Northwestern Mutual is always looking for talented students, so it doesn't matter if you don't go to a target school or don't know anyone who works there. Typically, you submit your resume online, and are contacted by a recruiter to setup a site visit. Once there, the campus recruiter will ask you basic questions to get to know you - nothing to lose sweat over - but mainly talk you through the internship, and answer any questions that you may have (prepare some!). The second step is completing a personality inventory, which the recruiter sent me in an email and I had to complete within a week. Once your personality matches, you move to the next step, which involves conducting a market survey. In the survey, you are expected to call 20 alumni of your school (or friends, relatives, etc that you may know) and ask some random questions about the financial industry, but most importantly referrals to 5 other people from each person. To do well as an intern at Northwestern Mutual, you need good people skills, high tolerance for rejection, and - most importantly - a natural market. If you know enough people in the area, you can easily complete the market survey, go to the final interview, and start the internship. Like I mentioned earlier, Northwestern Mutual is always looking for talented individuals so even if you did not do well one year, you can always go back and apply again.