Internship going fine, except a VP hates me

VP on my deal hates me. I thought I was overthinking, but he is in fact an asshole. He’s leading a deal I’m on but does not acknowledge my presence nor gives me anything to do (granted it’s pretty advanced, and deadlines are tight). His no-answers on my emails when I offer my help, or when he does it’s “let’s speak on xx” and it never happens. At this point I’m too scared to ask for more work or engage in this deal so focusing on everything else, but this is going to bite me in my end summer review isn’t it? How to navigate assholes in your internship? One asshole can cause a return offer right?

Edit: thanks all for the comments. I wish you guys were right but an intern overheard him saying that I’m “fucking useless” on the deal and wants me off. Have a meeting with a staffer soon. Stay tuned.

11 Comments
 

Yes, a VP can absolutely affect a return offer but I wouldn't think too much into it unless he actually hates you, which is probably not the case. I'd assume he doesn't want to teach you, maybe due to the tight deadline, so he isn't giving you work. 

At this point in the summer you should have an analyst or associate you can just ask about it / about your return likelihood. 

 
Most Helpful

Highly doubt he hates you - my guess is you are just here for so little time he doesn't feel required to learn your name/teach you. It's not really the right way to do things given IB is an apprenticeship model, but some people are like that.

I've had seniors before who don't trust interns as a group and don't want them working on deals. Especially high-stress, quick-burn live deals... even the nicest seniors would probably keep interns off of those, it's just a whole lot faster to have one of the FTs do the work under very tight deadlines. Teaching interns and checking work is a massive time suck.

I would not push it, don't proactively email him / unless you need to, be super friendly if you talk to him but otherwise I really do not think this is about you. Focus on getting great feedback from everyone else.

 

This post hit close to home. I could very easily be that VP.

Our group's lost 2/3 of our senior associates and VPs over the last year. Speaking with my peers from business school, this is a consistent theme across the industry. We've been trying to hire but it's impossible to find good people right now at that level. 

The number of active deals I'm working on has quadrupled in the last year and we have less support than ever.

If it's anything like my situation, I hate that am completely ignoring the interns, but I don't have a choice. If it makes you feel better, I'm also ignoring the emails from half the MDs in other groups or products. For work, would focus on the analyst and associate on the deal. They will be the loudest voices for feedback.

Ask the VP to grab coffee towards the end of the summer but don't stress about it. 

 

Ewww, not cool at all....... not that I agree with the western world's obsessive hatred for marrying young females – but noticing a 19-year old at the age of a VP is......"beneath me"; I see them as no different from toddler siblings.

 

He is probably just busy. I would focus on your most immediate manager unless there is some reason to bypass the analyst / associate on the deal team. This guy probably doesn’t know your name much less have an opinion of you at this point in the summer. If you really want an answer and you’ve exhausted all other resources, I would politely follow up and see when he is available for a short chat about the deck / model. Take like 5-10 min. Some people are less interested in mentorship, so he may decline to meet. Nothing you can do about it and not necessarily a dig unless it’s because he doesn’t trust your work or something. Banks are full of all kinds of people. Some more helpful and personable than others. Raise your hand for staffings with a different VP if they come up.

 

Aut eos est accusantium magni est a. Ipsam sit repellendus est ut harum veritatis voluptas unde. Porro possimus earum dignissimos qui temporibus voluptatem amet. A distinctio molestias fuga tenetur.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”