What Are You Doing At Your Internship?

First, a little background.

I'm a rising junior interning at a major wealth management firm this summer with career goals of investment banking after college. This summer I have primarily been sitting in on calls with advisors and shadowing them. Also, I have done lot of clerical work and any other random projects that are thrown at me.

Overall, my experience has been good but a little underwhelming. I'm incredibly thankful for the opportunity and consider myself lucky to have gotten the job. However, I don't particularly find the job exciting or challenging and don't see myself there past this summer.

I'm curious as to what other interns in different fields are doing on day to day basis.

 

I too am interning at a Wealth Management branch this summer and would say I am experiencing some of the same things. No two days are the same because there really is not much you can do. Without your certifications, you can't trade for the brokers. With limited knowledge on all investment vehicles and client needs you can't spend all day recommending stocks.

Other divisions, such as IBD, have their interns creating models because they are capable of doing that at this point in their education. If you want to go into banking next year, that's fine, but don't write off WM or AM because of your experiences this summer. Your day-to-day tasks will be much different if you came back full time.

 

I worked at a boutique investment bank (advisory).

Duties ranged based on what senior people needed done. I built financial models, spread comps, did industry analysis, found investors, made teasers, etc. I also did administrative work: brought coffee, made copies, edited slides, edited spreadsheets, etc.

Obviously at the beginning my responsibilities were less, but as I proved myself over the course of the summer, they grew. In terms of how "helpful" it was, I would say very helpful. Before, I used to memorize technicals because I didn't really understand how everything connected. Now, I'm starting to understand the nuances behind transactions and different types of deals.

Hope this helps.

 

as a full time, you run errands as well. Yes there are admins, but the analyst life isn't that glamorous. There is a client meeting and the room isn't properly catered, guess who is going downstairs to get coffee? (The admin can only carry so much) Most new full-time analysts don't contribute too much at client meetings. They are there to carry pitchbooks and to learn.

The hours are long and the learning curve is steep. As a summer, you learn A LOT. But at the same time, don't feel that you're exempt for helping out on errands. You work for about 18 hours a day. There is plenty of time for both photocopying and creating pitchbooks.

 

Roger that, and don't forget that as soon as the admins all peel out of the building at 5pm sharp, you are the secretary until 9am the following morning. If conference calls come up, you're making the arrangements. If books need to be printed and delivered, you're making the arrangements (typically you'll be doing that regardless of whether the admins are around or not). My own late nights often consisted of working until 3am, then having to stick around and flip literally 5000 pages of pitchbooks alone (50 100pg books, I looked at every damn page).

If you're doing it right, the hours are as long or longer than the full-time analysts. 1) you're trying to make a good impression. 2) they'll be shunting as much work downhill as they possibly can. 3) you're much less efficient than someone who's been doing it for a year.

But you will learn a shit ton. If you don't know finance, you'll know the beginnings of it by the end. If you don't know accounting, you'll have a decent grasp of the salient bits by the end. Most importantly, you'll have been dropped in up to your neck and had to fight to keep above water, so you don't make the mistake of signing away 2 years of your life without fully realizing what the job can be.

 

I did gopher tasks and got yelled at by some idiot bitch who wasn't even my boss. And for all this I was paid $6 hourly. I had to work my way up from $0, covering my own train fare.

I was asked to forge a lot of signatures around tax season because the dumb bitch who runs compliance is too lazy to pull files.

Most importantly, I figured out real quickly that PWM is a terrible career choice unless you can sell ice to eskimos, or have a huge rolodex of wealthy pigeons already.

As for the above poster: you are allowed to do client stuff but you are forbidden by regulation to actually talk to clients. Don't forget this and try to get cute.

 

Banking is pretty similar. Mostly Mundane tasks. Only if you're at a good group in a good bank are you going to do the analytical stuff right off the bat, and even then, it's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

All of the above is true. You won't gain anything from the experience but the addition to your resume, assuming your a rising sophomore or junior, will help for SA recruiting. Act like your interested, try to look happy, and then ask your MD for a recommendation.

 

My boss isn't even in this week, despite having meetings on his calendar... oh the joy of PWM.

On the other hand, the other intern and I chose all the mutual funds that he will be using for the next few years, which is pretty sweet. How relevant this is to banking I don't know, but I get free coffee so I can't complain too much.

 

I couldn't get a banking internship because of poor GPA, hence had to go with WM. Unfortunately, this is my junior year internship. It is at a BB and I am at a target school. But, I have an average GPA. I will try again for a banking internship this fall before full time recruiting starts. I just need to start doing some things at my internship that would look good on my resume. For those who have done WM internships, were there any particular things you got out of it, that you found useful in banking? Or, at least things that would look good on your resume? I feel like if I don't bring anything up, my supervisor will just have me develop his marketing material.

 
Best Response

9 am: Call with client. Take notes. Never show these to anyone because VPs don't need a summer analyst's notes.

10 am: Open the comps spreadsheet from a deal you were working on a month ago but haven't touched because it's probably dead in the water. Look busy. When Associate comes by and asks you to do something, tell him you will take care of it as soon as you're done updating the comps for the dead deal (make sure to emphasize to him just how live this deal is). When no one is looking, read ESPN and Drudge. Keep your hands on alt+tab just in case.

11 am: Send 10 copies of latest (insert something here) book to Publishing Services for 11:15 meeting. Tell them it's priority uno. Walk down to publishing services as soon as you've sent the e-mail and ask why they have not yet bound 10 copies of a 30 page document. When they protest that they just got the job and can't possibly do it in 15 minutes, just brush them off as you play brick breaker. Scowl when they finally hand over the bound documents. Thank them for nothing.

11:15 am: Meeting with deal team. Place freshly-bound books at center of table. Watch as nobody takes them.

Noon: Lunch.

12:01 pm: Get stopped by associate as you're leaving to go to Subway for the 4th day in a row. He asks if you've done that thing from earlier. Tell him you're going to a Summer Analyst recruitment event that HR says is mandatory. Smile as he walks away to do the work himself.

1:00 pm: Send e-mail from your blackberry to cute girl from school working for some marketing firm in the city. Tell her how busy you are and how hard you're working. Get her sympathy. Make plans to slay that later.

2 pm: Back to the office. When senior members of your deal teams ask where the hell you've been for the past two hours, look as tired as possible and tell them that you've been getting killed on some other deal. Hope they don't call you out on it.

3 pm: Talk to Managing Director from your Alma Mater for a while about his experience in banking. Make sure that your associate sees you fraternizing with the MD. High five the guy and make plans to get drinks some time. Shoot a finger gun over at the associate as you walk back to your desk. Catch a glimpse of yourself in the monitor before you turn it back on. Wink. You've earned it.

4 pm: E-mail buddies at other shops. Brag about how much you're getting killed. Wonder if they're as lazy as you are. Refuse to admit that they are putting in more hours than you. Check Dealbreaker, alt-tabbing back to the comps whenever you feel someone walk behind you.

5 pm: Ask that associate if he still needs that thing. Try not to laugh when he says that he's already done it. Make sure you have a handy story about this afternoon's made-up HR event in case he asks about it.

6 pm: Dinner time. Challenge fellow SAs to McDonalds eating contest. Expense 40 cheeseburgers and find a conference room.

7pm: After shitting your brains out from the Mickey D's contest, head back to your desk and check your e-mails. Alt-tab to power point presentation every now and then.

8pm: Check to see if your associate is still there. If he is, continue reading banal shit on the internet. If he's not, call that girl you e-mailed earlier and tell her that you're going to be able to get off "early" and you want to meet up.

8:05 pm: Leave the office as quietly as possible, using stairs even if you have to.

3 months later: Wonder why you didn't get an offer. Blame the market.

 

Pretty ace description. I was lucky enough to be staffed on some live deals, and I did actually do some pretty cool work at times, but JuwannaMann's description is pretty much faultless and is probably what any SA should expect.


"It is a fine thing to be out on the hills alone. A man can hardly be a beast or a fool alone on a great mountain." - Francis Kilvert (1840-1879)

"Ce serait bien plus beau si je pouvais le dire à quelqu'un." - Samivel

-------------------- "It is a fine thing to be out on the hills alone. A man can hardly be a beast or a fool alone on a great mountain." - Francis Kilvert (1840-1879) "Ce serait bien plus beau si je pouvais le dire à quelqu'un." - Samivel
 

I actually have a similar question. I couldn't get anything so I'm doing an unpaid internship at a boutique... I'm also not doing much. Come full time recrutig, does anyone with past experience know whether they will ask about your summer position in detail? Or can I get away with "faking" the full summer analyst experience?

 

Let someone you work with know that you have an interest in working with some models. Ask for some simple ones to play around with.

When I did my internship, we got some basic modeling training. I got to make a simple model for a small deal.

 

Look on your shared drive for models from old deals and learn them. There isn't enough real work these days for people to be desperate enough to hand a live model to a summer analyst. Just don't complain, do whatever bitch work you have correctly, and you'll get an offer. That's more valuable than any modeling "experience" you'll get in these few weeks, especially since you'll basically learn it all over again when you start full time anyway.

 

I agree with the guy above. look at the models in the group's folder, and read the accompanying pitches and other deal documents to try to understand what the model was used for, and why certain assumptions and inputs were used. The fact that you have even seen a working model puts you ahead of the game of the people who just memorize formulas out of the different guides. Do not try to BS your way through saying that you can do a full operating or LBO model, because you will get grilled to the point of you looking like an idiot and not moving on. It is more important to understand what is going on and how models work/what do they show then claiming you have actually done one. All the reputable banks have training programs, and this is where you will begin to learn the models, etc.

 
yuntsucks:
I agree with the guy above. look at the models in the group's folder, and read the accompanying pitches and other deal documents to try to understand what the model was used for, and why certain assumptions and inputs were used. The fact that you have even seen a working model puts you ahead of the game of the people who just memorize formulas out of the different guides. Do not try to BS your way through saying that you can do a full operating or LBO model, because you will get grilled to the point of you looking like an idiot and not moving on. It is more important to understand what is going on and how models work/what do they show then claiming you have actually done one. All the reputable banks have training programs, and this is where you will begin to learn the models, etc.

I have done an operating model and LBO for my internship for live deals. But I used an general template and it wasnt too complicated. I didnt have to build depreciation schedules or anything like that at all.

Are people going to expect me to know all the nitty gritty technicals things during interviews?

 

So can someone explain to me, usually summer analysts do "valuations" - in this case it means Comps/DCF, but what is actual "modelling"? Because it seems comps/dcf is really simple?

Like when I put it on my resuem:

  • Assisted with valuations using DCF, comparative analysis

Is this the same as

  • Constructed DCF, comps models

?

 

So can someone explain to me, usually summer analysts do "valuations" - in this case it means Comps/DCF, but what is actual "modelling"? Because it seems comps/dcf is really simple?

Like when I put it on my resuem:

  • Assisted with valuations using DCF, comparative analysis

Is this the same as

  • Constructed DCF, comps models

?

 

No. See my answer to guy above.

chuckiex:
So can someone explain to me, usually summer analysts do "valuations" - in this case it means Comps/DCF, but what is actual "modelling"? Because it seems comps/dcf is really simple?

Like when I put it on my resuem:

  • Assisted with valuations using DCF, comparative analysis

Is this the same as

  • Constructed DCF, comps models

?

 

Get models from analysts, rebuild them, ask analysts if you really can't figure shit out. Best way to learn a model is to build one, and best way to show you want to do modeling is by building a model outside of projects.

 

Model, with no doubt, is important. But, the reason most of the people are focusing on models so much is because they think it might be the only skill one may be able to distinguish itself from others in the entry level, at least apparently.

I’d suggest try to keep thinking how this deal was initiated in the first place, how did the seniors kept control things to make the process smoothly, strategic issues involved for both companies, and other more issues.

Although these things might not apparently come to you as a discernible skill in the short-term, these trainings will make a disproportionate difference in the long-term with others who just dealt with models without any thinking.

This is what I believe…

Btw, I myself is an intern as well. They don’t give me modeling works also.

 

As usual everybody is obsessed with models. Nobody in an interview is going to believe you can hit the ground running building full models for scratch (or expect you to) even if you genuinely could they probably won't believe you and you aren't going to get a chance to prove it to them in an interview.

As others said focus way more on just being proactive and helpful with the shitty tasks you are given and don't think they are beneath you. This is how you are going to get an offer, not by gaining "experience" modelling.

The key point many miss is that modelling is not actually that hard in general and is far more a case of experience than technical ability. Experience comes with time. You will stand out much more at the lower level for you general attitude and enthusiasm for the job.

 
Oconnor:
As usual everybody is obsessed with models. Nobody in an interview is going to believe you can hit the ground running building full models for scratch (or expect you to) even if you genuinely could they probably won't believe you and you aren't going to get a chance to prove it to them in an interview.

As others said focus way more on just being proactive and helpful with the shitty tasks you are given and don't think they are beneath you. This is how you are going to get an offer, not by gaining "experience" modelling.

The key point many miss is that modelling is not actually that hard in general and is far more a case of experience than technical ability. Experience comes with time. You will stand out much more at the lower level for you general attitude and enthusiasm for the job.

Agreed on all counts.

  • Capt K
- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

Just make sure you do all of your tasks perfectly and on time. Be cool and easy going. Sooner or later one of bankers will feel generous and throw you a model to play with. If that does not happen, ask for it. Although models from SAs are useless, bankers will give you something for experience&resume if they like you.

P.S.: SA here, have modeling experience from 2 different gigs.

 

Research on a state healthcare program (50+ slides)

Bitch work on a 2 live deals (finding potential acquirers, sorting through whom it would make sense to contact from existing lists, inputting #'s from client docs --> our models, editing the OM, etc.)

Fun, fun...

MD said I could probably get to do some valuation some point during the internship, and also that I could do some work with other division in our office (real estate PE, and healthcare PE).

 

At a regional BB in ibd, doing everything from spreading transaction comsp (the worst kind), creating daily updates for the team, getting to sit behind someone constructing an LBO model, and ordering dinner for the floor.

NOTE: Always order extra appetizers for dinner. Always.

 

There are plenty of good resources that you should check out in advance of your SA stint. My favorite for your role would be the Scoop books guide, http://www.scoopbooks.com/ourbooks_2.php

You should also check out the reading list on the site, read the WSJ/FT everyday and make sure you are an excel/PPT ninja. Another good piece of advice is to always use google/investopedia/WSO before asking a stupid question that you could easily figure out by using critical thinking and the internet.

 

For God's sake, if you have any confusions/questions, ask us (2nd year Analysts). We don't bite - much. And no, I don't care about how you learned it in B-School, my way is correct. Why? Because I have been doing it this way for more than a year. Yes, you outrank me, but please realize that I'm only trying to help you. Don't let your ego get in the way of your own success.

In all honesty, Summer Analyst=Summer Associate. This goes double for SAs with non-finance backgrounds.

If you aren't comfortable with modeling, purchase the WSO advanced modeling courses or it's BIWS counterpart. But don't lose sleep over it, your training will adequately prepare you for the role. Besides, we don't expect much from SAs anyways. :)

Lastly, don't be "that guy", who always gets into petty arguments about unimportant BS.

Calling Ron Paul an isolationist is like calling your neighbor a hermit because he doesn't come over to your property and break your windows.
 

In my old bank, summer associates play a very similar role as the summer analysts in the first 4 to 5 weeks. Only a few outstanding ones will start functioning more in an associate capacity in the second half of their internship. For the majority, you still do analyst work. Btw, this is also typically what you do for your first 3 months once you join for full time.

In the first few weeks of the summer, it is very common that you will be staffed onto the projects along with some full time analysts. Make sure you treat those analysts nicely and be humble all the time. Do not try to be bossy and always be patient. The moment you think you outrank them, you are fucked already. Reality is you are just a summer hire and nobody knows you and thus you do not outrank them.

What you've picked up in your b-school is mostly useless. On the other hand, you don't need much preparation for this job either. You learn it when you get a chance to work on it. Investment banking is not rocket science.

 

What happens if you cannot use excel without a mouse?

The difference between successful people and others is largely a habit - a controlled habit of doing every task better, faster and more efficiently.
 

you're asking a very vague question. the answer is it simply depends on what they need you to do. it can be heavy exposure to just answering phone calls. check out the websites of boutiques to see what kind of description they have provided for an internship position. or you can ask interns (if you know of any) what their function is.

 

From my understanding - someone correct me if I'm wrong - lower mm boutique ib is more or less serving as a sell-side broker for family businesses looking to cash out.. or finding them and convincing them to sell out. In that case, you'd be looking (I imagine) mostly at helping source deals, which is obviously less modeling-intensive. As you deal with bigger deal/EBITDA sizes, I'd imagine that it gets more technical.

"There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat."
 

Remember that almost all boutiques (aside from the elite boutiques) does not have a structured training program. It really is partly up to you on what you want to accomplish and your staffer.

Some had great experiences with boutiques and have gotten to build out full models, while some are just paper pushers. Make sure you do your research about the firm and check the LinkedIn background of some of the bankers. For example, if a guy came from no name boutique to another no name boutique, that person probably does not have a clue on what training is.

Regardless of what you do at a boutique for an internship, its almost always a good learning experience.

 
Whiskey5:
Remember that almost all boutiques (aside from the elite boutiques) does not have a structured training program. It really is partly up to you on what you want to accomplish and your staffer.

Some had great experiences with boutiques and have gotten to build out full models, while some are just paper pushers. Make sure you do your research about the firm and check the LinkedIn background of some of the bankers. For example, if a guy came from no name boutique to another no name boutique, that person probably does not have a clue on what training is.

Regardless of what you do at a boutique for an internship, its almost always a good learning experience.

respond to py PM :)

I banana back
 

I'd say that the best way to determine how valuable an internship at a boutique investment bank is by looking at who you are going to be working under. I had two friends do internships at two different boutique investment banks in the same city. Friend A was working at a firm that had ~20 people and Friend B was working at a firm with ~6 people. We all thought that Friend A was going to have a better experience because it was a slightly bigger firm. Friend A worked with 2 associates that came from other boutique firms and he had a good experience. He worked on a couple models, did some research on different industries and sat in on some phone calls with management teams, etc. Friend B worked with the associate and a VP. The VP had come from a BB and basically put Friend B through the wringer. He gave him hypothetical models to build and exercises to go through, provided tons of training materials plus all the typical stuff that Friend A did. In the end, Friend B had a much better experience so I think it is all about who you're working under and how much you ask for.

 

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