Summer Analyst Season
All,
Due to the volume of PM's that I received by prospective SA's, on getting offers, leveraging offers, I decided to make a post about it.
First, I am somewhat saddened by the fact that I won't get to enjoy the company of any Summer Analysts, as my fund that I work at does not have an intern program. Every summer at every bank, you hear/see the most ridiculous things that Summer Analysts do.
When I was a SA, the other SA (this weird kid from Brown) came into work wearing a bluetooth earpiece the entire day. Finally someone asked him why he felt the need to wear it, to which he replied "so i can be more efficient and model without having to use a hand to hold the phone". This was on his first day, and many more stories will be passed on this SA season.
I won't bother giving people tips on their SA experience, because I think M&I does a good job of that, and some other posts on this site do too. Also, if you attend a target, you'll have guideline lists for banking internships, but anyway...
I have had some people ask me what the best way to transfer offices or groups after they intern, or even leverage the offer to another bank. The best way to transfer offices is to communicate your interest with HR and your superiors as soon as you get your offer package so they can get the ball rolling. In most cases the candidate gets to transfer offices because it is in everyone's best interest that the candidate is content.
Changing groups is a little more challenging. As MS, they allowed the SA to go to the generalist pool (along with the FT recruits of the following year), and participate in sell day. This meant you may or may not get into the group you wanted to, but you have a better shot than a straight FT recruit. My advice is to maintain open lines of communication with an analyst or associate of the group you are trying to join, and they will vouch for you on sell day (I am not too sure how this process works at other banks)
If you get an offer, and want to leverage your offer to other banks, tread carefully. First, make sure your on-campus recruiting center knows this ahead of time, so that you aren't breaking any rules or whatever. Second, most BB banks will do "accelerated interviews" to those who have either gotten FT offers from other banks or those who will be studying abroad during recruiting season. Take advantage of this so that your offer does not explode.
I look forward to hearing some of the SA stories this summer from my friends in banking!
Do you mind sharing some stories of ridiculous or baller things that SA's have done?
MoneyKingdom,
Great post. As an incoming SA at a MM foreign bank, it's nice to know that we make an impression (Bluetooth or not). Also helpful advice - much appreciated.
I was actually wondering about accelerated interviews (even though I feel that I'll want to stay where I work assuming I enjoy it). Is this an application process on banks' websites, or do you have to "know" someone (or have someone know you)? That being said, will most places give SAs FT offers their last week/day, or do they wait until a few days or weeks after the SA stint is over?
Thanks.
It will probably depend more on the summer analyst program director than the firm, actually.
Advice for summer interns:
Don't get caught up in which school you went to or what your background is.
In my year, we all interned with "Fred from Yale." Yes, that is how he would introduce himself or sometimes even refer to himself when he would speak in the third person. After a while, my friend would refer to herself has "Dhivya from SUNY" whenever he was around- and usually elicit a few laughs. You'll make more friends and influence more people if you keep your background and accomplishments on the DL- at least until other folks start broaching the topic.
Don't get intimidated by other peoples' backgrounds
On my first day of work, they served everyone breakfast and everyone was talking about the weather, sports, politics, and everything else under the sun. Then, the firm handed out the resume books. You could feel the silence spreading in the room as each table got the books and the interns slowly went silent as they read how amazing the people around them were.
Look, there's a reason you're at the bank surrounded by other successful people. Chances are, you are just as successful as they are, but don't realize how cool or amazing it is that you do what you do. So when you see that Sandra from Harvard started a hedge fund with $7 million AUM, know that she probably doesn't think it's a big deal but thinks it's really amazing that you race dirt bikes- something you thought was pretty normal. There's a good chance a lot of summer analysts are reading this and thinking to themselves, "Yeah, right. I don't do any of that. I just run a small business or just do research, or just do XYZ." You may not realize it yet, but whatever you do, it's probably pretty cool- you just don't realize it yet, because everyone you hang out with is used to it.
Be careful when you drink
The biggest problems I've seen are actually with the HR folks, though. The summer after I finished my summer analyst stint, there is a famous story about the head of the summer analyst program getting horrendously drunk at a Karaoke bar and insisting on getting on stage and singing "Jesse's Girl" (horribly off-key.) There are other stories about SAs hitting on people in HR. Bottom line: if you don't know what your limit is, leave after you've had two drinks.
It's OK to ask a lot of questions; in fact, that's what you're expected to do
Summer interns are supposed to ask an annoying number of questions. If your boss doesn't grimace every time you ask him a question, you're not asking enough, yet. If you can, try to avoid asking the same question multiple times and also try to put together a list, but your job is to ask questions and just about everything that has to do with the business is fair game.
Face time is good, but getting the job done is better
For some analysts, how much time they spend at the office is one of the few things they control. At the very least, the vast majority of folks over 30 will respect the work ethic it takes.
That said, doing a good job is more important than working 100 hours/week. My roommate secured his offer when he caught that his manager had misspelled the CEO's name the night before they were about to give the pitch. I got mine because I finished my project and it wound up getting used.
One SA story...
Unfortunately I never got to meet the kid...
So my buddy who is an associate at MS now, was out at a bar with the other associates as well as FT and SA analysts. Well this SA had his girlfriend come up to NY and visit and as the drinks keep mounting, this SA starts getting very beligerent.
Apparently he started to have a minor verbal altercation with his lady friend when my buddy asked him and her to leave the bar, and offered to get them a cab (clearly for his own good). Well this SA then accuses my buddy (the associate) saying that he is hitting on his girl. Well this SA actually pushes and gets physical with the associate.
He apologized in the office the next day, but needless to say, he did not get an offer. They were considering terminating his employment, but they allowed him to work his last week (an involuntary termination looks really bad). So... think before you drink and get violent!
*deleted
^ Wat did you write that caused the mods to delete it? PM me. I'm interested to read.
^same
Ms Eva tell us!
^^^^ very well put. I can't believe the amount of SAs that think an Ivy-degree is enough so they proceed to get shit-faced w. Associates on stone street every evening.
I've got a good question, and hopefully some of you have experienced this:
I'm a grade ahead and as a rising senior will only be 20 all summer. What do I do when it comes to to "go have a drink" I mean obviously I drink, and obviously everyone around me drank in college or high school before they were 21, but what if I get shut out of a bar, get carded, etc, etc. Is it better to not go out, to get a fake ID, or.....grow out my beard and where a hat and sun glasses and a trench coat.
F me in the A
Any advice?
Obviously, the firm does not want you drinking if you are under 21, and it would be extremely wise (or at least not extremely stupid) to abstain at company events if you're under 21.
lady eva, whatd you write? sharing is caring!! pm por favor?
Clearly everyone wants to see it....
Can we get a post of an edited version where our imaginations can fill in the blanks? I'm assuming it named-named and that's why it was deleted.
Eva, Eva
The accelerated interview process, from my experience, is coordinated largely with your OCR office. The career center knows the recruiters,and puts you in touch with them. The IB recruiters expect to deal with these sort of issues.
How do you go about switching divisions at the end of the summer for full time, conditional on the fact that you got an offer? For instance, switch between different divisions under Asset Managment or AM to banking.
Have there been times when SA's have gotten so drunk that they were puking everywhere? Did people hold it against them, or was it mostly forgotten?
I'm asking because during college, I usually like to test my limits and every now and then will do a drinking challenge with friends. Needless to say, we get pretty fucked up. I'll obviously try to calm down during the summer, but me + free booze = bad combo
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