actively looks for reasons they might be wrong.

Let's revisit our hypothetical company.

EPS: £0.30.

If the current share price is £3.60:

These aren't probabilities or price forecasts.

They're a way of understanding how sensitive your valuation is to one assumption.

Now ask yourself:

What would need to happen for each scenario to become realistic?

For example:

Notice how your work is becoming more sophisticated.

You're no longer just saying, "I think this stock will go up."

You're explaining what could drive the outcome and what could invalidate your thesis.

Time: 45–60 minutes

You've done the research.

Now it's time to turn it into something tangible.

Your one-page report should include:

1. Company overview

What the company does and how it generates revenue.

2. Investment thesis

Why you believe the shares are attractive, unattractive or fairly valued.

3. Financial performance

The two or three metrics that matter most.

4. Valuation

Your methodology, assumptions and implied valuation.

5. Key risks

What could go wrong.

6. Recommendation

Buy, Hold or Sell, supported by your reasoning.

You should also state the report date, share-price date, reporting periods and data sources.

Don't worry about making it look like a 40-page Goldman Sachs equity research report.

The objective is to demonstrate clear thinking.

One page. Good analysis. Defensible conclusions.

That's enough.

Time: 30–45 minutes

This is the part most people skip.

They complete a project and then have absolutely no idea how to communicate it.

Don't make that mistake.

Create a section on your CV titled:

Independent Projects

Then add something like:

Independent Equity Research Project | Tesco plc

October 2026 | Self-directed

Only include those bullets once you've actually completed the work described.

And if a recruiter asks you about it?

You now have something substantial to talk about.

Not just an interest.

Evidence of initiative, analytical thinking and genuine curiosity about finance.

I don't want you finishing this email wondering what the final deliverable is supposed to look like.

So here's a worked example.

Important: This is a fictional company with illustrative figures. It's a completed teaching example, not a current recommendation on Tesco or any real security.

Research date: 19 October 2026
Company: Northstar Retail plc (fictional)
Sector: Consumer Staples
Recommendation: BUY — illustrative
Current share price: £3.60 (assumed)
Base-case valuation: £4.20
Implied price upside: 16.7%, excluding dividends

Northstar Retail is a fictional UK grocery retailer operating supermarkets and convenience stores. Its earnings depend primarily on consumer spending, sales volumes, gross margins and operating efficiency.

Key observation: Revenue grew approximately 4.8% in the latest year, while operating profit grew 11.1%. The operating margin improved from 4.0% to 4.5% over the three-year period.

This suggests improving operating leverage, although further investigation would be required to determine whether the improvement is sustainable.

Reason 1 — Improving profitability

Operating profit has grown faster than revenue, suggesting improved efficiency or a more profitable sales mix.

Reason 2 — Defensive consumer demand

Grocery spending is relatively resilient compared with more discretionary categories, although consumers may still trade down or switch retailers.

Reason 3 — Potential valuation upside

Using an assumed EPS of £0.30 and a justified target multiple of 14x produces an implied share price of £4.20.

The base-case valuation assumes the company's earnings remain resilient and that its growth and risk profile warrant a 14x multiple.

In a real project, this assumption would need to be supported by a comparable-company analysis and a consistent earnings definition.

Illustrative BUY recommendation with a £4.20 base-case valuation.

Northstar's improving margins and relatively defensive business model support a constructive view. However, the thesis depends on the sustainability of profitability improvements and the appropriateness of the assumed valuation multiple.

What would change my mind?

Evidence of sustained margin deterioration, weakening sales volumes or an unjustifiably high valuation relative to peers.

That's the standard you're aiming for.

Not complicated for the sake of looking impressive.

Just clear, structured and supported by reasoning.

And for your own project, replace every illustrative assumption with a real source, a transparent calculation or an explicitly labelled judgement.

Don't copy the fictional figures into an application.

Use this as a template for the quality of your thinking.

Great question.

You shouldn't build an equity research project simply because someone told you it's good for your CV.

The strongest project is one that's relevant to the division you're applying to.

Here are four alternatives.

Your challenge: Construct a hypothetical £10,000 portfolio using three publicly traded ETFs or assets.

Choose allocations, research the underlying exposures and explain why the portfolio fits a particular investment objective.

For example:

These are illustrative allocations, not a recommended portfolio.

What to produce:

Free sources: JustETF, Yahoo Finance, ETF provider factsheets and FRED.

CV example:

"Constructed a hypothetical multi-asset portfolio, analysing asset allocation, historical volatility and diversification to justify an investment strategy."

Your challenge: Analyse how a central bank decision could affect a market.

For example:

How might a surprise Bank of England rate cut influence UK government bond yields and sterling?

Research the economic backdrop, outline the market transmission mechanisms and create a hypothetical trade idea.

What to produce:

Free sources: Bank of England, ONS, FRED and public market data.

CV example:

"Developed a hypothetical macro trading thesis analysing the potential impact of UK monetary policy on gilt yields and GBP, incorporating economic indicators and downside risks."

Your challenge: Create a fictional client profile and build an investment strategy around their needs.

Example client:

What to produce:

Consider the client's capacity for loss, not just their stated willingness to take risk. Explain how assumptions such as emergency savings, debt and tax circumstances would affect the recommendation.

Free sources: MoneyHelper, FCA and public investment-fund factsheets.

CV example:

"Designed a hypothetical client investment plan, assessing risk tolerance, investment horizon and liquidity needs to develop and justify a diversified asset allocation."

Your challenge: Choose a publicly listed company and identify its most significant financial and operational risks.

For example, how could rising energy prices, currency movements or higher interest rates affect an airline?

What to produce:

Free sources: Company annual reports, FRED, ONS and Bank of England.

CV example:

"Produced an independent corporate risk assessment, evaluating macroeconomic and operational exposures and developing stress scenarios to assess potential business impacts."

The key isn't which project sounds the most impressive.

It's whether you can explain every decision you made.

AI can help you move significantly faster.

But there's a trap.

If ChatGPT does all the thinking, you're going to struggle the moment an interviewer asks you a follow-up question.

So I'd use AI as a tutor, reviewer and interviewer.

Not as a replacement for doing the work.

Here are five prompts you can copy.

That final prompt is particularly valuable.

Because the goal isn't just to put something on your CV.

It's to become someone who can confidently discuss their work.

Imagine the interviewer says:

"I can see you've completed an independent equity research project. Tell me about that."

Here's how I'd structure my answer.

1. Why I did it.

"I wanted to develop a more practical understanding of how investors analyse companies, rather than relying entirely on what I'd learnt at university."

2. What I actually did.

"So I independently analysed a listed retailer, reviewing three years of financial performance, comparing its competitive position and building a basic P/E valuation with different scenarios."

3. What I discovered.

"One thing that stood out was that operating profit grew faster than revenue. That led me to investigate the sustainability of margin improvements and whether the valuation reflected the company's growth prospects."

4. What I learnt.

"The biggest lesson was that valuation is only as useful as the assumptions behind it. I initially focused on the potential upside, but stress-testing my assumptions made me think much more carefully about downside risks."

5. How it connects to the role.

"The project strengthened my interest in financial analysis and made me keen to understand how professionals approach valuation and investment decisions in practice."

That's a much stronger conversation than:

"I'm passionate about finance because I've always found financial markets interesting."

And it gives the interviewer plenty of opportunities to ask meaningful follow-up questions.

But there's one crucial point.

Only say what you actually did, discovered and learnt.

If your project produced a different conclusion, use that conclusion.

An authentic answer you can defend is far more valuable than a polished script you don't understand.

I want to make this absolutely clear.

An independent project is not an internship.

Don't list it under an investment bank's name.

Don't invent a job title.

Don't call yourself an Equity Research Analyst at a company you've never worked for.

And don't suggest that a company commissioned your research if you completed it independently.

Instead, use a clearly labelled section such as:

Independent Projects

Academic & Personal Projects

Relevant Projects

Then accurately describe what you produced.

There's nothing embarrassing about doing something independently.

In fact, that's the whole point.

You weren't required to complete the project.

Nobody was paying you.

You decided to learn something and produced a tangible result.

That's initiative.

And if you didn't use a DCF model, don't claim you did.

If you didn't analyse 15 companies, don't say you did.

If you used AI to understand financial concepts, be prepared to explain your own calculations and conclusions.

Your CV should be impressive because of what you've genuinely done, not because you've made ordinary work sound like employment you never had.

Save this. Screenshot it. Send it to your friend who's struggling with applications.

Total time: approximately five hours.

Five hours.

That's less time than many students spend scrolling LinkedIn comparing themselves with other applicants.

And at the end of it, you could have:

Will this guarantee a Spring Week?

No.

Will it replace a proper internship?

No.

But will you be in a stronger position than you were seven days earlier?

If you complete the work properly, absolutely.

If you're reading this thinking:

"I'm already behind. Everyone else has more experience. I don't even know where to start."

I want you to remember something.

You don't need permission to start building relevant experience.

You don't need a recruiter to select you.

You don't need an investment bank to offer you an internship.

You don't need to wait until second year.

You can start developing relevant skills today.

And seven days from now, instead of saying:

"I haven't had the opportunity to gain finance experience."

You could be saying:

"I haven't completed a finance internship yet, but I've independently analysed a listed company, built a valuation and written an investment recommendation."

Those are two very different conversations.

Your challenge:

Pick your company today.

Open its annual report.

And spend the next 30 minutes understanding how it makes money.

That's Day 1.

You've got six more to go.

Afzal

P.S. If you complete this challenge, reply to this email with your one-page report or your two CV bullets. I'd love to see what you've produced.

And if you'd like more structured, practical projects, CV support and interview preparation, check out the Finance Fast Track Community, including our 30-day challenges and finance work experience projects.

But whether you join or not, do the seven-day challenge.

Don't spend another week worrying about the experience you don't have. Spend it building evidence of what you can do.