Performing (very) well as a Summer Analyst

There are stark differences between summer analysts at GS/MS/JPM and the other shops. For this reason, it is essential that you undertake some tasks that wouldn't be required at less prestigious banks. The following tasks are essential (in my experience) if you are aiming for a return offer:

1) Assuming this is a summer stint, offer to break in your superior's flip flops for his autumn vacation. If you are unlucky enough to have different shoe sizes then I'm afraid you might get dinged...

2) Wear a Hermes tie. (This is a given)

3) Laugh at non-target kids in back-office. This is a ritual that every non-target must experience and why not start now.

4) Brag to your non-banking friends about your late night free cabs. I know a target kid (think Wharton/Yale/HBS) who got dinged because he didn't do this. He was interning at a BB (think GS/MS/JPM/Jefferies)

Good luck at your stint in GS/MS/JPM and remember that your duties at GS/MS/JPM are different to every other intern at other banks.

1. Don't ask stupid questions if a quick Google (or in this case, WSO) search will yield your answer.

Seriously. Don't ask stupid questions without at least trying to find the answer for yourself first. You will piss everyone off that way. However, most people will generally be more than happy to help you if you've made an honest effort to help yourself.

Do a good job.

Oh yeah, and don't tell anyone -- at least not the analysts or associates -- that banking is your "dream job."

Sorry guys I didn't mean to brag about it or anything, honestly .. The reason why I thought I should mention it is because I see it all the time on WSO, but now I realize there was no point in doing so and I apologize for that .. even though the answer was very funny, I'll just take that off the post, to leave room for serious comments ..

Be nice. Help out when possible and offer to help out. Get to know people on the desk. Well. This goes from the people mentoring you to anyone on the floor/office (MDs, VPs, and anyone below. Be known and well liked (probably the most important thing). Make sure people know you and think about you positively, so when it comes time to being made an offer... And if not, so that you'll get a good reference. Or if you decide you don't want to do banking, that you'll have good references...

This is general advice for any intern, really.

Good Luck

When people tell you to go home, even if the rest of the group is there, check in with any senior-ish people first and go home. It's not a trap.

Pretend like you really care about even the most tedious of tasks. Maximize effort when others are watching.

Accuracy is much more important than speed. Learn how to check your work. Ask questions if there's something you don't understand, never guess.

There are plenty of famous threads on WSO about how to get a return offer, things SAs do that are looked upon favorably, etc where the OP goes in depth and would be more helpful than advice people give in passing.

But here is one piece of knowledge I can drop on you resonating with mrb87:

Don't just simply ask questions and waste people's time when you could've spent 10 minutes on Google or through the IBD section of this forum and search for more resources than you'd probably read. No associate or analyst wants to answer the questions of a clueless SA who can't do a little amount of due diligence him/herself.

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/convert-your-summer-internship-into…

FYI

Thank you guys! Will do my best!

Agree with everything @LehmanMeHangin is saying. Great advice. To me, the most important thing is to give every single task the same level of carefulness, attention to detail and enthusiasm. That's fucking hard when you're being asked to tick numbers at 5 AM on a 100 page pitch and you feel like you haven't slept in a week, but in there somewhere, one of those numbers is wrong. Find it. That will earn you respect and make the analysts know that he can trust you with more important things. Remember, everything that you are asked to do, the analyst would have had to do himself if it wasn't for you.

Make sure everything you hand over is nicely formatted and learn the bank's formatting standards quickly. Make sure everyone can find and interpret every backup you make, even to that chart on p. 12 in the appendix no one cares about.

If you do make a mistake, make sure to be upfront about it. No one will be mad (after all, you're a SA) and the fix may be easier than you think. You don't know everything and you aren't expected to, but people need to be able to trust you.

That being said, never ask for things twice. If you don't understand something, drill down until you do so you won't have to be explained a second or third time.

Be friendly, cool, and offer your help, then you'll be fine.

delete

In decreasing order of importance:

1) Interact well with senior people and go for as many coffees / lunches as possible with different people with influence 2) Make sure your work is as error free as possible. Before sending anything off to be reviewed print it off and read through every single page with a highlighter / pen to sense-check calculations, formatting, spelling, grammar etc. 3) If you have a question, spend 10 minutes Googling first and then go to the analyst. Don't waste his time with questions easily answered on the internet but at the same time don't spend hours working out something which could be answered in 10 seconds and don't go making up your own workarounds. 4) Don't do anything stupid. 5) Don't dress like a moron. Normal grey / blue suit with white / blue shirts, tie, good quality shoes etc. 6) Be good at financial modelling (this is definitely the least important).

Never ceases to amaze me, the number of people who CHOOSE to respond to a thread they find irritating or a "waste of their time." You do realize that no one is FORCING you to read or respond to this thread other than yourself. So, if you're miffed or think you've had your time wasted, it's nobody's fault but your own.

I'll give you something that I don't see mentioned too often:

Make sure you annotate everything you do and highlight things you aren't sure about. That means writing out in notes of some sort how you got your numbers and how you did stuff. From the perspective of an analyst/associate, it's much easier to read what you wrote you did than for them to essential just do the work themselves to check your stuff. Also, if you highlight what you don't know, people will trust you more and know what you are giving them is legit because they know you will let them know if you're not 100% certain on something. Don't overdo this, but as an SA last summer I found this incredibly helpful and I think it really made me stand out from the other interns.

Not often said but think through any assignment that you are handed.

For example, if you're told to complete a particular slide that involves an excel graph or two, ask yourself what is the purpose of the deck and what information has already been included, as well as the information that your slide is trying to convey.

It is easier to catch your own mistakes (like incorrect labels on X/Y axis) if you understand what is going on.

Sense check. Source in comments. Save on group/team shared folder. Never your hard drive. Map all the local printers. Know where the print room is. Be social and fun.