Interns, Former Interns & Senior Monkeys: I just got my first intern, looking for advice

Alright monkeys, I just was blessed by being able to have an intern. While the intern will not be with me 100% of the time, I'll have him for the entire summer. He's a junior at a target, finance/econ major, sharp kid.

he seems to be interested in the ER/AM side of my business, so I have him doing some position maintenance as well as some research on possible target companies, but we're willing to have him do other things, aside from grunt work, pet projects, and mastering the espresso machine.

would be curious to hear from some senior monkeys like @"Dingdong08" @"Simple As..." @"BlackHat" and @"sfbroker". what I'd like to know from seniors is what are some tips on best practices/things to avoid with an intern?

also, intern monkeys, what do you value from your internships/what would you have changed?

 
Best Response

I'm making my two each prepare a deal screen which they'll have to present to a small committee of senior bankers in the final week. I'll give them different source materials (CIMs, maybe QoE from old deals) 2 weeks before presentation is due. "Presentation" will be like a typical screen/approval call - ie more Q&A than just them talking.

Maybe you can get them to do the same ie choose a company and prepare an ER report which they have to present and justify to some seniors in the final week.

Otherwise, I've come up with a list of recommended small tasks for my team which they can delegate to the interns - stuff which is meaningful for the interns and they can see how it impacts the deal, but where it should be obvious to my team mates if the intern has got it wrong.

Tip - When you give them stuff to do, don't hold their hand too much. Let them know they'll need to do their own research on how to address the question, speak to other people etc as that's what work is all about. On the other hand, they can come and chat with you to check they are heading in the right direction.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

Like Ssit above said, we usually come up with a summer long project that is something you'd do in my business, typically coming up with a couple of investment proposal that would normally be presented to senior management/investment committee. Have them comb through Capital IQ and other databases, maybe make some no name calls and talk to our network of bankers/brokers (at least review all of the incoming deals from them) and come up with a few ideas to present. We give them examples of our models, presentations and other documents and have them go soup to nuts on a couple of investment ideas that they then present.

Other than a longer term project, I usually have them mirror and work more closely with a good associate(s) who likes to teach/mentor and have that person assign tasks to them as they see fit and we try to balance it so they're not just filing paperwork and getting coffee. We'll try to put some weekly meetings and teaching sessions together and at then end of the week have them sit down and be able to ask questions about what went on during the week (as much as it's feasible because I don't want to force anyone, intern or full timer, to have a mandatory 4 pm Friday meeting during the summer).

 

When my interns ask me a question, I sometimes force them to sit in a room with me while I yabber away and draw pictures on a whiteboard explaining some business or banking concept. I tell myself I'm "imparting wisdom and knowledge" but really it's an information dump which does them no good and is probably all about my self-perception. I always feel guilty afterwards.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

Been there, done that, will inevitably do it again and again, much to the chagrin of my juniors.

"Can you explain this to me without delving into philosophy or economic history?"

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

Be honest with them. When they fuck up or are coming to ask questions before they should be, let them know so they can adjust appropriately. Its a bad feeling as an intern when you can't tell if you're asking the right questions or being too annoying. Clear expectations with hard deadlines help, too. I run into this a lot in my job right now, but assign specific milestones for these guys so it pushes them to get it done sooner than later. Aggressive timelines are good imho.

 

May seem obvious but include them outside of the office. My first internship was in a smaller office and so they liked to go out together after work but I always got the impression that my boss resented me being there. May just be the boss

 

At least put in place a feedback mechanism for the things he's working on with you that's structured as above (look back/current week/new goals). It's important to have a chat upfront that establishes the system, even if it's a very informal one (coffee before work on Thursdays). Most people aren't used to a feedback-rich environment and can feel overly criticized if you don't let them know that it's just part of the process.

Since he's reporting to several PM's, it is vital that you all check in with each other to make sure the workload is reasonable. Even better is if one person takes the the lead with collecting feedback and checking in with him regarding his workload. Interns are often quite bad at gauging the amount of time that will be required to complete a task they've never done. In particular, Type A undergrads are very reluctant to say, "That sounds like an interesting workstream, but I'm not sure I have the bandwidth, given my project load from the other managers. How should I prioritize these things?" They'll just, "Ok, I can do it," and dig themselves a huge hole. I've had the experience of having 4 bosses as a new hire, and it can be very stressful if not managed properly.

EDIT: Added 2nd to last sentence.

 

To add to @brj's comment, I've almost always worked in smaller firms where we didn't have a giant and formal BB style intern program and we've just brought them on a couple at a time and they can get lost so we've tried to assign one person to oversee/mentor them, usually an associate with some experience or maybe a vp who likes doing it. I know higher up on the food chain it gets much tougher to do. I enjoy teaching and mentoring but I just haven't had the time in years to do it with interns on a regular basis and it's good to make sure someone is their point of contact to make sure they're not overloaded or sitting their surfing the web.

 
thebrofessor:

quick update everyone: I've asked him to source an idea for the portfolio (we'll keep it on watch, no room to invest right now) and prepare a pitch to me. I gave him a bit of creativity with it, only constraining market cap (no micro caps/small caps), and he seems to have taken it and ran with it. will keep you posted on how it goes.

I'd try and give him at least some idea of whether or not he's picked an absolutely bogus company... as in, something you guys would never invest in or be interested in. One thing you just never want your intern doing (for both of your sakes) is to have them keep running with a dead end and wasting everyone's time, most importantly their own. So before he builds out a three-statement model and starts hammering the phones, I'd at least give him some indication of whether or not he's picked something retarded.

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 

For his pitch - I suggest you get him to give a 5 - 10 minute presentation on it, to you and a panel of your peers. More people there = higher discipline = better sense of validation and acclaim for his work, better sense of achievement.

Also makes him feel that he has something shiny to put on his resume/mention in interviews - he had to prepare a proposal and give a presentation to an approval committee.

Also let's him tell other interns what pressure he's under, how impressive his internship program is etc. From memory, interns love that prestige stuff.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

If you have the time, I'm sure he would love to learn from you.

That is the main thing for any internship I do. It both helps develop my skills and gives me something I can talk about in the future. Obviously, given this in industry and not academic, practical work and examples are good. As to what he would like to learn, he/you should ask the other party and try to accommodate to it. People seem to work more efficiently in stuff they like.

I'm doing an ad-hoc internship at an energy start-up after my current internship. It will be mainly shadowing the CEO and working/helping him with tasks he would be expected to do. He trusts me as i've proven myself in the past. I'm looking forward to it more then my SA spot as working with and observing the CEO seems far more interesting then some of the grunt work done in a SA spot. The thing that exists me is the work is likely to be very diverse.

This wasn't really what you should do for your intern but what I like/would like as an intern. Hope it helps.

 

I'm so jealous of the interns you guys had. It seems like they will really get to learn something and hone their own skills, I wish I had an opportunity to work as an intern for you guys.

You're doing a good thing by asking what you can do for your intern. I think having them put together a presentation is a good idea. Any work to mirror the kind of work that is associates do is beneficial, but a bit of guidance is helpful for them to develop.

 

@"brj" there would need to be some suggestions like bows n toes for him to get worried, I think I'm being too nice.

@"BlackHat" good call, did this today, I told him the goal & current characteristics of the portfolio, so that should help him out.

@"looping56" the reason I'm doing this is I had an internship in PWM and didn't get much from it. I worked at one of the big 3, for a good producer (ML/UBS/MS), and I did nothing of consequence. I learned what morningstar was, big whoop. every intern will need to do some pet projects that are purely boring, data entry, and are grunt work, but you should be allowed to do something with meaning.

I don't look at it like a favor to the intern (well the stock pitch is, but who cares), I needed to get all of that research done, so he takes the grunt work, getting practice on analyzing companies, and I get practice on being a real PM (questioning analysts). it's a quid pro quo.

so is this a little bit of justice? something I would've wanted to do? sure, but I'm also getting something from it. don't dwell on a bad internship, I'm a firm believer in that you learn something from every experience, you just might not know it at the time.

 

Why don't you just look at him as a junior full-time employee which just started at the firm? You'll soon enough see if he has what it takes. I recently spent some months as an intern at a value oriented fund myself and the very first day I simply asked them if it was OK for me to continue reading some reports on a company I had been reading into over the weekend. They simply told me to let me know if I needed anything and if not, they would hear from me by the end of the week. This way I quickly gained the trust of my senior colleagues and went out to have meetings with sell-side, target company management, ... making the internship so much more valuable.

I'm sure that what makes Asset Management such a beautiful business is that there's so many people in it with a genuine desire to absorb as much knowledge as possible. With that of course comes the need to find your way independently ( micromanaging). If you just tell him to go find a stock worthy of investment and he can't find his way around it, then would he make a good full-time employee?

Much depends of course on how your research process at the firm is organised, as well as any cultural barriers (but I suppose those AM shops usually have a flatter hierarchy).

 

OK, I locked my interns in a room and gave them 1.5 hours of discourse on topics ranging from intermediation and disintermediation in financial markets, the role and possible future of investment banking, the role of front office, the high value of execution ability at a younger age, the low value of execution ability and high value of relationships/rain making at an older age, the importance of identifying incentives and recognising their conscious and subconscious influence on behaviour and decision making... and they did not run from the room screaming.

A whiteboard and multiple colours of pens were involved.

I also seriously abused a metaphor about fishing.

Then I made them come to Friday drinks with me and spent another hour talking at them.

One admitted knowledge of WSO. If she is reading this, yes, that was me, I'm not sure if you enjoyed it, but I did.

I don't think much of this was useful for them, but I couldn't resist having a captive audience to drop my alleged wisdom on.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 
SSits:

OK, I locked my interns in a room and gave them 1.5 hours of discourse on topics ranging from intermediation and disintermediation in financial markets, the role and possible future of investment banking, the role of front office, the high value of execution ability at a younger age, the low value of execution ability and high value of relationships/rain making at an older age, the importance of identifying incentives and recognising their conscious and subconscious influence on behaviour and decision making... and they did not run from the room screaming.

A whiteboard and multiple colours of pens were involved.

I also seriously abused a metaphor about fishing.

Then I made them come to Friday drinks with me and spent another hour talking at them.

One admitted knowledge of WSO. If she is reading this, yes, that was me, I'm not sure if you enjoyed it, but I did.

I don't think much of this was useful for them, but I couldn't resist having a captive audience to drop my alleged wisdom on.

Where the hell was this when I was interning? SSits sounds like the ideal boss.

 

Odio consectetur cum quos temporibus omnis omnis perspiciatis. Iusto eveniet dicta accusantium totam sed molestias. Dolor nesciunt earum ad vel. Voluptas reiciendis molestias enim nisi. Ut dolor velit debitis culpa perspiciatis et velit.

Consequatur eos facilis facere ut. Impedit maxime ea eum. Vero commodi incidunt molestias.

Non ut dolores aut cupiditate. Minus nihil alias quidem. Quam aut minus dignissimos saepe. Laudantium sapiente vel ut quam ut. Mollitia non sunt aliquam reprehenderit quibusdam dolor quia. Voluptatum odit ut tempore exercitationem rerum omnis. Sit amet id animi adipisci minus quo molestias.

Ipsum repudiandae saepe optio culpa minima tenetur. Iusto maxime repudiandae doloremque earum exercitationem. Quidem quibusdam nulla qui exercitationem. Possimus dolorem maiores qui inventore qui. Nobis sit ab ut cum. Qui voluptas eos vitae modi omnis. Nemo ipsa harum necessitatibus animi.

...
 

Soluta laudantium quos molestias in aliquam. Vel itaque qui voluptatum cupiditate voluptatem voluptates facere omnis. Et illum harum cumque rerum aut voluptas sit nam. Impedit pariatur facilis expedita qui. Qui ipsam soluta dolor aspernatur et tempore.

Id sequi eos quo in sed rem est. At totam ab ea voluptatem. Voluptates velit dolorem est rerum dolorem necessitatibus. Repellat sit enim excepturi amet. Consequatur voluptas quia reprehenderit quia.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”