Hello WSO,
What is the internship experience like at small regional boutiques? They sell themselves on exposure to clients and senior management. If anyone has an internship or FT experience that they could touch on that would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Worth it. You do get exposure to a lot of senior staff and clients. I scribed for multiple client meetings as an intern and developed relationships with business owners. The downside is that the FTO is not always a guarantee due to small regional boutiques running lean staff.
Hope this helps
Yes super helpful thank you.
Did you end up at a bigger bank or there FT?
A different regional boutique for the FTO. It’s not hard to sell yourself to other boutiques cuz most 20-50 man teams run the same in a lot of aspects
Recent lateral from a small regional M&A boutique. As long as your MDs come from respectable MM/BB/EB banks, you’re fine. Processes are very similar and the work is relatively the same.
In my case, very much enjoyed my time at the regional boutique and almost didn’t make the move. But at the end of the day, the doors aren’t always going to be open the longer you’re at a small shop….and the pay gap just keeps getting bigger.
How were the hours for your boutique? I’m sure all are likely different but I’m curious what your experience was like.
Very much depended on the week and how many deals/pitches were going on. Boutique I used to work at always pushed the “less comp, BUT YOU’RE WORKING LESS HOURS” type of environment. Truth is, some weeks were 50 hours, some weeks were closer to 80. Had times where I’d work a month straight with multiple deals going on, or I wouldn’t do a lot for a week or so if it was slow.
It was a great environment being with a few guys. Very personable, but definitely had times where you couldn’t stand just seeing those same 3-5 guys every single day. Ultimately moved to a MM for more consistent work, larger resume name, and obviously, market comp. Was a great way to get into the industry coming from an ultra non-target, and get some M&A reps before moving to my current MM.
I’m doing an internship right now. Just speaking for this boutique bank and can’t compare the pros and cons to larger banks, but:
Pros: Exposure to the entire M&A deal process and much more, focus on work/life balance (~40+hr/week, analysts/associates work 40-60), more access to senior leaders, and generally versatile and good experience.
Cons: They state no job offer after internship (although I was just offered one), underpaid ($15/hr), few interns (4), limited networking opportunities with smaller firms, and nice, but not gorgeous looking offices.
Overall glad I’m doing it and think it’s good experience.
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