Free stuff/perks/swag at Wall Street internships
Hey guys! I'm writing an article for a respected publication about free stuff Wall Street interns get from their employers and how Wall Street internship perks have changed (or stayed the same) in the past few years. I'd like to talk with any former/current Wall Street interns about what free stuff you've received from your firm. I will keep your name anonymous, so post or send me a private message if you're interested.
rags to clean up jizzums
video guide "how to suck your boss's dick (literally)"
I didn't intern in the US but in Europe:
After a successful and interesting internship I have received a handshake and a business card of my staffer along with the words "thank you".
Didn't expect anything else to be honest.
calbalbost, even if bankers were receiving free cocaine, hookers, Knicks tickets, iPads, or whatever I do not think they would post it in a completely open forum like this. Enough bad press has hit the news over the last few years.
No reason to throw gasoline on the fire.......
Big 4 accounting firms seem to love to hand out all kinds of stuff to their accounting monkeys. T-Shirts, jackets, backpacks, messenger bags, mugs...
Ya, big 4 accounting firms seems to have the nicest swag. I remember talking with a recruiter from Deloitte asking two my friends and myself what other type of "swag" we thought would be cool because they/Deloitte just increased his "swag" budget. Then again Goldman Sachs doesn't need to giveaway "swag" to entice the best of the best to apply for internships or jobs.
Yea I got a free handshake and sometimes I got a free 30 minutes nap in the bathroom stall right before I started my 2nd 10 hour shift. Oh wait there was that one time my shirt got stained and I got a free hour pass to go home and replace it. Fuck me we're balling out of control.
I get to work for free
It was escalating, and you helped it reached its zenith.
I got a gym bag...
No cameras. The press is the enemy.
friend did a barcap internship at Hk last summer, he got tickets to the Barclays asia cup finals, chelsea v spurs, not bad
I got a water bottle and a small bag.
gym bag, mug, t shirt, pen
The cool swag largely ended in 2008. Sorry, you're four years too late.
Also agree with the REAL criminals already cashing out. They got off scott free while the rest of us have been thrown under the bus. If the press wants "open and fair information", how about they lead by example AND DO THEIR FUCKING JOBS
Until then, we have enough problems without YOU sticking your ignorant noses into our business to make a buck throwing us to the wolves. Just in case OP is still reading this: KILL YOURSELF
Dude, when did the New York Times come to a WSO meetup? I don't remember that...
In reality, the newspaper industry faces the same problems that Wall Street does. They've also lost the faith of their customers. The difference is that Wall Street is working on being worthy of that trust again, but I don't see the same thing in the news media. I see more sliding into sensationalism and story-finding rather than fact-finding.
The more apt comparison would be the commodification of both industries. Newspapers are similar to Wall St (esp IBD) in that they have large fixed cost bases, dominated by compensation expenses, and thus significant operating leverage. When the NYT business section is no better or more informative (and frequently shriller) than any of a dozen free blogs, it is difficult to convince consumers to pay any price, let alone a premium one, to sustain the revenue necessary to support that cost base.
J.P. Morgan condoms with little logos on them. My gf just switched from Wells Fargo to Chase because of them.
You're not having sex
What to expect on 1st day as an intern at UBS (IB building) (perks,...) (Originally Posted: 07/06/2013)
Hey guys,
I'm starting my UBS internship in about a week in Zürich. I'm gonna be with the finance team of the Investment Banking division.
My "role" is FX DERIVS.
So I'm not in IB but I'll be in the same building so the facilities and all will be the same as IB.
Gonna send them an email asking them what I have to do/prepare for on the 1st day but can you guys already give me a few ideas?
Also what kind of perks do BB banks in general and more precisely UBS give you? Has it massively changed since the crisis or are they still pretty generous?
I know there's a gym in the IB building and that they offer lots of classes (crossfit, spinning,...) and that they have big cafeterias but that's about it.
Thanks guys
free bag of doritos
Dont send them emails - just come in ready to learn and have a good attitude. Take notes on everything, ask good questions, and don't make the same mistake more than once.
As far as perks go, you shouldn't expect much... maybe you'll have discounts for certain things but that's probably as much as you'll get. Not sure how the Zurich office works but you probably will have to pay for the gym.
HR explicitly told me to contact my team manager to ask how my first day is organized. I also need information on where I have to go, how do I get my badge, etc...
For info, I'm not part of tens or hundreds of interns starting an internship that have a whole day organized with meetings, presentations, etc... This is an off cycle internship, I have only 10 or so days to get everything organized, find accommodation, sign contract, send all the documents. I was told I'm the only one starting on that date.
It's really not as big as you make it sound. Just write your team manager an email asking when you are supposed to be there and that's the time you will show up. I am sure that they will then show you around and help you with all the organizational stuff. I have never seen anyone in an off-cycle internship, who was expected to know everything and have everything organized by the time they walk through the door. I am pretty sure that your accounts for various databases won't work for at least a week as well, so chill.
Thanks
Yeah you're right, I just need to know at what time I need to be there and perhaps what documents or whatever I need to take with me.
Do you know anything about the facilities/perks?
I know they have a gym (this is big, I need a gym, I literally need to workout 3-4x a week to stay sane aha. Plus it might be cool to meet some cool people there - people that have the same interests (->gym, staying in shape, lifting)), big cafeterias with really good food. I've only been there once and only got to hang out in the "coffee break" cafeteria. I don't really know what to expect apart from that. From the little I saw, the place looks huge, it's basically a big village.
You've already made like 4 threads about your internship. Relax, show up, figure shit out as you go. Believe it or not you're not the only person in the world who landed his very own finance internship.
This.....just chill, show up and be ready to learn.
You again? Jesus, don't freak out dude..
Hahah excitement is good man....but you're a little over the top.....heres my 2 cents: its great that you have such enthusiasm; you've done well; managed to get a good position. But just relax; remember, the people you are going to be working with and for are by no means genius'; most of that jerkoff's are under-sexed monkeys just looking to pass the day. Stick to the basics and you'll do great; show up early, take notes, laugh at the stupid jokes and as a rule, just stfu most of the day and focus on the work. no need to go overboard and start "networking" straightaway.....go to MergersInquisitions.com and read the latest post about what it takes to be a good S&T intern....most of that shit applies everywhere......most of all just relax and enjoy!
Not to be a dick, but no matter how many times you say you work in the IBD or in the IB building you're still not an investment banking intern. The only one here who's discrediting your position is you.
Be proud of what you do and make the best outta it. My first internship was BO at a boutique IM firm, and I've gotten so many positive reactions to it when networking/interviewing by being proud of it and through the way I sold it.
Summer Analyst Perks in IBD (Originally Posted: 04/17/2013)
What perks are given to Summer Analysts working in IBD?
Especially interested in elite boutiques (Greenhill / Lazard / Evercore) compared to BBs. Does west coast differ from east coast in terms of perks?
What technology is given to SAs? Cell phones (BBs / iPhones), laptops, etc. Are they given expense cards as well? What other perks are they given?
Handshake and a "apply to our firm" from a major french bank
Polo shirt with the company's logo from a consulting firm.
Curious as well, but I am expecting pretty much nothing except cab back home at night
BB is pretty standard, Dinner Expenses, Cab Rides. A deluxe coffee holster.
I heard Goldman gave SA's blackberries, not sure about others. This isn't a good thing by the way.
LOL @ this comment.
Might sound really cool telling all your friends you have a work berry. Getting to put both of your cell phones out on a table when you sit down...until it buzzes, and buzzes, and keeps buzzing. Only then will you realize you are a slave.
Better off just telling your boss what bar you're going to and they can ring the bartender and ask for you.
-Work life balance
The BB I was a SA for last summer gave us BlackBerry's, but it only had access to e-mail.
A new iPhone that you can keep, 100k expense account, retina MacBook Pro, Google Glasses, Iron Man suit...
Wtf, are you insane? The only perk you get is your security pass.
These are the worst responses. Are there seriously no perks? Are cab rides offered in LA? If so, how are they paid?
Beer bottles and clothes models. It's the SA version of champaign bottles and lingerie models
Couple years back in NY I got a BB, $25 dinner expense, cab rides
I remember reading an article saying the BB's used to take interns out to clubs, concerts, cooking classes, etc. back in the boom days.
cooking classes? Was this an investment bank or a needy gf?
this was true at one point. your group may also have summer outings but the only perk now is you have the chance to prove you can grind ppt and excel and hope to get that FT offer
your perk is that you are given the opportunity to work for an investment bank.
Car ride home, dinner expense, weekend meal expense, Blackberry
Company T-shirt at one elite boutique
GS Blackberries only have access to email (pretty sure, based on my experience there before). Also uses private car service, after 10pm they'll take you anywhere. $25 dollar dinner allowance after 8pm - order from Seamless. Disgusting free coffee on every floor.
BBs: $25 for dinner after 7 PM and on the weekends, $15 for lunch on the weekends, free cabs/cars home after 10 PM during the week, and free cabs both ways on the weekends, of course you have a BB (and that is NOT a perk)
Elite Boutiques: $30 for dinner after 5:30 PM both during the week and the weekend, $20 for lunch on the weekends, free cabs/cars home after 9 PM during the week and both ways on the weekends, and - of course - a Blackberry
Fairly true. BBs and elite boutiques will offer a meal stipend and some sort of car service. However, the meal budget and car availability vary from bank to bank. The thing about the goldman amex is also true. Virtually everything else in this thread is an intentional joke or made-up BS.
Also, the amount of misinformation in this thread is staggering.
xoxo
All the strippers you can get your hands on at most BBs
What about laptops? How can you work from home? Not saying that I would leave the office to work at home, but I am aware that many bankers and PE guys continue some light work after they leave the office (my associate mentioned this at a PE firm)
Most banks only have laptops. Your computer at work will be a docked laptop connected to a monitor. You can, in theory, bring this home and work, but it's usually much slower, and there will rarely be a circumstance when you're an intern that you will want to be working from home. If you're working, you want your face to be seen in the office as an intern.
at least half the BBs have some online portal through which you can login to your work desktop and work from home. it's often slower than if you were in the office but useful if you only have to do a few small things (PDF a PPT, switch order of slides, send a dial-in, etc). obviously if youre an intern or if facetime is an issue you should be in the office for most things.
You should never work from home. It's less efficient, for one thing. But more importantly: face time. If you're going to be cranking over the weekend, do you seriously want to do it and not get credit for it?
You are a summer analyst, not a rainmaker. The perk you get is having a job for the summer.
You get a crappy laptop working as an intern at a Big 4..
What laptop did you get at Big4? I am curious would they let me use my own laptop?
No way. Nor would you want to let them. They will install all kinds of corporate bloatware to monitor every aspect of what is going on and ensure proper security.
Goldman also gives an AmEx card to summer analysts, for use to and from the airport (at the start and end of the internship), and they give like 20 dollars for 'networking expenses,' whatever that means. Any abuse of the card = immediate termination from what HR's said about it. Any other BBs do the same thing?
And I doubt people will get laptops for a summer gig, considering the security risks associated with that. You won't be working remotely as an intern.
You have no idea what you're talking about, so just stop. Most banks work exclusively on laptops, so yes, interns will get laptops.
Why is getting a Blackberry even described as a perk?
You get a laptop, but you can't work from home because you won't get access to the bank's VPN.
@NorthSider - I interned with Goldman. Interns do not get laptops, although we get really old ones that we can't take home during orientation.
Perhaps I should clarify: I understand that a few banks use desktops, but it certainly isn't a "security risk" and most interns use laptops across the street.
@NorthSider - oops, miscommunication. I stand corrected - I admit I have no idea how other banks work.
No worries, it was not communicated clearly on my end either.
i heard most banks allow SA's unlimited use of your cubicle and extended access to your cubicle on weekends if need be
Goldman Sachs Securities Division Perks (Originally Posted: 05/22/2008)
Anyone know the typical hours worked and the perks received by SAs?
hoody, pen, book, bag, notepad, gummy bears
ex-SA here - trying to remember. tons of social events with open bar, passed apps etc. as many MD dinners as you can schedule. gym membership (albeit, for a nominal fee). black cars & meal allowances for the evenings, although due to networking, desk visits etc, most SAs are out of the office by 6/7 - unless you're in a placed group ie aaMSG. in the mornings, they bring out huge trash cans of soft drinks and water for everyone. other than that - perks? really shitty small black stools that will come to be the bane of your existence. Also, this varies somewhat from desk to desk - but you have be in freaking early anywhere from 5 AM to 7 AM (it's sad when you start to think that getting in at 7 AM is late).
is that for rotational s&t or fixed placement desks? for s&t they give out meal allowances? for fixed placement prop groups, are you expected to work weekends? is there a lot of interaction between fixed and rotational? thanks
meal allowances are given to all so long as you're around past seven - this isn't used that much by rotational interns (usually gone by 7) - but fixed kids are around much later and tended to order every night.
idk about weekends for fixed groups - as a rotational, i was probably in 4 weekends over the course of the summer (mostly sundays) you'll work more towards the end of the summer as you try to sew up your offer. also, most SAs don't have computers during the day because they are sitting with traders so it's a great way to catch up on your email (and get a sunday time stamp on your email, implying that you were working hard).
decent amt of interaction - the most over training, fades out throughout the course of the summer -- the fixed kids tended to hang out with each other more then.
Anyone done quant trading? also, in terms of weekend working for kids on fixed desk, what do the hours look like? Blackberries? (doubt it but curious)
thanks very much for the helpful responses srr636. one last question i hope you can answer and ill try to stop bugging you, and i think this will pertain to you too mcgyver what is training like? i heard its division wide? i mean the securities division is massive so you're getting everyone from cash equities to amssg to residential backed mortgages. does everyone go through the same division-wide training program? for someone in money markets origination i don't think learning how to value equities is going to be helpful... or for someone in quant they dont need to learn how to pitch equities to their customers. is it broken down even more? thanks
"Blackberries? (doubt it but curious)"
why would you want a blackberry?
I don't. Most would consider it a "perk" but in reality it is a ball and chain.
/myself
2010 IBD Summer Analyst Perks (all banks) (Originally Posted: 04/20/2010)
Anyone know what "perks" they get from their bank yet? Any gadgets? Gym passes or other recreational things?
You get a Blackberry.
A free dinner (Up to $35 dollars!!!).
A car ride home.
Possibly a gym membership, although some banks have gyms in the building.
And a kilo of blow to snort off your desk while your 8 red bulls deep; the banks can't afford to have their interns sleeping. Its alright if you have a seizure in the elevator, just make sure you walk it off and get back to work after.
Oh and don't forget the satisfaction that you are doing God's work and using your combined intelligence for the benefit of humanity while taking it up the a** from your VP.
Doesn't IBD give you the best perks?
30 minutes of nap time a day to be taken in 5 minute sessions in the company bathrooms. Life is good.
You get paid like 15k, what perks do you want?
lovely device the blackberry, like an iron collar with chains but in the form of a portable sleek pocket sized smartphone
I don't know Convert, I think free BJs for life is a pretty important perk.....and the salary is much higher if the bank pays overtime if you work more than 65 hours.
free BJs are a perk only if you are the one getting them
JPMorgan will take its interns to sea fishing.
For BBs you get training in NYC if you're a regional analyst, dinner, car ride, blackberry (aka the devil in a phone), and a sweet paycheck.
my place also orders out for lunch and has a snackroom
-
The biggest perk of doing a summer in banking is that you can see the finish line of the internship and look forward to leaving the miserable life of banking behind after 10 weeks and returning to the wonderful life of a college student.
Once you start full-time, there's no finish line anymore.
r u serious? u get a blackberry as a SA? wtf, this is too intense... lol
blackberry's for interns, yeah right lol
BBs are definitely given out at a lot of places.
really? I didn't know. Is this NY only or London as well? Which places do you know of that do that?
I feel like a most places give out blackberry....even boutiques.
Blackberry's for SA's? Does GS/MS do this too?
basically every place will give bb's to their sa's. your in ibd and need to get crap done so they need to get your ass into the office to do it ...like when your getting breakfast on sunday mornings.
I was a SA in 2007 and had a BB... of course youll get one. Maybe even two as a back up!!!
We just have a closet/drawer full of BBs here. Pretty much when you need one or you get angry and throw your BB across the room, smashing it against the wall / floor you can just swap out the sim card and off you go! new BB! Only problem is that you lose your damn contacts and have to re-reg everything/ plug it into your comp.
backups ftw
They have free water in the pantry. Pretty nice.
2007 IBD Summer Analyst Perks (all banks) (Originally Posted: 06/04/2007)
Just heard rumors from two friends that UBS will pay overtime to summer analysts this year and that they will be handing out blackberries as well.
What have people heard about SA IBD perks for 2007? (at ANY bank)
I couldn't wait to get my blackberry, oh so many years ago. Now I know better. Believe me, you need a blackberry like you need brain cancer. I'd love to run mine through a wood chipper, then maybe melt down the little bits of blackberry kibble into an unidentifiable lump of charcoal.
Agreed. I'd chuck my blackberry in an instant. I should have used the word "package" instead of "perks". Still curious what different banks are doing.
I heard that from my friend at UBS as well.
I still say a Blackberry is still helpful, even as a summer analyst. People conplain that you're tied to the office, but I think it actually allows you to have somewhat of a life, because you can answer e-mails anywhere you are, instead of waiting at your desk checking e-mail all night.
My favorite pastime is taking a massive after-lunch shit while catching up on my e-mail on the Blackberry. I am an amazing multi-tasker. Sometimes I can even manage to respond to some e-mails during sex, the reverse cowboy is especially conducive to this, but make sure you don't have a mirror on that wall she is facing, because apparently girls don't dig that. Sad, I know.
As a prospective monkey I must salute you and humbly ask you to mold me in your image.
prophetic.
B-l-o-c-k B-r-e-a-k-e-r
CS also pays ovetime (1/2 pay for 40+), don't think they give berries. Wachovia down in N.C. pays overtime on a scale something like 1.5x for 40-60 2x for 60+. And that's with their better cost of living, though admittedly the hours are not as long. Then again, if you're doing an SA gig for the pay, you're a fool. A well-paid fool, but a fool nonetheless.
I'm interning at a MM IBank:
Yes, I get paid overtime. Company picks up dinner if you work past 7pm (which is every night)
That's pretty much it for perks, unless you count having my own cube and phone, which is apparently not standard...
lol @ PoolSideBanker. Excellent reading for a saturday stuck in office.
earlier post is right on about CS. GS supplies an electronic leash. as far as i know, no overtime at lehman or gs.
anyone know if cell phone bills are covered by firms for fulltime analysts?
at my HF, Blackberry, whatever groceries I want for the fridge (believe me, it's a pretty nice perk)
I accidentally stole my boss's pen once if that counts.
Fewer Perks and More Work for Wall St.’s Summer Interns (Originally Posted: 07/22/2011)
Nice little article that I thought would be prudent to this audience.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43855341
They say that every year. But the truth of the matter is that most prospective monkeys are still willing to work their ass off for an SA position. I know I would/am.
COOL
COOL
Hahahahahaha
Pre-2008 was a completely different era. Pre-2008 was like living in Tribeca, post-2008 is like living in Camden. In reality, things are slowly getting better- the downtrend is slowing down- hopefully we can get back to Hoboken or perhaps maybe the UES.
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