SA Unspoken Do's and Don'ts
Was lucky enough to secure an IB SA offer for this summer but wanted to ask about some under-mentioned tips for doing well in your internship. The place I accepted is known to have a somewhat lower return offer rate so I want to make sure I do everything I can to secure the FT offer (I asked about this during the interview - they said it was due to being very protective of culture + high standards, and not over hiring).
There are the obvious things like not going home early, having a good attitude, not having to have topics re-explained, etc. But I'm sure there are other things that you can probably think of that do make a difference when it comes to being a good intern. What are some key tips you have for doing well that might not get mentioned enough?
bump on god
File that one under the Don’t category
One of the biggest tips I received last summer was to never leave your laptop unattended in the office if you go home. Always take it with you (even if you’re not doing work).
Be 5’ early to any in-person meeting and arrive before 9 am (depending on your group).
Can you please explain the laptop thing? Why would that be important? Thank you!
Leaving your laptop in the office just shows you don't care/aren't willing to do late night comment-turning if it came up. You're literally unable to work by leaving your laptop at the office.
The whole point of being a junior banker (including interns) is to be available 24/7 if need be. What happens if you get an important email right after you get home? Have fun explaining that you left your laptop at the office.
Coffee chats with team members and always go out with group when offered.
This all the way
Get coffees with everyone. If it’s a flat culture and it’s not part of the programme email PAs and schedule 30 min with the MDs too. They will remember you when the time comes
If your group takes you out for dinner / drinks, don’t be the first one to leave. Lots of people judge because they think you’re “not fun”. But I guess that’s really group dependent.
Prioritize your health. Make sure you eat and sleep well. Has a direct correlation to your performance. Will keep your cognitive abilities sharp and body in check. After 8 weeks, most of my peers looked like zombies. I came in somewhat focused and fresh every day.
don’t be like “oh well this is how I learned to do it school from my professors” and try to one up on finance knowledge. Just do what you’re told
To counter/add to this - actually do push back if you see something wrong. However, do so in a non-confrontational way. Present evidence to back your point and if rejected know to back down.
That shows humility but also independent thought and desire to question.
All about how you approach situations.
Yeah the approach is very important. Dale Carnegie’s how to win friends and influence people goes into detail about doing it in a non-confrontational way.
Be smart and ask the right questions. It’s the #1 thing people were surprise about when I was an intern. Show them you think like an analyst (obviously only doable if you have some more exp)
But even if not, be smart in the questions you ask. I’m not talking about conversation but rather work related stuff, don’t be a pure monkey executor but THINK
Don’t get too comfortable. It’s easy to forget your place a few weeks in when you start to get the hang of things and think that you can start coming in late or push off work. Also, be friends with your other interns but don’t forget that there is a chance you guys are competing for a limited number of spots. Always be the one to take on the extra random work that someone asks.
don't swear, always speak in a positive, respectful tone no matter how comfortable you are, don't show that you are overly comfortable
Unless you're told not to, maybe a less obvious "rule" would be to print things off when submitting to your seniors (be that AS right up to MD) for review - don't just send an email with an attachment (I know it's less eco-friendly but the amount of paper wastage in IB is insane, but it's very industry norm. And don't even think about the data centres energy storing all those Discussion_Materials_v29 no one dared to delete)
is this really true at all firms? this comes as a pretty big surprise to me ngl, thanks for sharing
It would be interesting to do a poll on this actually, to see what the norm is across the street.
But I'm pretty sure it's true.
A more "spoken" rule is to always print and check your own work by the way. And the same applies to your AS as well as your MD (who'll want to check before sending to a client).
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