Commercial Banking Summer Intern

US Bank does not have an official internship program in their New York City office. You most likely need to have a connection through alumni or personal in order to catch their attention. However, emailing and networking with the employees is certainly recommended and will catch their attention. Since they do not have an official program, it is looked upon highly for students to still be reaching out to them and showing interest, which is the route I chose. My initial communications started by emailing one of the VP’s whose email I had received from a contact of mine in Commercial Banking. I first emailed and then met with the VP for an informational interview. I believe we cultivated a nice relationship especially since there were not too many undergraduate students reaching out to him personally for positions within the bank. Over the course of a couple months, we continued to be in contact as he tried to find out if any of the divisions in the New York office would want or need a summer intern. Once again, without a formal process, there was no official application to fill out. I soon received an email from him to be on the lookout for a phone call from an analyst, and sure enough I received one. I was asked to come into the office for a formal interview for a possible summer internship position. Even at that point however, they made it clear they were not sure if any positions would be available. Nevertheless, the interview process consisted of meeting with about ten different employees ranging from a first year analyst to several senior vice presidents. I came into the office around 9am and met with different employees for about a total of three hours. Many of the questions asked were fit and behavior based questions. Over the course of the three hours, I always felt very comfortable and confident in my abilities. Very few technical questions were asked. After the three hours, I was taken out to lunch with one analyst and two associates, which was clearly an extension of the interview process to see examine how I behaved in amore informal setting with employees closer to my age. I could tell they were analyzing my communication skills and actively engaging me in conversation. Overall, throughout interview process, it appeared they were not as concerned about my prior knowledge but more so about how I would fit into the team and office setting. Like many firms, they knew they could offer me training that would help to add value and it was more important that I was able to be trained than coming into the internship thinking I knew it all already. In terms of advice, I would say to do your research about the company because many questions were asked concerning my knowledge of the firm such as history, culture and stock price. Also make sure to review your answers for behavioral based questions and to know how you want to respond to such questions.

A couple weeks later I was notified that I had been offered the position, which I then took. Once I started, everyone was very friendly and always helpful if I had any questions. Everyone always encouraged me to ask questions if I didn’t understand something and the culture was very fostering of always speaking up if there was any confusion. I learned so much on the job and I could not have asked for a better experience.