From Exeter, not a core target university for the most competitive front-office finance pipelines, Karam secured the HSBC 2026 Investment Banking Internship and the Blackstone 2026 Spring Insight Programme during a multi-year ECS advisory relationship.
§ 01
Starting point
- First contact with ECS in November 2022, aged 17 and still in sixth form
- Retook A-level Maths; final grades A*AB
- University of Exeter undergraduate
- Exeter is not a core target for the most competitive front-office finance pipelines
§ 02
Relationship to ECS
- Multi-year paid Private Careers Advisory relationship, named with permission
§ 03
What the engagement focused on
- Profile building and application strategy across spring weeks, off-cycle roles and summer internships
- STAR-3® for written applications
- PEAL-3® for interview structure
- Commercial Fluency™ for sector preparation across investment banking and private equity
- Networking strategy and long-term positioning towards leveraged finance and private equity
§ 04
Documented outcome
- HSBC 2026 Capital Markets & Advisory (Investment Banking) Summer Internship, conditional offer, June 2025
- Blackstone 2026 Spring Insight Programme offer, November 2025
§ 05
Causation boundary
Both offers are documented and shown on this page. They are Karam's results, decided by HSBC and Blackstone on his performance; the record shows years of work with ECS preceded them, not how much of either result that work accounts for.
"Who said you need 4 A* you just need Hassan"
Karam Kahlon, WhatsApp message, 7 February 2025, named with permission
The Timeline
- 01
Starting position
First contact aged 17, in sixth form. Retook A-level Maths; final grades A*AB. Now at the University of Exeter.
- 02
Autumn diagnostic
Private Careers Advisory scoped across spring weeks, off-cycles, and summer internships simultaneously.
- 03
June 2025
HSBC 2026 Capital Markets & Advisory (Investment Banking) Summer Internship: conditional offer.
- 04
November 2025
Blackstone 2026 Spring Insight Programme offer, from a non-target Exeter profile.
- 05
Outcome portfolio
Two public proof anchors: HSBC IB Summer Internship and Blackstone Spring Insight.