Best skills to learn at internship
Hi everyone,
Started my PE internship this week and have been working a ton of hours, but learning a lot. The firm I am interning at does not have a structure internship program so I have been doing a lot of ad hoc activities such as updating some of the models, and doing plenty of market research in a particular industry.
I would say I have learned more about this industry this week than my previous F500 internship which lasted 6months.
With that being said. I wanted to see what your guys thoughts are for the best skills to learn and pickup before I start full time recruiting for investment banking/PE?
Thanks a bunch!
How to listen, follow directions, and check your work...best skills anyone can learn on any internship
schmoozing skills. seriously.
ask good questions about the industry/company you are researching. shows you are interested and thinking about it. just don't overdo it, otherwise you'll annoy your superiors.
Any tips on schmoozing?
there is a vault guide to schmoozing out there
learn how to suck dicks. trust me, this is 4 real
So the tips are suck up to superiors. I was looking for more tangible skills that could give me talking points and prove somewhat valuable during interviews..
as far as research goes, learn how to dig deep quickly.
this may be obvious but anyone can get good info given enough time, do it faster and youre ahead
Learn about the due diligence process. PE does some of the most detailed DD. Understanding what and why they are looking for certain things should help you out with your critical thinking skills.
Learn how to grab the low-hanging fruit and achieve cross-functional synergies for your team.
Doing things the right way... the first time and keyboard shortcuts
Thanks for the help guys!
To SAs: have you learned any valuable skills so far? (Originally Posted: 07/23/2011)
I was expecting to learn lots of technical stuff, but turns out I've been doing pitch books endlessly... though good thing is that they haven't made me do any grunt work.
Also, what was your midterm review like? My friends and I didn't get much out of it. I'm supposed to be in one of the top groups at one of the top firms on the street, but my experience is clearly not what I had anticipated.
Pitchbooks are grunt work lol
You hardly ever learn technical stuff during the internship, especially if it's only for a few months, people just don't have time to teach you and they prefer to do it themselves. Once you work there for longer and do well for the first few months you will get to do a lot more technical work. But working on pitchbooks is still experience you have to get as part of the job. Midterms reviews almost never tell you what people really think about you. If they dont like you and the way you work, they will never openly say it, they'd rather wait for you to finish your internship. You will only get to find out the real feedback when and if they give you an offer.
Jack. I'm doing revenue sheets on my desk (S&T).
That's what a SA does
I've built LBOs/DCFs done comps and transactions. Also edited presentation materials, and made research decks. Not in an IB internship though.
Im tremendous at getting lunch now.
I work at a boutique and I'm surprised that I'm getting a lot of technical things to work on. We are a 10-man shop so so really all I have to do is ask to work on some models...and they are happy to assign it to me.
Hahaha welcome to reality! Endless pitchbooks = most investment banking = grunt work
What did you think you were going to be doing? Cranking out LBO models day in and day out? Strategizing with CEOs? And then not making presentations?
Also, what did you imagine "grunt work" was going to be? Sweeping the floor? Getting coffee?
Hate to break it to you but your experience is pretty typical and all those Power Point keyboard shortcuts you are learning are useful skills for IB analyst.
Other than learning how to format documents...make sure you are understanding the big picture (deal process, valuation, strategy, negotiation) and ask a shit load of questions. you do not necessarily have to work on a model to understand this...but obviously make sure you know the theories behind valuation. this is going to help you with FT recruiting other other ventures you may take after that 2 year stint. It is true that know one wants a monkey who only known how to crunch, copy/paste, and format. People also want monkey who also know the M&A deal process, and an industry down cold and can come up with ideas and think outside the box. IB can prepare you for that, if you don't act like a bitch and complain about grunt work (99% of WSO users) there are actual valuable things you can learn that can actually transfer to other jobs in the future. Not all 22 year olds have excess to the same learning opportunities, so if you were smart I'd take your finger out of your vagina and grow some balls. and this doesn't just pertain to OP. No hard feelings bro.
but it is all up to you....act like a bitch VS. go the extra mile and take advantage of what you have sitting in front of you.
sorry, I'm hungover.
The way I view it, the grunt work(be it pitchbooks or data scraping in VBA) is the price you pay to get the opportunity to sit with those more experienced and ask them questions to learn about the industry, be it in sales and trading or banking.
Good to know this wasn't just our bank. Seeing how some of the other interns are used in my group, I didn't see pitchbooks = grunk work! I'll try to make the best out of what I do now and ask more questions.
,
BB IBD. Learning a lot. 90% excel/ppt formatting though, not much big picture stuff.
What skills should I be aiming to gain during a PE internship? (Originally Posted: 11/04/2015)
Hi,
It's been almost 1.5 months with the PE firm I am currently interning with. Responsibilities I have been given include
I have never built a full blown DCF, or was not given a chance to do legit modeling.
I feel that I should really push myself and be looking for to pick up some other great skills I can learn as a PE intern to leverage it for my next internship/full-time IBD recruiting.
Other than the tasks I am doing right now, what else would be a great hands on experience?
Additional question) I currently have 1 MM ER, 1 BB ER, 1MM PE internship experience. Would it be difficult for me to apply for a fulltime IBD position right after this as I do not have any IBD SA experience? or would it not matter that much as both ER and PE offers highly transferrable skills for IBD?
bumppp
How to get the most out of SA stint? (Originally Posted: 05/15/2013)
Looking for suggestions on how to get the most out of my SA stint this upcoming summer. I will be working for a group that focuses on M&A and Restructuring.
I would like to gain the best experience possible as an SA. Any suggestions on how to make a fantastic first impression?
Also, looking to jump into financial models in the beginning of my internship. I know this is rare, but I am sure it is possible. I have minor financial modeling experience, meaning I have built 1-2 models in the past from scratch in previous internships.
Also tips on securing a FT offer would be helpful, nothing too generic, I am looking for specific details on what to do / how to do it.
-- Redroom OG
network with people higher up on your lunch breaks.
Listen, ask a lot of questions, don't ask the same one twice.....pay attention to details (review your work 3 times before passing it off) and network, network, network....if you do those four things it'll work out for you.
would that be weird if a SA ask analysts out for lunch / coffee? i mean what's the best way to ask, typically won't analysts grab lunch with their own buddies?
Important Skills to Learn in Internship? (Originally Posted: 06/25/2015)
Doing PWM for the summer. It's been very chill so far. I would like to know what are useful things I can learn that would be useful in the field of finance/accounting assuming i learn nothing from class. I can then ask my boss to let me try those.
Did a PWM internship at a BB two semesters ago and I can tell you that the skills you learn vary drastically depending upon what firm you're at. I'd highly recommend getting very good with Excel (modeling, hot keys, not using the mouse, functionality, even VBA), as well as developing your interpersonal skills if they give you any time to listen in on client meetings or do cold calling.
I'm in PWM at the moment as well (also pretty chill here). I spend some of my "laid back" time reading the news and looking for alternative go-to-market strategies to gain new clients. Recently came up with one, didn't go through but senior leadership really liked that I was thinking about it. Also agree with Brandon, go talk to people see what their previous experiences were like. Who knows, maybe they can connect you to someone they know in areas you're interested for FT (IB by the looks of it).
people skills are very important. Either fuck up or watch other people fck up as much as you can and learn from their mistakes. lol
Learning during your internship (Originally Posted: 06/11/2013)
Anyone here find it absolutely impossible to pick up concepts from juniors you're staffed with while looking over their shoulder as they explain a new concept / method to you while simultaneously moving at lightspeed through the accompanying excel doc / ppt deck?
I think I get it... kinda, then I get back to my desk and I'm absolutely flustered.
I'm very much a hands on learner and don't fully pick up concepts until I've worked it out myself. Any tips on how to become better at picking things up on the fly?
I haven't had an IB internship yet so I can't empathize with your exact situation but I'll try to help out.
You can try taking notes on a small padfolio or little notebook. I would suggest asking the junior first if you can take notes because it might slow down their demonstration since it takes up some extra time to take notes, but it shouldn't be a problem.
Another tip is asking questions but not too many, just a few that would help you grasp a concept.
I'm not sure if this would be effective but you can be honest and say you don't understand this concept and see if they can give you some advice.
^What he said. Myself and the other intern I work with pick each others brains if we don't understand something before asking our Analyst for clarification again since we more or less do the same thing.
If you're working with FactSet/CapIQ/Bloomberg to do your models or other sort of things you can always call their help line and make them do it for you, too.
Depending on how helpful / nice your analyst is, consider asking for help while you're at your desk. That way he or she can give instructions while you drive, and you'll be able to warn by doing. Note that this requires a fairly patient analyst as it can be painful watching interns navigate through files (no offense, we've all been there)
Getting the most out of your internship this summer (Originally Posted: 06/04/2013)
Congratulations! You got a sick internship for the summer. Is it trading at MS, Goldman M&A, or dare I say it, BB PE?
You must be really smart. And, you'll probably make a lot of money in your life. But, will you be happy?
When I was in college, I had a sick internship too. I worked at a BB bank. While the Yankee games and open bars were great, I just didn't think this was what I wanted to do for my life, or even two years of my life.
Of course, like everyone else, I landed a full time offer. And, wouldn't you know it, after 3 weeks back at school, I had convinced myself to take that offer. I’d forgotten how I felt about co-workers, the job, and my lifestyle. The brain has an amazing ability to trick itself.
Luckily, before I signed the offer, I re-read a journal entry I'd put together over the summer, and remembered how much I didn't want to go back.... the 15 minute exercise of writing down how I felt about the job literally saved me a few years on a path I didn't want, but had almost walked down nonetheless.
This exercise not only saved me two years, it helped me find my dream job at a blue chip firm. And, now I'm at HBS living the good life before I go back into the world.
I built MyRiverGuides: http://bit.ly/11BCd6q so others could reap the same benefits from 10 mins of work - it will be the most valuable you do all summer, trust me. The site is 100% free, and 100% confidential. It's a completely altruistic gesture as I learned how to code by working on a project I was passionate about sharing with the world.
Hmm, are you sure you aren't in the business of thinly veiled self promotion? Wait did I say thinly? I meant not at all.
Sorry guys - I just changed the wording of my original post. I didn't mean this to be self promotional at all...I just wanted to share something that I genuinely felt would be useful - and is 100% free, no strings attached. I used to come on these boards a lot as an undergrad and wanted to give back. I appreciate the feedback.
How is this better than Word?
Word is a great solution. You just need the discipline to write things down without reminders, the foresight to record the information that will be relevant for you in the future, and the memory to remember to check your document at the right time. River Guides does all this stuff automatically, for free.
where/in what industry did you work instead of taking the BB full time offer?
How to get the most out of a PE internship? (Originally Posted: 05/01/2011)
Hi friends,
I land an unpaid PE internship this summer at Beijing. It is a US firm focusing on emerging markets. I want to learn a lot from it and hope to deliver value to them as much as I can.
While vault guide is definitely on my reading list, is there book/website/resource/anything out there (free hopefully) that I can read to better prepare myself?
My goal is to eventually break into IBD or S&T at Hong Kong. I am a a rising junior, double major in finance and accounting, with good understanding of the market and things in general but no modeling skills yet.
Any comment/discussion/advice/critique are welcome and appreciated, thanks!
I'm not your friend, buddy.
I'm not your buddy, pal.
I'm not your pal, guy.
.
I'm not your dude, man.
I ain't your man, girl.
I'm not your man, justin bieber.
I'm not your girl, man.
How's your Chinese? If it's not that great and you're a native English speaker your best way to add value is likely going to be helping them to draft documents / proof read documents in English (not that glamorous, but your an intern). When my firm has interns from the U.S. that aren't fluent in Mandarin (rare), then their only use is the fact that they can help go over documents written by our Chinese associates (which is great, because otherwise I tend to get stuck with that job)... I actually like interns that can write well so much --- they allow me to focus on more important things... and that's the key to being a good intern.
Anyways, you may be Chinese or ABC and read/write Chinese well in which case you'll be much more useful as you'll be able to do more market research and so forth. That would be great, but the general theme remains the same. If you want to be a good intern at a smallish PE firm, the best thing you can do is aim to take some of the load off of the associates/analysts... that could mean doing market research online, paging through industry reports and finding important sections for the more experienced people to read, proof-reading docs, auditing financial models, consolidating data to make it more accessible/easier to view, etc... it may sound like menial labor, but it makes a difference and it's probably the most difference you can make as a college junior. Furthermore, you'll actually learn a good amount doing it.
Thank you! This is really helpful. Honestly, I have worked at many places and really understand that is what it takes. Just ordered a couple books about modeling to read as my prep work.
Are you currently working at Beijing as well?
I am your boyfriend, friend.
btw, love WSO's humor. haha
My Boss asked me what I want my resume to say at the end of the internship and told me he'd assign me work accordingly (Originally Posted: 07/06/2014)
I'm going to be a junior this fall and am currently working at an internship at a huge company with great brand recognition; however, the position has nothing to do with finance or investment banking. One of my superiors with whom I have become rather close is aware that, although I am enjoying the internship, my career aspirations lie elsewhere. He is a very nice and helpful guy and has asked me what I want to be able to put on my resume at the end of the internship and will then assign me the type of assignments that will be enable me to truthfully add those bullet points to my resume.
I was considering reaching out to some alum at banks who I met at a networking session a few months ago, and telling them about my boss's offer and then asking them what they think are the skills/ experiences that will best position me for a banking internship next summer.
So, my questions are: (i) do you guys think it's a good idea to reach out to alum and ask them this?
and (ii) If so, how would you recommend I phrase this/ go about asking this?
I realize this is super wordy and long to read and I apologize and I'm super appreciative of any insight you guys can provide. Thank you!
Yes do it absolutely.
Tell your boss you want to be a Corporate Development Summer Analyst. They do the same exact things as investment bankers.
Thank you! I will definitely bring that up to him. What do you think about using this as an opportunity to network with some alumni though?
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