Current SA here and obviously trying to maximize my chance of receiving the FT offer. Reflecting on my experience so far, I probably come across as overly hard-working and competitive and as someone who focuses more on producing quality deliverables over establishing strong relationships.
Would the team perceive this negatively when deciding on return offers?
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I'm still an intern, but from seeing other people, there's nothing wrong with "overly hard-working," but maybe don't try to appear competitive, because you don't want people to view you as cutthroat
I think it depends on the culture of your group. If you’re group culture is hardo then obv fine but on the other hand if it’s a very chill group and big on camaraderie and you are the only intern not making an effort to connect with your team then that’s obviously not ideal
As an analyst who also has a say in handing out offers/invitations to full time interviews to former interns - I’d skip a very skilled intern in case they don’t fit in culturally. Overall we have such a large pool of smart interns who nearly all possess the intellectual capacity to fill any skill gap that might exist during the time of their internship compared to rockstar interns, however, I also put emphasis on my willingness to have those people around me for 16+ hours in the future. Others might disagree but at least for my BB/group that’s how we recruit
I'd say it depends on what kind of hardo you are.
If you are a hardo in the sense that you work very hard to produce high quality work, that's fine, even good, as long as you stay respectful, sociable, and humble (towards everyone including other interns)
If you are a hardo in the sense that you try too hard to impress others by pretending to know more than you do (or finding any scenario to flex what you do know), by trying to put others down to look better, by being a blatant and tactless kiss-ass, and by just coming off as validation-desperate then you will be loathed. Trust me.
Sometimes people who are overly competitive fall into the latter bucket. Just focus on producing good work (which will very likely be recognized) and being a chill person.
It's not good to appear as a hardo during SA imo.
Just be chill, work hard, and you'll get the return offer.
Fit is a big part of the job... potentially most important. Even the worst interns would eventually do fine FT, this job isn't brain surgery. given how much time you spend at work in IB, you'll always choose the guy who is fun to be around / chill to work with
You dont need to go grab coffee with everyone in the group, but definitely focus on being chill, easy to work with, well-placed sense of humor never hurt anyone. Competitive is not a good look given IB is essentially a team sport.
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