So I am about to complete my internship at a small boutique and feel like I haven't gained that much from it. The IB is small and unknown and I primarily worked on one deal only. I did gain some exposure through doing some comparable analysis, but no modelling. Will that hurt me and should I have expected less out of this internship?
| +248 | UBS Layoffs (October 2026) | 71 | 3h |
| +111 | Do people still want to go PE? | 34 | 14h |
| +71 | UBS Tech layoff | 23 | 1h |
| +62 | Bloomberg - New UBS Investment Bankers See Smaller Pay Gain on Promotion | 15 | 1d |
| +46 | Think I'm fucking up my analyst years | 16 | 4d |
| +36 | What Differentiates the Best Analysts as AI Improves? | 9 | 1d |
| +33 | Lazard hirevue | 11 | 1d |
| +26 | Ambitious CC Student trying to break into IB | 14 | 6d |
| +24 | Cornell Club T10 Rankings (UPDATED 10/2026) | 15 | 7h |
| +23 | Quitting After First 4 months | 10 | 11h |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
Shouldn't expect too much from a small boutique really. Having said that, take what time you can to look over existing models and learn whatever you can.
Everyone gets a hard-on about doing modeling in an internship. In reality, a lot of interns won't do any. I haven't done a lot with it during my current summer gig. Just try and pick through the models and rebuild them like Asatar said.
I'm in the same boat, basically all I did was research. Learned modeling and financial analysis on my own after I would leave for the day. The only thing good about boutique experiences is that you can list it on your resume.
Yeah I can relate too. I haven't done any modeling but I can say I've "assisted" by providing metrics and such. Not that that's difficult. Maybe say something like that? And I think doing comps is pretty useful. Also, you should have access to all their models - right? Just look through them and try to pick at them or whatnot. I spend a lot of time at my internship reading the WSJ, looking through old models, and reading WSO. I guess even if you're not doing heavy finance stuff, you've probably learned a lot more than you would think.
I guess that's one reason NOT to join a boutique.
Will this at least look better than say PWM/ or something similar, which people usually do in their summer before junior year?
I have done a lot of research (one industry primarily), worked a lot on a company deliverable, and done some valuation in the way of Public/Transaction comps.
I don't see what the problem is then. It sounds like you had a good experience. And of course it will look much much better. My freshmen year PWM internship was complete bullshit.
If you're really bored...there's always this:
http://dealbreaker.com/2012/08/food-eating-challenge-a-financial-servic…
Omnis repellendus aliquid rerum minima labore possimus. Aliquam repudiandae hic repellat perferendis. Placeat voluptatum sunt laboriosam architecto tenetur aliquam.
Quia necessitatibus voluptatem qui. Nulla recusandae nobis culpa et. Enim et sint tenetur cum temporibus vero consequatur. Tempora facere doloribus et asperiores.
Illum sequi quia et ut quam magnam. Non animi necessitatibus explicabo hic rerum et cupiditate. Tempore earum et ad pariatur velit. Accusamus et recusandae natus beatae vero cum.
Cupiditate eum in nobis perspiciatis. Qui quia blanditiis et omnis repellat qui. Cumque omnis eius fugit dicta. Aliquam id cum est magnam. Qui tenetur quas laborum eum fuga.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...