Am I fucked?

Managed to get a 2023 summer analyst offer at a solid bank without any technical questions or networking (also have never taken an accounting or finance course). That being said, am I fucked once the internship starts as I essentially have no idea what I am doing? If so, what should I be doing next school year to prepare

5 Comments
 

Nope not at all.

I broke into a group that was pretty niche without any actual background in that area. Sure I stumbled here and there in the start but was able to improve as I progressed and honestly that’s all that matters. No one’s gonna ding you for being bad at ur job the first day, the only thing that matters is that you improve the second day - learn quickly and not repeat mistakes.

Aside from that, maybe if you already know the industry / product group you’ll be in, you can start reading up here and there about the industry / product and the latest news. That should be more than enough.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Definitely not

That said if your school offers any finance/accounting classes you could take (even if not a business school class), definitely do so. If not I would try and learn very basic accounting online - learn the 3 statements, assets/liabilities/equity, and if you have some time spend a day or two figuring out how to build a 3 statement model. They will technically teach you all of this in training, but no one wants to be asking "what's an income statement?" when you hit the desk. 

 
Most Helpful

No intern knows what they're doing, including the ones who "know" finance. Interns are pretty useless in the beginning, but it's fun to have them around.

Few key things to have a successful internship:

  1. Show genuine curiosity and ask smart questions
  2. Make friends with the entire team, especially with the full-time analysts and the other interns
    • In my banking group we used to observe if an intern plays nice with their fellow interns
    • Be social outside of the office with the full-time analysts
  3. Try not to make the same mistake twice. Important to show growth/learning
  4. Check your work carefully. Attention to detail is key

Good luck!

 

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