Who to ask for work?

When you say "work from the bottom up", do you mean that it'd be better to ask associates than VP's for work? Everyone is rather friendly and seemingly willing to take me under their wing at least for the first weeks.

Can I ask for your rationale behind this? Is it because you think associates are going to be more inclined to help with assignments? And should I continue trying to work as much with the associates as possible, or should I start asking VP's for work when I've had a month or two under my belt? I have a 6 month internship if that changes things. Thanks for your input so far.

SSits:

Your directors fly at around 10,000 feet above the detail and grunt work on a deal, your VPs at about 1,000 feet. The associates are at about 10 feet. The work you are doing is trudging on the ground, among the detail and grunt work. The associates are more likely to identify work for you to do because they are closer to the level of detail and grunt work that needs to be done.

You can hustle a bit with the VPs and directors and they may have work for you. However, they may prefer that you exhaust opportunities with the associates first.

Things can be different and depend on personalities, workflow, politics (eg will the associates appreciate you taking work opportunities from directors that should have gone to them?) etc. I've had interns where I (SVP) have preferred to give them work than have that done by the associates.

However, on the level of information you've given, my pro forma advice is to work from the bottom up.

Hiring decisions can vary from team to team as well. In the teams I've worked in, having the associates back you (ie the people best positioned to judge your work) is very valuable.

this probably is one of the most valuable advice posted on here for incoming interns.

interns - take note

I'm glad I asked for your rationale - this is an incredibly valuable post. Thanks a lot; when I'm in a position to really start giving back to the WSO community in a few years I will make sure to do so.

if ya gotta ask

Listen champ calm down, don't let your fingers get too excited to use that phrase for a response when it makes no sense. Please contribute something worthwhile, I am sure another intern someday will search and seek the same info.

You can ask if they need help with anything, but don't ask like once an hour. Ask once, if they have something for you, they will give it to you.

I think it's worth asking but be mindful that interns can actually be a lot of work for the supervisors. Often times walking you through something and explaining it is time consuming so approach the topic with caution. If you approach them, just let them know that you seem to have some downtime and want to know if there is anything else you can take off their plate. Because you aren't always given the proverbial "ball to run with" it is reasonable to expect downtime in between tasks. Also, angle for something that might be a little more long term that can help fill that time void, that doesn't necessarily need to be done immediately but will always keep you busy, that way you aren't in their face every couple hours saying, "Done!".

NOTE: If you are asking for more work...you have got to make sure the stuff you've been assigned is 100% accurate...no mistakes at all.

Regards

Buddy if ur in a top group ur set. Put in the 5 hours of doing nothing and show your group that u dont mind being the firstt guy in last one out for the next 2 months.

Stop feeling so entitled as a summer analyst.

The point isn't that I mind being there early/late, I really don't. I just want to be doing more/not getting assigned like 3 slides to fix and then be surfing the web for 5 hours

I understand. Well no harm in asking your staffer but alot of what ur gonna be doing this summer will suck.

Its quite surprising how a top group isnt staffing you on multiple deals tho

I am on multiple deals, they're just not all pertinent or the analyst on the deal does most of the work and doesn't assign me much. Either way I'm usually done with everything by dinner time, and at that point it feels useless to ask for more to do

What are the other summers in your group doing?

most are not very busy either, there are 2 guys that I feel like have an inequitable amount of work - although it could just be the deals they are on are picking up faster

Who cares. Later when youre doing your full time you get to be on as many deals till ur sick of it. U shud only worry if u dont like your group and maybe want some transaction experience so u can lateral easier. But sounds like ur set

First, the most important thing is to always be doing SOMETHING. Don't give the appearance that you are bored or lazy. Even if they don't assign you a project, read through old presentations and look through old valuations done by your fellow analysts. If you cover a specific industry, read as many primers and 10Ks as possible. Don't work crazy hours during this period - you can leave by 7-8 if they really haven't given you anything to do.

I would be hesitant to ask for work since it's not uncommon for interns to be unassigned for the first week or two after training. Chances are you'll be slammed within a week or two. Just keep a very positive attitude and learn as much as possible until they assign you something. If you don't have any work after July 4th you might send a quick email to your staffer saying you have availability.

5 hours of nothing? Print out Warren Buffet's client letters starting from the 60s and highlight as you go along. You're giving the appearance you're doing something and you'll learn a lot.

lots of down times in banking, but when things heat up you'll wish you had not opened your foolish mouth and demanded more work

I think there's usually two reasons for this, at least from what I've seen from my internship this summer.

1. The analyst/your direct superior on whatever project you're staffed on doesn't want to teach you/deal with your shit at all and would rather just do it himself than waste his time on you.

In this situation, you can't do much other than make sure you do what little work they give you flawlessly and quickly.

2. The other interns are better than you so they're getting more projects. There's kids in my intern class working on 3+ live deals/important pitches basically working as a ft analyst working directly with associates while other kids are still only working on bullshit profiles/random work and leaving at 9 pm everyday.

it's been picking up. maybe i just need to be patient. it's not always busy but when it rains it storms

Come on guys, any tips or advice would be great!

Depends on how far away the other group is from your group, but generally the answer is no. Unless you know one of the other guys in the other group.

The guys in the other group probably have no work too and are just sitting on WSO.

You honestly should not be pestering people for work. When they give you work, you need to knock it out of the park so they see that you're competent enough and in return will give you more work. If you're not getting work it is because they don't have anything that you can do or they are unhappy with your previous work and don't want to spend time correcting your mistakes.