How do I salvage my internship ?
Hi WSO,
So here's my story: I'm a senior from a non-target in Asia (p.s., there are no 'real' target schools in Asia) and have been interning in the IB division of a local firm for the past 3 months. My internship is due to end in October, but I don't see how I will ever leverage it to enter the industry.
I just got to know something terrifying about my firm - in the past year (i.e. YTD) they have closed exactly 0 deals. Literally nothing. Everything starts to make sense now: the amount of downtime is insane, and I actually go home around 8-10PM ish on most days, despite being the last person in the office.
It's simple: the senior guys just cannot make it rain. These guys are so desperate that they are scrambling to do $1 million private placements. I actually overheard them discussing (not in a joking manner) how they could generate some fees by billing clients for travel and accommodation expenses and shit like that. Fucking embarrassing. In reality, the IB arm of the bank is just leeching off the rest of the bank, which is a successful commercial bank.
So far, I have built several presentations and even a couple of financial models (basic operating / DCF), but haven't gotten any exposure to real live deals. Sometimes I think the clients are small business owners who call us just to see the team jump through hoops - and then they walk away without doing anything.
Sorry for the rant guys - it's just that this is my own personal hell on a daily basis.
What do I do ? A return offer is out of the question (I doubt there will be a IBD division to return to). I'm just really lost. Is there anything I can do in the next few months to give me an edge in recruiting?
Thanks for your help WSO. I would appreciate any advice, especially from people who have had similar experiences.
P.S., My profile isn't horrible:
Economics and Math Major - 3.7 GPA
2 prior internships (1 non-finance, 1 F500 Finance)
Head of campus investment society.
SAT: 2270 (800M, 720V, 750W)
I find it a bit strange that youve been there this long and just now figured out that they haven't closed deals. This is something you should be able to tell from just being in the office, regardless of what work you are given.
As far as advice goes, just keep learning as much as you can with what work they do give you and use the downtime to further your understanding of the industry. You can't change the fact that they don't have good deal flow now, so simply make the best of it. Although it may not be the best experience possible, it is still valuable experience if you have been building models and working on pitches, etc. Your resume bullet points can always say something like: "-Created merger model for potential sale of client company in XXX industry," regardless of whether the client ever signed an engagement or the deal closed, etc
As long as you can demonstrate a strong understanding of the industry and necessary technical skills, you still have a shot at other firms. You have IB experience and other internship experience and all of the usual credentials. I wouldnt worry too much, as long as you use remaining time at the internship wisely and you never know, maybe the next few months will be monsoon season at your bank
I did have a suspicion that they hadn't closed any deals recently - I was just in complete denial till I was given concrete proof (I saw the actual deal list, which generally only higher ups get to see). But yea, I should have caught that and jumped ship earlier.
Thanks for your advice! Will definitely look for scraps that I can put together to try and piece together a resume.
Just wanted to know: Would it, under any circumstance, be worth it to quit early ?
what country?
I'm in SG
Only way I can see it being worth it to quit would be if you have something more valuable to replace it with. 3 more months of slower/no deal IB experience is still better than 3 months of nothing. However, that decision becomes tougher if its an unpaid position.
EDIT: Just wanted to add that I have no experience in Asia, so I'm not very familiar with that market, but related to your situation, I worked in Europe at a boutique where I only really saw one live deal during my time, which I was not heavily involved in
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